(Review/Guide) WhatsMiner M3 11.5 Th/s, 2000W Bitcoin (SHA-256) ASIC minerDisclaimer: I was able to buy one miner with an agreement to do a review here at the forum. 
Click for a bigger version. Picture copyright (c) WhatsMiner.
1) General information, other items needed
2) Unpacking
3) Overview
4) Install
5) Configuration
6) Testing
7) Power consumption measurement
8] Conclusion
9) How to order
10) Video review by philipma1957
Last updated in: February 17, 2018.
Steemit blogging website:https://steemit.com/review/@hagssfin/review-guide-whatsminer-m3-11-5-th-s-2000w-bitcoin-sha-256-asic-minerNicely formatted version (February 17, 2018) available for download here (Mega.nz cloud service):https://mega.nz/#!xlcxkC5R!c3-xkWRx9OldZGajjEXEJb8sOyvzNwvGC7Qzu-yWtS0
1) General information, other items neededWhatsMiner M3 is a Bitcoin (SHA-256) ASIC miner using 28nm ASIC chip technology, manufactured by
WhatsMiner (headquarters in Shenzhen, China). Their official overseas distributor is
Team Pangolinminer. This unit in this review was bought from Team Pangolinminer (
www.pangolinminer.com).
WhatsMiner M3 is a standalone miner with a built-in controller and you don't need a separate controller, like Raspberry Pi for example to run it.
The nominal hashrate is between 11.5 to 12.0 Th/s with a nominal power consumption of 2000 Watts.
It weights 4.1 kg and outer dimensions are 335mm (L) x 125mm (W) x 155mm (H).
These are quite usual measures and weight for a ASIC miner.
Technical specifications:WhatsMiner M3
Hash rate: 11.5 - 12.0 Th/s
Power consumption: 2000W
Power efficiency: 0.174 J / Gh/s
DC voltage input: 12 VDC
ASIC chip type: SMTI 1700 (28nm SHA-256 ASIC chip)
ASIC chip quantity per unit (miner): 189 chips
Number of hash boards per unit: 3 hash boards
Cooling: 2x 120mm x 38mm 12VDC 2.8A fan, model: KZ12038B012X (front and back, in a push-pull configuration).
Weight: 4.1 kg
Dimensions: 335mm (L) x 125mm (W) x 155mm (H)
- A server grade power supply with at least 10x PCI-E 6-pin connectors, everyone with a dedicated cable, at least 18AWG wires.
I used a custom 2100W power supply called WhatsPower P3 to power my miner.
Since this is such a power hungry miner, I highly recommend using their custom PSU. - C13 power cord suitable to your country's electrical socket
- Ethernet cable to go to your router/switch
- Computer to set initial pool and configuration settings.
2) UnpackingThe delivery schedule from China to here in Finland was quite quick.
It was first sent from China to Hong Kong in November 4.
In November 7 it arrived to DHL facility in Hong Kong.
And in November 10 a local subcontractor for the DHL handed over the shipment for me here in Finland.
Miner and power supply were packed in own dedicated cardboard boxes.
Packaging for the miner was good with lots of foam to protect the miner.
The power supply was also packed nicely.
First layer was a bit of foam and then a good wrap around it with some bubble wrap.
But if you ask me about upgrades, I would add a ESD plastic bag for both the miner and the power supply.
They came inside the box without any plastic bag.
But the hardware arrived in a mint condition so this was not a big downside.
Packaging material. Click for a bigger version. Pictures taken by HagssFIN.3) OverviewHere are some pictures about the miner and the custom PSU.
Click the picture to show a bigger picture. Pictures taken by HagssFIN.
EDIT: These following pictures and the quoted post are added here in November 29, originally posted in November 20.
4) InstallThe installation was quick and easy as it usually is with ASIC mining hardware.
You need to connect the Ethernet cable to your miner and the other end to the router or switch device.
And then you need a high power server grade power supply. Install all ten pieces PCI-E 6-pin power cables to the power headers found at the top side of the miner.
If you use the custom power supply WhatsPower P3, please also connect the 3-pin cable to the miner controller.
The miner uses DHCP to acquire an IP address and you can find it easily from your router configuration page IP address list or by using tools found online.
Team Pangolinminer also offers a IP found program called "WhatsMinerTool" at their website.
This way you can use the miner's IP found function.
WhatsMinerTool User Guide & Software:https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XthbZPFc0S-FvMi9MqpLOJlUaFAc4auWKnowing the miner IP address makes the next miner configuration part possible.
