Bitmain was established in 2013 and produced the first-generation bitcoin miner from their Antminer brand, Antminer S1, the same year. With over seven years of development, the Bitcoin miners of the Antminer series have seen models like S1, S2, S3, S4, S5. As a scientific company dedicated to high-speed, low power Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chip design and development, Bitmain has succeeded in producing multiple mining hardware models. 

About Antminer S15

Antminer S15 comes with the latest 7nm ASIC chip. At the time of release, the miner was evaluated as 'Long-term mining, Energy Efficiency,' emphasizing the high performance, durability, and energy efficiency with less power consumption. The Antminer S15 comes with two mining modes: High-Performance and Energy-Saving Mode. 

The High-Performance mode has a top hash rate of 25Th/s, consumes 1596W of power, and has a power efficiency of 57 J/T (25°C conditions). The Energy-Saving mode has a peak hash rate of 18Th/s, power consumption of 900W, and power efficiency of 50 J/T (25 °C conditions). 

Appearance and Features

The Antminer comes with a different design from the single-cylinder and the S1-s9 series's fan design. The Antminer S15 comes with a similar fan design with a one-side intake and an all-in-one miner and power supply. The machine's full size is only 279*175*221 and weighs 7kg, making it compact and suitable for stacking. A honeycomb-shaped baffle replaces the fans on the air outlet. The air inlet and interface is placed on the same part. 

The all-in-one design reduces the wire connections so that the external appearance looks more uncomplicated with more operation and maintenance. The Antminer S15 adopts a clip design for connecting the miner and power supply. In contrast, the hash rate board is still bound by cables.

Fan and Air Circulation

The Antminer S15 comes with two 3.14A fans of the DFB380012000T model that help air circulation and heat dissipation for the ASIC. It's equipped with two 40BH-12E 12V 0.35A fans for power dissipation. The parallel fan design shortens the air cooling process and also reduces wind resistance with more heat dissipation. 

Specifications

Compared to the 6pin interface of the earlier Antminer series, which require power cables, the all-in-one design helps in operation. The miner comes with a voltage regulating cable on the control board to switch between the energy-saving and high-temperature modes. The control board area of Antminer S15 is further reduced to 115mm*95mm compared to the previous series.

Antminer S15 is equipped with Bitmain's 7nm BM1391 chip, a single Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chip that integrates a billion transistors. Apart from improved performance, the regular plastic package is replaced by the Exposed Die package solution. Thus, the miner's backside is in direct contact with the heat sink, which fastens heat transfer. 

The advantage of improving heat transfer efficiency is that it gives more space so Bitmain can place more chips. The reduction of heat sinks also contributed to the small size and light weight of the device. The Antminer S15 has four in-built hash rate boards, and each panel has 72 BM1391 chips equaling a total of 288. 

Power Supply

Antminer S15 comes with a new APW8 power supply with a high conversion rate, which reduces power conversion loss to increase energy efficiency. The APW8 power supply provides 16.32-20.04V of output with high-quality materials. 

Set-Up and Installation

The all-in-one makes of the S15 removes the process of power cable plugging. The device installation is completed by placing the rack and connecting the power cord and network cables.

Temperature

Antminer S15 has four hash rate boards in total, and each one is integrated with four temperature-sensing modules. The chip temperature ranges from 44℃ to 78℃. Thanks to the Exposed Die package solution, the outlet temperature is about 42℃, and the power outlet temperature is about 28℃.

Noise Level

Because of the low ambient temperature, the fan speed is about 3120 rotations per minute. The measured noise level is 76.5dB, and the measured noise level from two meters away is 67.7dB. 

Algorithm

Like most miners from the Antminer series, the Antminer S15 works with the Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA-256) algorithm. The SHA-256 is a cryptographic hash function that has to do with mining altcoins. The top coins are Bitcoin(BCH) and Bitcoin Cash(BCH). 

Probability

The Antminer S15 profitability depends on market conditions and electricity rates in the area. Bitcoin miners typically pay off after 18 months.