(Review/Guide) WhatsMiner M3 11.5 Th/s, 2000W Bitcoin (SHA-256) ASIC miner

[HagssFIN]

(Review/Guide) WhatsMiner M3 11.5 Th/s, 2000W Bitcoin (SHA-256) ASIC miner
Disclaimer: 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-miner

Nicely 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 needed
WhatsMiner 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:

Code:

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)

Other items needed:

• 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) Unpacking
The 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) Overview
Here 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.

@leowonderful
I finally had some time and did a quick disassembly for the miner, took some pictures and then assembled it back together to continue the mining.

I have some close up pictures of the controller board and hash boards.  

I really like how it looks, seems quite robust to me when it comes to the cooling heat sink solution for example.


WhatsMiner M3 disassembled. Click for a bigger version. Picture taken by HagssFIN.


Controller board. Click for a bigger version. Pictures taken by HagssFIN.



Hash board. Click for a bigger version. Pictures taken by HagssFIN.

4) Install
The 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-FvMi9MqpLOJlUaFAc4auW

Knowing 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-Cj3QckFnI

You can also find support documentation and downloads at Team Pangolinminer website.

Whatsminer M3 User Guides & Solutions
https://pangolinminer.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001263394-Whatsminer-M3-User-Guides-Solutions
https://pangolinminer.com/support/help-desk/whatsminer-m3-user-guides-solutions/ (dead link)

Whatsminer M3 User Manual
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lWv1mYZoHdSurfNGx6DxBIYj34MawzCs


5) Configuration
First 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) Testing
After 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 measurement
Both 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] Conclusion
WhatsMiner 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 order
You can make an order by visiting the webshop.
See more details at the official overseas distributor Team Pangolinminer website.

Team Pangolinminer: www.pangolinminer.com

10) Video review by philipma1957
Philipma1957 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-2Isdk
Part 2 (setup): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpHAYR1PjA8
Part 3 (configuration): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdIjX0cd9d4
Part 4 (configuration): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ppH5xHkrV4

Original post by philipma1957, posted in November 14, 2017:

these are raw shot videos today no editing. this is intentional as transparency is a desired detail


first  video will be live at:


https://youtu.be/fpHAYR1PjA8

 https://youtu.be/zdIjX0cd9d4

https://youtu.be/_ppH5xHkrV4



Should you buy this

yes if you have a place for the sound it is really loud
yes if you have low cost power
yes if it ships quickly------- I got the demo fast

unboxing

Your video will be live at: https://youtu.be/CJaKc-2Isdk


It has been moved to the solar array

here is the gear at nicehash

https://www.nicehash.com/miner/16yLHLoeyuCLPMXkVpC3gyrRYvwRGwjKJr

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

[1713893842]

1713893842

[1713893842]

1713893842

[1713893842]

1713893842

[elokk]

How loud are the fans in comparison to Antminer s9?

[HagssFIN]

How loud are the fans in comparison to Antminer s9?

When it comes to the fan noise, I would say it is pretty much the same level noise.

[Isaac_]

Thanks for your review! I was really interested in reading this one.

[jekecoin]

It's great to see another Bitmain competitor

[JimmyCoin]

thanks for the review.

[leowonderful]

This might be asking for too much but would you be willing to crack open the miner and take a look at the insides? I'm curious about the technology inside that's doing all this work, especially with the efificency being impressive for 28nm.

Good to know Pangolin are legit, had a feeling they were when they offered to give out review samples.

[Foofighter]

CE and ROHS available?

I do not trust chinese hardware without proper certification.

[HagssFIN]

This might be asking for too much but would you be willing to crack open the miner and take a look at the insides? I'm curious about the technology inside that's doing all this work, especially with the efificency being impressive for 28nm.

Good to know Pangolin are legit, had a feeling they were when they offered to give out review samples.

I will try to have time to do this next week.
Do you mean that you would like to see good detailed pictures from both sides of the hash board?

CE and ROHS available?

I do not trust chinese hardware without proper certification.

I would advice asking them about that, via e-mail sales@pangolinminer.com

[philipma1957]

Mine will arrive in 2 days.

I will post in this review  and do a you-tube video of it

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Over all looks good esp being based on 28nm chips.
re: anti-static packaging, is the bubble wrap a bit cloudy & gritty vs standard clean and clear? If it is (gritty) it already is anti-static. Made from cellulose derived from corn or rice vs oil and works quite well.

[leowonderful]

This might be asking for too much but would you be willing to crack open the miner and take a look at the insides? I'm curious about the technology inside that's doing all this work, especially with the efificency being impressive for 28nm.

