Bitmain Antminer L3+ Review and Specs

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Litecoin with a market cap of USD 2.56 billion rocking the fifth rank in the cryptocurrency market. It garners massive popularity from the crypto enthusiasts for its Lightning Network and faster transactions.

 

After 2011, after two years of its launch, Litecoin became exceedingly popular for its faster transaction processing speed and newbie-friendly cryptographic algorithm. This drew the attraction of miners hugely. Later, seeing the skyrocketing demand for Litecoin mining, Bitmain Pvt. Ltd. started designing customized devices for Litecoin mining. AntMiner L3+ is one among them.

 

Also, as the recent SegWit forked in recently, most of the developers tested the Lightning Network with transactions, and thus the new second-layer products have started emerging in the space. AntMiner L3+ is one of the devices among them dedicatedly built for Litecoin (LTC) mining, which became popular due to its brilliant hash rates. In this post, you will learn about the specifications, costs, and a brief review of Bitmain’s AntMiner L3+ device. Now let’s have a hands-on review of the robust mining machine. So…

 

Table of Contents

What is AntMiner L3+?

AntMiner L3+ is a custom-designed mining hardware for Litecoin mining. It is an ASIC miner used as the hardware component dedicated for mining coins based on SCRYPT algorithm like Litecoin.

It contains BM1485, one of the first Litecoin application-specific-integrated-circuit, having an outstanding hashing speed.

Inside the AntMiner L3+ kit, you get 288 numbers of such powerful ASIC chips. These chips boost the hash rate and make it more efficient than the previous L3 Litecoin miners on the market.

 

The L3+ version of AntMiner is the upgraded version of Bitmain’s previous AntMiner L3. When it comes to performance and competition, the AntMiner L3+ outperforms the market in every specification— starting from the power usage to the price.

The AntMiner L3+ is quite similar to the popular AntMiner S9 in many aspects and have nearly the same size as well.

Due to its features like— compact design, definitive size, the efficient cooling system you can use it anywhere— in a mining farm and also in home-apartments.

 

What unique features does AntMiner L3+ offer?

The L3+ comes equipped with a powerful AM335x 1GHz ARM® Cortex-A8 microprocessor, a control board by Texas Instruments’ and also have Gigabit Ports that ensures your mined blocks are submitted instantly.

It comes covered with a high-grade aluminum case that protects the device from heat and two computer-controlled fast-moving fans to keep it cool. The AntMiner L3+ uses an engineered combination of both conduction and convection— to enhance the cooling capacity. Thus it keeps your Litecoin mining performance to the maximum.

 

Even when working at its maximum capacity, the L3+ creates no more heat than the latest terahash miner for Bitcoin, which is an added perk for you. Along with these, high-grade heat sinks of Aluminium Alloy are installed on every chip of the AntMiner L3+. These have high heat-absorbing capacity.

 

Moreover, two rapid-cool exhaust high-speed fans at the end of the tubes are attached so that the hot air is instantly replaced by gushing the cooler air at the required pace. These features make AntMiner L3+ a powerful miner— engineered for giving maximum power— yet keeping the operating environment cool.

 

What are the things that AntMiner L3+ makes it a perfect choice for you? AntMiner L3+ offer many essential benefits that you probably don’t get with any other miners out there in the market.

So, let’s dive into them one by one:

 

Powerful Hash Rate

One of the critical features for being the best miner is its hash rate. Before you go and buy, as a miner, the first-ever thing you look for is the rig’s hash rate. Here, AntMiner L3+ has a high-grade hash rate that is 504MH/s. It is almost double the speed when compared to its previous version L3, which was around 255H/s.

 

Electricity Consumption

The power consumption mostly varies with the PSU you are using, the ambient operating temperature and the accuracy of the meter measuring power input. Power consumption is another significant factor which decides the profitability of a miner. You have to calculate the energy consumption cost according to the standard electricity rates of the country or location you live. When it comes to L3+ expert analysis shows it consumes around 800W while its previous version L3 used roughly about its half that is 400W.

 

However, since the hash rate also has gone up higher compared to its previous version, the electricity consumption is quite considerable. So, the net efficiency and profit are almost equal for both of the models.

 

Noise Levels

Noise too is another crucial factor that you should check for while purchasing a mining rig. If you are mining from your residential apartments, then make sure that the noise created by the AntMiner is not affecting your household activities.

