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April 08, 2013, 01:15:40 AM |
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Would appreciate it if someone could check my back-of-the-envelope calculations here:
Network hash rate = ~60 TH/s Assume this is composed of: 1. 30 TH/s in a mixture of GPU & FPGA units, with an average efficiency of 3 MH/J 2. 30 TH/s of new ASIC units, with an average efficiency of 100 MH/J
Therefore total power usage of the entire network is (30*10^6 / 3) + (30*10^6 / 100) = 10.3 MW Add 50% for other associated equipment and older less efficient hardware, and say it's a round 15 MW.
I find that to be an astounding number - it's about the same power usage as a small town of ~25,000 people. You could power the entire Bitcoin network (as it is today) with little more than 10 large onshore wind turbines...
Conversely, if ASICs appear that really do offer efficiencies of 1000 MH/J, then with the same power consumption of 15 MW, the network could be secured to the tune of 15,000 TH/s.
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