• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Intel Announces a Roadmap of Energy-efficient Blockchain Accelerators

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
47,235 (7.55/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Digital computing continues to enrich our lives in more ways than we can imagine. We acquire, consume, and create content and services with a few clicks or taps of our fingertips. Exponential increases in compute performance, enabled by Moore's Law, play a significant role in making these experiences seamless. Moore's Law is also enabling us to democratize access to this enormous pool of processing power. Amazing things happen when a lot of compute is available to a lot of people without much friction.

Blockchain is a technology that has the potential to enable everyone to own much of the digital content and services they create. Some even call it an inflection point in computing, fundamentally disrupting the way we store, process and transact our digital assets as we usher in the era of metaverse and Web 3.0. No matter how the future evolves, it is certain the availability of a lot more compute to everyone will play a central role.



Today, we at Intel are declaring our intent to contribute to the development of blockchain technologies, with a roadmap of energy-efficient accelerators. Intel will engage and promote an open and secure blockchain ecosystem and will help advance this technology in a responsible and sustainable way.

We are mindful that some blockchains require an enormous amount of computing power, which unfortunately translates to an immense amount of energy. Our customers are asking for scalable and sustainable solutions, which is why we are focusing our efforts on realizing the full potential of blockchain by developing the most energy-efficient computing technologies at scale.

Our blockchain accelerator will ship later this year. We are engaged directly with customers that share our sustainability goals. Argo Blockchain, BLOCK (formerly known as Square) and GRIID Infrastructure are among our first customers for this upcoming product. This architecture is implemented on a tiny piece of silicon so that it has minimal impact to the supply of current products.

Intel Labs has dedicated decades of research into reliable cryptography, hashing techniques and ultra-low voltage circuits. We expect that our circuit innovations will deliver a blockchain accelerator that has over 1000x better performance per watt than mainstream GPUs for SHA-256 based mining. You will be able to learn more about our circuit innovations at the International Solid State Circuit Conference (ISSCC) this month.

To support this, and additional emerging technology, we have formed the new Custom Compute Group within Intel's Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics business unit. The objective of this team is to build custom silicon platforms optimized for customers' workloads, including blockchain and other custom accelerated supercomputing opportunities at the edge.

Onward, we aspire to leverage technologies from our zetta-scale computing initiative to deliver energy-efficient solutions that make our tomorrow better than our today.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 

iO

Joined
Jul 18, 2012
Messages
529 (0.12/day)
Location
Germany
Processor R7 5700x
Motherboard MSI B450i Gaming
Cooling Accelero Mono CPU Edition
Memory 16 GB VLP
Video Card(s) AMD RX 6700 XT Accelero Mono
Storage P34A80 512GB
Display(s) LG 27UM67 UHD
Case none
Power Supply Fractal Ion 650 SFX
Wow, their Bitcoin ASIC is so efficient that they have to compare it to GPUs...
 
Joined
May 8, 2018
Messages
1,568 (0.66/day)
Location
London, UK
Wow, their Bitcoin ASIC is so efficient that they have to compare it to GPUs...
Yeah, who the hell do they want to impress here hehe, noobs I guess.
 
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
8,198 (2.17/day)
Location
SE Michigan
System Name Dumbass
Processor AMD Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard ASUS TUF gaming B650
Cooling Artic Liquid Freezer 2 - 420mm
Memory G.Skill Sniper 32gb DDR5 6000
Video Card(s) GreenTeam 4070 ti super 16gb
Storage Samsung EVO 500gb & 1Tb, 2tb HDD, 500gb WD Black
Display(s) 1x Nixeus NX_EDG27, 2x Dell S2440L (16:9)
Case Phanteks Enthoo Primo w/8 140mm SP Fans
Audio Device(s) onboard (realtek?) - SPKRS:Logitech Z623 200w 2.1
Power Supply Corsair HX1000i
Mouse Steeseries Esports Wireless
Keyboard Corsair K100
Software windows 10 H
Benchmark Scores https://i.imgur.com/aoz3vWY.jpg?2
We expect that our circuit innovations will deliver a blockchain accelerator that has over 1000x better performance per watt than mainstream GPUs for SHA-256 based mining.
thats a pretty big boast, but expectations and reality usually dont line up together.
 
Joined
Nov 4, 2005
Messages
11,982 (1.72/day)
System Name Compy 386
Processor 7800X3D
Motherboard Asus
Cooling Air for now.....
Memory 64 GB DDR5 6400Mhz
Video Card(s) 7900XTX 310 Merc
Storage Samsung 990 2TB, 2 SP 2TB SSDs, 24TB Enterprise drives
Display(s) 55" Samsung 4K HDR
Audio Device(s) ATI HDMI
Mouse Logitech MX518
Keyboard Razer
Software A lot.
Benchmark Scores Its fast. Enough.
A roadmap, meaning multiple ewaste streams, hopefully the technology will bring something of value to the world.
 