 

AntMiner L3+ generates over 80dB at 4fts which equals to the sound of a food blender that is 88 dB or a freight train at 15 meters at 100%. That means you would not like to hear its noise while watching your favorite TV series. Even at 50%, it produces a sound that is loud to bear for longer durations. So, mostly if you have an isolated, well-ventilated, spacious room at your apartment or probably a mining farm, then it is the right choice for you.

 

Size

Whether in a residential apartment or a professional mining farm wherever it may be, size is considered as a major factor to look for in mining hardware. Too bulky machinery takes up much space and are not easy to relocate later. Also, in mining farms, when you want to increase the number of rigs, the compactness of rigs play a significant role. It offers hassle-free relocation, operation, space-efficient networking, The AntMiner L3+ has a dimension of 35 cm x 13 cm x 19 cm, which is compact and a considerable size when you look at its performance.

 

Build Quality

For an insider view, it comes with a four-board circuit, with a dual-fan setup, and 59-type case. This design allows for the heat to be moved out quickly and efficiently.Compared to its previous version AntMiner L3 it has doubled its performance by increasing the number of BM1485 ASIC chips from the 144 units in the L3 to 288 in the new L3+.The build quality of the machine is decent as it is made up of solid Aluminum Alloy and its compactness in size makes it more space-friendly.

 

So, ignoring those minor quirks AntMiner L3+ has a stable build quality that ensures your machine will last for a long time.

Easy overclocking Though you get an option to overclock the default performance of L3+ chips, overclocking voids the manufacturer warranty. So, think about the risk factors when you want to overclock it.Whether you want to overclock or underclock, whatever you decide to with your clock speeds, the user interface helps to monitor everything at a place.

 

For operating at max. after you overclock, you need an adequate power supply as well. But the downside is….

AntMiner L3+ does not have a plug-in power supply. So, you will need to purchase a PSU (Power Supply Unit) to run it efficiently. It costs minimally around 150-160$ for an excellent built. You can purchase it from the Bitmain official website and also from Amazon.

 

Simple User Interface

AntMiner L3+ presents you an easy-to-use user-friendly UI. It is as simple as slicing an apple. Starting from the miner status to controlling the chip info, temperature, and speeds the UI offers you everything at a click. What you all need to do is just explore the interface, enter your wallet address, and configure your mining pool settings to kick-start the mining. You also get an option for future firmware upgrades from Bitmain Developers.

 

Warranty

You get a 90-day warranty if you purchase the L3+ from the official website of the Bitmain. However, as per its conditions when you overclock the warranty does not apply anymore.An overview of the specifications:

 

1.         Hash Rate: 504MH/s. A variation of +/- 5% is expected.

2.         Power Consumption: 800W +10% (at the wall, 794 during testing) (at the wall, with Bitmain’s APW3 PSU, 93% efficiency, 25°C ambient temperature)

3.         Network connection: Ethernet

4.         DC Voltage: Input 11.60 ~ 13.00V

5.         Chip Type: BM1485

6.         Chip quantity: per unit 288 chips on 4 hashing boards

7.         Operating temperature: 0°C – 40°C

8.         Dimensions: 352mm (l) x 130mm (w) x 187.5mm (h)

9.         Humidity: 0 to 95 %

 

What features I liked:

1.         Most Powerful miner in the Market of 504 MH/S

2.         Minimalistic Power Consumption of Around 800W

3.         Easy Setup

4.         Gigabit Ethernet support

5.         Compact size

6.         Good build quality

7.         Good after-sale support

8.         OEM Warranty

 

What features I didn’t like:

1.         Cost and ROI

2.         Peak Noise levels

Should you buy it?

If you look at its features, it makes AntMiner L3+ a good deal for you.

After all, its simplistic user interface, ease of access, simplified setup, low-maintenance needs, compactness in size makes it the market winner.The L3+ is highly recommended for you to buy if you want to mine any SCRYPT algo based coins like Litecoin (LTC).But before investing any mining hardware, with the increasing difficulties in mining, you should calculate the ROI.

 

So, how can you calculate the ROI? First, by using a Litecoin profit calculator, you can get an estimated idea of investment costs and returns on investment.Besides the purchase cost, you have to calculate the electricity charges and currency conversion rates in your region.

 

 

Source: https://cryptoevent.io/news