Good to know Pangolin are legit, had a feeling they were when they offered to give out review samples.

I will try to have time to do this next week.
Do you mean that you would like to see good detailed pictures from both sides of the hash board?

CE and ROHS available?

I do not trust chinese hardware without proper certification.

I would advice asking them about that, via e-mail sales@pangolinminer.com

Yep, I'd like to see the hash board and controller if possible. Just want to get an idea of how the miner is arranged internally.

Mine will arrive in 2 days.

I will post in this review  and do a you-tube video of it

Can't wait to see it! I like your recent video style, hope you do the same for the miner review.

[Yass]

Seems like it's not aleready out , any official price ?
also 2kw is not efficient ..

[qctechno]

CE and ROHS available?

I do not trust chinese hardware without proper certification.

ROHS is mostly respected if silver soldering is used.
You also need to check every components that populate PCB for ROHS compliance.

CE certification does not allow electronic or PCB to be exposed.
Part of CE certification is to discharge High Voltage electrostatic on a device.
This must be done on every parts of enclosure and also on every connectors when miner is operating.
Device must survive 15KV static discharge without damaging boards or disrupt operation when running.
EMI must also be contained into the device. If your radio tuner is disrupted by your miner, EMI is leaking and CE is a fail.

CE certification is false claim for most of miners available today.
The only manufacturer that could respect CE is Canaan in my view.

[philipma1957]

these are raw shot videos today no editing. this is intentional as transparency is a desired detail


first  video will be live at:


https://youtu.be/fpHAYR1PjA8

 https://youtu.be/zdIjX0cd9d4

https://youtu.be/_ppH5xHkrV4



Should you buy this

yes if you have a place for the sound it is really loud
yes if you have low cost power
yes if it ships quickly------- I got the demo fast

unboxing

Your video will be live at: https://youtu.be/CJaKc-2Isdk


It has been moved to the solar array

here is the gear at nicehash

https://www.nicehash.com/miner/16yLHLoeyuCLPMXkVpC3gyrRYvwRGwjKJr

[mdude77]

Wow, 2kw of power for 11.5Th/s.  That's a lot of power.

Maybe the next version will be a Bitmain killer?

Thanks for the review.

M

[Pangolinminer]

Wow, 2kw of power for 11.5Th/s.  That's a lot of power.

Maybe the next version will be a Bitmain killer?

Thanks for the review.

M

We are still too far from Bitmain killer or Avalon killer

[HagssFIN]

these are raw shot videos today no editing. this is intentional as transparency is a desired detail


first  video will be live at:


https://youtu.be/fpHAYR1PjA8

 https://youtu.be/zdIjX0cd9d4

https://youtu.be/_ppH5xHkrV4



Should you buy this

yes if you have a place for the sound it is really loud
yes if you have low cost power
yes if it ships quickly------- I got the demo fast

unboxing

Your video will be live at: https://youtu.be/CJaKc-2Isdk


It has been moved to the solar array

here is the gear at nicehash

https://www.nicehash.com/miner/16yLHLoeyuCLPMXkVpC3gyrRYvwRGwjKJr

A nice set of videos, hope you don't mind I added video links to the original review, as a chapter 10.  

[leowonderful]

Wow, 2kw of power for 11.5Th/s.  That's a lot of power.

Maybe the next version will be a Bitmain killer?

Thanks for the review.

M

But considering the improvements to the 28nm process that’s very reasonable. Probably was made this way to be somewhat competitive to the S9 and other 14nm miners today. I wouldn’t be surprised if these guys actually beat bitmain at their own efficiency game at this point. Didn’t think there was still more to be squeezed out of 28nm.


Awesome video as always, Phil. Seems odd they would send you a EU plug even though your address was American... maybe they only had EU plugs on the PSUs?

[HagssFIN]

Wow, 2kw of power for 11.5Th/s.  That's a lot of power.

Maybe the next version will be a Bitmain killer?

Thanks for the review.

M

But considering the improvements to the 28nm process that’s very reasonable. Probably was made this way to be somewhat competitive to the S9 and other 14nm miners today. I wouldn’t be surprised if these guys actually beat bitmain at their own efficiency game at this point. Didn’t think there was still more to be squeezed out of 28nm.


Awesome video as always, Phil. Seems odd they would send you a EU plug even though your address was American... maybe they only had EU plugs on the PSUs?

It is actually a power cord with Type I plug, which is not used in EU area, but which is one of the plug types used in China.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets

I got the same power cord as well.

I guess they have deciced to include a power cord with the psu, and since China is most likely the largest sell quantity target country, it is then a Type I power cord.