One of the most serious problems any crypto miner faces is heat. Besides applying tweaks that reduce voltage and optimize frequencies on each card, you also need a good ventilation scheme to get rid of the hot air, unless you plan to reuse it somehow. That's the goal of the Crypto Radiator QC-1 developed by Qarnot. Equipped with two Radeon RX 580 cards and a massive aluminum block, the QC-1 will keep the room at a pleasant temperature while chewing numbers to mine Ethereum, or any other compatible cryptocurrency.
It hasn't been the best start of the week for cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin dropped below $9,000, Ethereum stayed far from its average (which kept it at $850), and Monero lost 10 percent, landing at $250. Add the natural increases in difficulty, and mining is losing its meaning for many users who can't keep up with the arms race of installing more hardware and increasing their hashrate. Of course, the story is far from over. There are always alternative cryptocurrencies easier to mine with interesting profits, and then there are other options, like reusing the heat generated by the hardware to save on heating.
The Crypto Radiator QC-1
That's when the French company Qarnot steps in with its Crypto Radiator QC-1. At first glance, anyone could mistake it for a traditional radiator, but inside there's no oil or resistors. The QC-1 is equipped with two Radeon RX 580 Nitro+ graphics cards, passively cooled with a giant aluminum block. The radiator measures 65 by 62.5 by 15 centimeters and weighs 27 kilograms, so mounting it on the wall requires special attention. Maximum power is 650 watts in booster mode, while standard mining reaches 450W. It connects to the internet via an Ethernet cable (no WiFi) and comes configured from the factory to mine Ethereum, but with two RX 580s, it's preferable to switch to Monero or one of its clones.
I say this because Qarnot wants 2,900 euros for the QC-1. Add the cost of electricity, and honestly I don't see the way owners could recover the investment, unless they bet entirely on the speculative factor of cryptocurrencies. In that case, the most logical thing would be to invest the 2,900 euros in the currency you trust the most, and sit on it until it explodes.
