Biostar has launched a new mining rig that wields the combined grunt of eight AMD Radeon RX 580 GPUs. The system, dubbed the Biostar iMiner A588x8D2, uses what appear to be eight consumer-grade Radeon graphics cards with DVI/Triple display port/HDMI outputs and a twin fan cooling design. The cards look like the Biostar Gaming VA5805RV82 model with 8GB of VRAM. In its press release, Biostar says that it can deliver iMiner systems in "large quantities."
Biostar has a history of crypto mining hardware development, dating back quite a while. For example, it has launched many BTC-series motherboards across processor generations, featuring as many as twelve PCIe slots. The new Biostar iMiner A588x8D2 featuring eight RX 580 graphics cards has used its motherboard technology as a platform. Biostar has previously based lower power iMiner systems on multiple RX 570 8GB (8x) and RX 560 4GB GPUs (12x).
As a crypto mining system isn't GPUs alone, Biostar has kitted out this system with an Intel G4900 processor (2C/2T) and 8GB DDR4 RAM. It says the system can run Windows, Linux, or HiveOS, and we note previous members of the iMiner series ran the ethos 64-bit Linux mining distro. The case looks quite roomy and features four 120mm fans and a specially made "blockchain grade" PSU.
Biostar says that the new iMiner A588x8D2 can deliver an Ethereum hash rate of up to 232 MH/s ± 5% for crypto mining performance. But, of course, this system isn't only for ETH mining (which might not be suitable for if/when ETH changes from proof of work to proof of stake); it can also tackle ETC, RVN, ERG, and other altcoin mining jobs.
If you are in the market for a graphics card for 1080p or some 1440p PC gaming, you could do worse than getting a used or new Radeon RX 580, depending on the price. New GPUs with RX 580 level performance are still being available or in planning, such as the state of the GPU market in early 2022.
Biostar's press release boasts, concerning iMiner A588x8D2 systems, that it "guarantees availability in large quantities for any interested party." Thus Biostar must be sitting on large quantities of Radeon RX 580 cards or components to make them.