You can also follow a tutorial video made by Team Pangolinminer for more help.
It is quite clear and straight forward video.
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Cj3QckFnIYou can also find support documentation and downloads at Team Pangolinminer website.
Whatsminer M3 User Guides & Solutionshttps://pangolinminer.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001263394-Whatsminer-M3-User-Guides-Solutionshttps://pangolinminer.com/support/help-desk/whatsminer-m3-user-guides-solutions/ (dead link)
Whatsminer M3 User Manualhttps://drive.google.com/open?id=1lWv1mYZoHdSurfNGx6DxBIYj34MawzCs5) ConfigurationFirst you need to go the miner IP address with your web browser.
Then you login to the configuration page.
Username is
root and the password is
root by default.
Login screen. Click for a bigger version.The default language for the miner is Chinese, but it is quite easy to change to English.
Setting the language at system properties page. Click for a bigger version.Now it is time to setup mining pool settings.
Go through menus and find the Cgminer configuration page.
Click the drop down list and you are able to setup a custom pool address of your choice.
Cgminer configuration page. Click for a bigger version.You can put the pool address, username and password for three pools in a priority order from 1 to 3.
Miner hash board frequency and cooling fan settings are automatic, there is no possibility to have custom settings.
After you have ready with the settings, press Save & Apply.
Then go through menus and click Reboot to reboot the miner.
The startup process for the miner takes some time as it goes slowly through hash board frequencies, much like the autotune frequency model S9 miners also do.
After the startup process is ready, it restarts the Cgminer and then it really starts to do the mining work and you start to see 11.5 + Th/s hash rate.
6) TestingAfter all the settings were made properly, it was time to test the miner.
The hash rate was around 11.7 Th/s and it slowly started to show the same at pool side.
Status page. Click for a bigger version.There are also status pages for the system log and Cgminer API log.
System log and Cgminer API log. Click for a bigger version.And of course there is the system information page.
System information. Click for a bigger version.7) Power consumption measurementBoth voltage and current measurements were done with
HT-Italia HT7011 clamp multimeter.
Technical specs data sheet (.pdf document):
https://mega.nz/#!5ssAiZQY!nuixMYOwoYImFX1zfzc9KibmhO2ig-Adav37rRt50AU
HT-Italia HT7011. Click for a bigger version. Picture taken by HagssFIN.
Voltage measurement and current measurement.
Click for a bigger version. Pictures taken by HagssFIN.Stable result for the voltage was 220 V
AC and 9.9 A for the current.
This means that the power consumption (at wall) equals
about 2180 W,
when the hash board frequency is 636 MHz and the hash rate is 11.7 Th/s.
8] ConclusionWhatsMiner M3 is just as good Bitcoin ASIC miner as the current generation competitor miners are and it is easy one to setup.
The power efficiency is not the best, but I think it is quite good when you consider that it is the older, 28nm process node technology.
The miner and power supply price is very reasonable, 1022 USD for the miner and 90 USD for the power supply at the moment when I'm writing this.
It performed just as advertised, I got 11.7 Th/s hash rate and the nominal rate is between 11.5 and 12.0 Th/s.
Power consumption is high in the 2kW area, but cooling fans do their job properly.
Cooling design is done well and the miner didn't get too warm.
This is a very loud miner as most of the modern ASIC miners are, you don't want this in your bed room.
I think that this makes a good competitor in the Bitcoin ASIC miner market.
I would like to thank Team Pangolinminer for a nice miner and for the chance to give a review for it here at the forum.
Their actions were very quick after I started the discussion with them.
If you got any questions, feel free to drop them in this thread.
I will try to give my best answer.
9) How to orderYou can make an order by visiting the webshop.
See more details at the official overseas distributor Team Pangolinminer website.
Team Pangolinminer:
www.pangolinminer.com10) Video review by philipma1957Philipma1957 also bought one demo unit and psu for review purpose and did a nice set of review videos.
Part 1 (unboxing): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJaKc-2IsdkPart 2 (setup):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpHAYR1PjA8Part 3 (configuration): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdIjX0cd9d4Part 4 (configuration): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ppH5xHkrV4Original post by philipma1957, posted in November 14, 2017:
Referral link update; March 26, 2018:If you enjoy this document and decide to buy some WhatsMiner M3 machines,
you can use my referral link if you would like to support my work.
HagssFIN referral link (Pangolinminer.com shop):
https://pangolinminer.com/?ref=HagssFIN
