Sapphire Launches Mining-Focused Radeon RX 570 with 16 GB of GDDR5 Memory
by Anton Shilov on January 23, 2019 4:00 PM EST
Sapphire has introduced one the industry’s first Radeon RX 570 graphics cards that carry 16 GB of GDDR5 memory onboard. The board is designed primarily for cryptocurrency mining, but it still has a display output and therefore can theoretically be used for other applications too.
Officially, the manufacturer positions its Sapphire RX 570 16GB HDMI Blockchain graphics card for Grin coin mining, as Grin's underlying algorithm benefits from the amount of onboard memory. This gives a 16 GB video card a distinct advantage on Grin. The card consumes 175 W (±10%) of power and has an 8-pin PCIe power connector, which is 25 W higher when compared to “regular” Radeon RX 570 GPUs that are rated for a 150 W TDP. It uses an air cooling system that is comprised of two fans and a large aluminum radiator with heatpipes.
Sapphire plans to sell its RX 570 16GB HDMI Blockchain graphics card directly at https://gpuminer.sapphiretech.com, and it remains to be seen whether the adapter will be sold by third parties. Interestingly, the board vendor has not disclosed pricing for the board, and given the unqiue market for the product I suspect it's going to be based on the quantity of the boards purchased. Though the company does note that the product will cost significantly less than other graphics cards carrying 12 or 16 GB of memory (e.g. Radeon VII, RTX 2080 Ti, and the like), which is logical given the positioning of high-end GPUs for prosumers and professionals.
In addition to graphics cards for miners, Sapphire also sells its INCA and MGI-series systems for cryptocurrency mining.
Related Reading:
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- Colorful Announces a Bay Trail Mining Motherboard with 8+1 PCIe Slots
- ASUS Announces H370 Mining Master: One Motherboard, 20 GPUs
- Mining Cards Update: Zotac, Manli and Biostar Products Formally Confirmed
Source: Sapphire
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kpb321 - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
Interesting. As poorly as Crypto Currencies have been doing lately I wouldn't have expected to see new mining specific cards being released. I guess if doubling the memory from 8 gb to 16 gb makes a significant difference for Grin this could a relatively simple way to corner a small niche market.rocky12345 - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
I have a friend that just got into mining a few months back and he said when he started it was pretty bad as in a low return rate. He has since said his return rate has gotten much better and that what he is mining is doing a lot better now than it was. My own thoughts were when he said this was OMG not again please please please do not make mining into the circus it was when we could not find a graphics card any where and of you did they were like 150%-200% priced over their value. All I did was nob my head say hey good for you I'm happy you are showing some profit form those cards you bought to mine with.drexnx - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
nothing's profitable for gpus anymore, not unless (until?) coin prices come back up will it be worth doing.unless you don't pay for electricity, that is
Samus - Thursday, January 24, 2019 - link
In colder climates like here in Chicago, mining is all the rave during the winter months November-May. People heat their homes :Pjust4U - Friday, January 25, 2019 - link
It's actually not as bad as some of you guys are thinking.. I mine on my gaming rig even now. Not looking to make millions off of it (although.. that would be nice) but it has afforded me the opportunity to have a better overall gaming system then I'd normally have purchased. I get the hate on due to low hardware availability and overpricing .. I do.. but gamers in general should be taking advantage of their systems when not in use.We did this back in the day with folding @ home and competitive benchmarking.. except now? You have a chance to have your system paid for and game as well. Wth is not love about that?
OolonCaluphid - Thursday, February 21, 2019 - link
>but gamers in general should be taking advantage of their systems when not in use.I take it you don't pay the electricity bills then?
you cannot turn profit now, if you pay market rates for energy.
edzieba - Thursday, January 24, 2019 - link
They're only doing 'poorly' relative to a transient peak. They're still doing about well as before that peak, and mining specific cards were in demand and profitable then too. No reason that would no longer be the case.boozed - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
I love that these companies are *still* pumping out scamcoin-oriented hardware long after the Titanic has sailed. Brings a tear to my eye.DanNeely - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link
Product development cycles are long; stuff that was already a decent way in progress kept going hoping the slump would be brief. But even with the ponzi coin market swirling deeper down the toilet getting something back by launching the product after it's finished still has a better return than just dumping the idea completely unsold.boozed - Thursday, January 24, 2019 - link
You'd think it would be better to simply can the product than to continue throwing money into a black hole...