Many manufacturers have been creating Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) miners for different algorithms. Baikal was one of the first to develop the X11 ASIC miners and was also one of the first to produce a Cryptonight ASIC miner. The Baikal Bk-N (AKA Baikal Giant N) is a Cryptonight ASIC miner that can produce a hash rate of 20Kh/s (Kilo hash per second) while consuming only 60W of power.
It would take a couple of GPUs and roughly 2500W of power or more to get the same output from a GPU rig, depending on the GPU and settings. It was no surprise to see the wide acclaim and clamor about the Baikal BK-N at the time of release. But that’s not all. The Monero dev team decided to stay ASIC resistant at the time, and Monero experienced a hard fork with a new algorithm making any existing ASICs unable to mine the coin.
Baikal miners are FPGA (field-programmable gate array, i.e., you can customize and reprogram for your purpose), which is one of their main advantages over other competitors. If a coin happens to switch to another algorithm, all the miner needs to do is configure the hardware, and it’s good to go.
About Baikal BK-N
The first noticeable feature of the BK-N is its small size at 1800g or 3.9 lbs, and its size allows conservation of space in mining farms. The miner comes with three hash boards, a backplane, and an Orange Pi Zero controller. It has just one fan that makes sure there are adequate air circulation and heat dissipation. It has various ports for power and ethernet connections. It has two tails for power connection; one connects to a standard AC adapter that uses at least 60 to 100W, the type found on laptops.
Specifications
The second part is for a PCIe Power Supply Unit (PSU) connection split into three miner connections. One power connector can run up to 150W, so one passes power to the hash boards. The Baikal BK-N is easy to set up once connected and set up, and one should go to the IP address assigned to the ethernet connection. This miner comes with a healthy firmware version, which makes setup simple.
The first page gives the miner status with graphs, explains the pool status, and shows stats that let the owner know whether they are active. The next page is for the owner to add pool info, choose the preferred algorithm, set miner settings such as fan control and remote status. Baikal made it easy to set up the pool info by just entering one’s worker and location.
Algorithms
One of Giant N's main advantages is that it can add new algorithms to existing miners, making them last longer. The Baikal BK-N packs a top hash rate of 40 Kh/s with a power consumption of 60W. Even though it mines with the Cryptonight algorithm, it also uses the Cryptonight Lite algorithm. Both algorithms have different hash rates, the same power consumption, and efficiency. However, outcomes may exceed these numbers with better hashing power results by 5-10%.
Mining with ASIC miners is easier and better. There isn’t a ton of extra work like GPU mining, which requires ongoing tweaking, trying out different GPU BIOS, and mining settings that experienced miners mining Monero and other Cryptonote coins are used. Mining with Baikal BK-N is better, in sharp contrast to GPU mining.
Noise Level
Baikal BK-N has a noise level of 60 dB, and that is quite ordinary though almost soundless. Most miners have sound levels of 60 to 80 dB. With its small size and noise level, the Baikal BK-N can is suitable for mining at home.
Profitability
The profitability of Baikal BK-N depends on market conditions and electricity rates in the area. Miners will make a profit when the market favors the top coin.