Joined
Oct 13, 2021
Messages
45 (0.04/day)
I can totally see Intel heading this route with their road map. ;)

But seriously, Kat.. "Beau"-"Nans"-"A" !?

That was the best secret language product code-name you could muster? Oh baby..
 
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
21,467 (3.40/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 9950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage Intel 905p Optane 960GB boot, +2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software Gentoo Linux x64 / Windows 11 Enterprise IoT 2024
thats a pretty big boast, but expectations and reality usually dont line up together.
It's a typical ASIC style boost. But that's just performance. Power consumption will be everything.

meaning multiple ewaste streams,
This is the end-point for all technology, you know.
 
Joined
Apr 6, 2019
Messages
160 (0.08/day)
Article said:
Digital computing continues to enrich our lives in more ways than we can imagine.

It *can* but generally speaking that statement is a load of garbage. Digital computing has been credited for antisocial media, 'news' vitriol and other political nonsense which provides a negative impact to the world.

It's a typical ASIC style boost. But that's just performance. Power consumption will be everything.

This is the end-point for all technology, you know.
This can be used for nothing else but consume power and resources for the sake of it.
 
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
21,467 (3.40/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 9950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage Intel 905p Optane 960GB boot, +2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software Gentoo Linux x64 / Windows 11 Enterprise IoT 2024
This can be used for nothing else but consume power and resources for the sake of it.
...you conveniently forgot the entire payment network...

The obvious counter to that is that bitcoin hasn't been usable (in the practical sense, fees) as a payment network for some time, of course. Hopefully some day that will be rectified.
 
Joined
Apr 6, 2019
Messages
160 (0.08/day)
...you conveniently forgot the entire payment network...
I didn't forget it. I'm stating cryptocurrencies are a colossal waste of resources and aren't backed by anything aside from a greater fool.
The obvious counter to that is that bitcoin hasn't been usable (in the practical sense, fees) as a payment network for some time, of course. Hopefully some day that will be rectified.
Also in the practical sense, speed of transaction taking place and the resultant variance in value between when the transaction was initiated and actually processed, giving rise to middlemen exchanges which make money off a fixed rate.
 
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
27,781 (6.67/day)
That it's to reduce power consumed vs other ASICs, whilst still doing nothing productive?
Clearly you're against coin mining and being deliberately pedantic & belligerent about it. Unless the all of the worlds governments unite and ban it, mining is not stopping. So with Intel's efforts here the benefit is that not only will the electricity used be dramatically reduced, but also because these ASICs can do the same work as a GPU but at a lower purchase cost, lower cost of operation and MUCH higher ROI. This will make them EXTREMELY attractive for miners. This will have the side effect of reducing demand of GPUs for mining, which will mean more availability of GPUs to the public, reducing shortages and prices, but also making used GPU much less desirable for mining and reducing the shortage and cost there too.

So instead of being so short sighted and negative, you should be happy for the side-effects ASICs are going to have and encouraging companies to make dedicated ASICs to draw the attention of miners away from traditional PCs as a mining platform.

TADA!
I didn't forget it. I'm stating cryptocurrencies are a colossal waste of resources and aren't backed by anything aside from a greater fool.
While you're not wrong, there's no stopping it without the governments of the world banning it all. So again, cheer ASICs on and be happy that mining will be using less electrical power and freeing up GPU's for consumers to buy.
 
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
21,467 (3.40/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 9950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage Intel 905p Optane 960GB boot, +2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software Gentoo Linux x64 / Windows 11 Enterprise IoT 2024
I didn't forget it. I'm stating cryptocurrencies are a colossal waste of resources and aren't backed by anything aside from a greater fool.
It used to be the crypto economy. Sadly today you are mostly correct.
 

AsRock

TPU addict
Joined
Jun 23, 2007
Messages
19,084 (3.00/day)
Location
UK\USA
Damn, now I want an Intel CPU which looks like the one in that picture. That black and gold looks insane.

It's a light source making it look gold lol, never mind it being a fake picture.
 

Space Lynx

Astronaut
Joined
Oct 17, 2014
Messages
17,218 (4.66/day)
Location
Kepler-186f
While you're not wrong, there's no stopping it without the governments of the world banning it all. So again, cheer ASICs on and be happy that mining will be using less electrical power and freeing up GPU's for consumers to buy.

The EU will do so eventually I think, and if the USA banned it it might be enough of a chopping block for it since the USA represents such an immense amount of spending power.

The finite resources we are wasting as a species... is alarming to say the least.
 
Top