Cracking nuts with the Bitaxe while following the white rabbit

Introduction: what a Bitaxe is and how it came about, what it is good for and so on, can already be found on various websites and video platforms. If not, here are some links that will help you on your Bitcoin home mining journey and you can help support the security and decentralization of the Bitcoin network with your efforts.

• https://bitaxe.org
• https://osmu.wiki

But today we would like to look at what overclocking a Bitaxe achieves, what advantages and disadvantages arise from it and, above all, how far a Bitaxe can be pushed under air cooling.

But first, let's start at the beginning.

Overclocking can also be useful if an older generation of the ASIC is installed on your Bitaxe and you either don't yet have the current generation, or if a current generation like the Bitaxe Supra is used and you are waiting for the next generation, but want to significantly increase performance.

But also for operating a unit with solar power, overclocking is recommended here to get the highest possible hash rate out of the delivered amount of electricity. So there are many reasons to overclock the Bitcoin Miner.

Overclocking the processor, in this case an ASIC chip, is easy to explain. Cool the processor, increase the clock and voltage, and the processor calculates the operations faster. But be careful here, an ASIC chip behaves slightly differently when overclocked than when overclocking a processor in your computer. ASIC chips need a certain temperature to work optimally, so there is little point in putting the ASIC in the freezer in the hope of achieving new records.

Bitaxe may be new to many, but we are now in the fourth generation of the open source miner, Bitaxe Gamma being the official name.

ASIC processors for the Bitaxe are either new or are recovered from old defective or discarded miners and brought to life. Thus, this open source community behind the project is just as oriented towards sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. The actual Bitaxe project has since given rise to many other side projects, and every day the hard-working and constantly growing community comes up with new ideas.

Enclosed is an overview of the previous Bitaxe versions, including information on which miners the processors were extracted from and in which industries the miners were used. Also included is the average possible hash rate that could be achieved with the respective model.

Bitaxe Max (100 Series): The Bitaxe Max is your gateway into the world of Bitcoin mining. Fully assembled with a heatsink, fan, and 5V socket, it’s designed for plug-and-play readiness. Running on just 15W, it optimizes energy usage while delivering robust performance.

Bitaxe Ultra (200 Series): The Bitaxe Ultra sets new standards for enthusiasts who demand high performance and efficiency. It comes fully assembled and ready to operate, championing the spirit of open-source with unmatched flexibility and customization options.

Bitaxe Supra (400 Series): The Bitaxe Supra stands at the forefront of Bitcoin mining technology, embodying peak performance and exceptional energy efficiency. With advanced cooling options and a hashrate of up to 700 GH/s, it ensures you remain competitive in the Bitcoin mining landscape.

Bitaxe Gamma (600 Series): The Bitaxe Gamma represents the pinnacle of open-source mining technology. With its groundbreaking performance and efficiency, it offers individual miners access to enterprise-level mining capabilities. The Gamma continues the Bitaxe tradition of full assembly and plug-and-play readiness, allowing miners to harness this incredible power with minimal setup.

^{Source: https://d-central.tech}

Usually, inexpensive but not very powerful standard aluminum coolers are pre-assembled with the Bitaxe. You might think that they were only bought from one dealer because most of them are yellow – the cooler dimensions are 40x40x15 mm. This cooler is usually sufficient to run the Bitaxe Miner with pre-set settings, regardless of which ASIC generation was delivered. Whether a Max, Ultra, Supra or the current Gamma, it works, but nothing more. Problems can arise if the miner is located in a warm region/country/room. This is mainly because a very loud and inexpensive fan is usually installed with these coolers. A Noctua fan can help here, but more about that later.

The cooler can be replaced very easily; it is held in place by 2 or 4 plastic pins. In most cases, an exchange is actually recommended to protect the hardware and increase the lifespan of the ASIC processor, to have the fan run slower (which also saves electricity). The next higher after-market model, which can actually be purchased very cheaply, is a cooler made of aluminum with the dimensions 40x40x40 mm. Due to the higher mass, the ASIC can transfer heat to the cooler much better and the fan can cool the finer and longer pins much more effectively. With this update, you are already on the safe side if you want to slightly overclock the Bitaxe, with the options available in the Settings menu.

The next generation of coolers for the Bitaxe was first introduced into the game by D-Central in combination with the Bitaxe Supra, the “Ice Tower” from 52Pi. This cooler was developed for the Raspberry Pi, but thanks to its compact size and a 3D-printed adapter, it can be mounted on any currently available Bitaxe. The special feature is that the cooler resembles a small minitower cooler with two copper head pipes. The fan is attached to the side and, as an overall concept, significantly increases the cooling performance. With this cooler model, all overclocking options can be used in the Bitaxe settings, especially when combined with a more powerful Noctua fan.

And now the next generation, which is also being offered by D-Central for the first time in combination with the Bitaxe. It is possible to order the aforementioned cooler pre-assembled in every Bitaxe variant.

In most cases, and probably due to their mass distribution, the fans are 40x40 mm fans that have a high speed, are very loud and do not always deliver optimal performance. They are used to cool the ASIC processor via the heat dissipation to the cooler. If the Bitaxe was delivered with the standard cooler and fan, it is not recommended to overclock it at all and rather let it run in a cooler room. It is simply the most minimal solution so that the small home miner can run and the ASIC processor does not overheat in the best case. Likewise, such air conditioners are not suitable for use in a room where quiet is desired, such as in the living room, bedroom or living room.

So even if a standard cooler is used, it is almost always recommended to install a better fan. The almost unrivaled Noctua in the 40mm version is ideal here. There are two models and you should definitely make sure that you buy a 5V fan and not a 12V one. Also make sure that it is a PMW version, which means that the fan speed is automatically controlled according to the temperature of the ASIC chip, thus achieving the optimum speed.

• Noctua NF-A4x10 5V PWM
• Noctua NF-A4x20 5V PWM

The Noctua NF-A4x20 5V PWM should be preferred because it offers a significantly higher air flow rate and thus cools the cooler more quietly and effectively.

The Noctua NF-A4x20 5V PWM can be used with a range of different coolers in the 40x40mm size, regardless of whether it is a 40x40x15mm, 40x40x40mm or the recommended “Ice Tower” from 52Pi. The best cooling performance and low noise can be achieved with the combination of the “Ice Tower” from 52Pi and Noctua NF-A4x20 5V PWM if you want to stick with the 40x40mm form factor.

The next generation of Bitaxe, the Bitaxe Gamma, has also produced a new larger cooler, as already mentioned above. This cooler will operate with a 60x60mm fan and can thus cool the ASIC chip even more effectively and quietly. A useful fan is already included with the “Argon THRML 60mm Radiator Cooler”, but you can increase the cooling capacity enormously by exchanging the fan and take it to the next level. A Noctua fan is also suitable here, which is also available in several versions, but only one version makes sense: Noctua NF-A6x25 5V PWM

The Noctua NF-A6x25 5V PWM in combination with the Argon THRML cooler currently offers the absolute best possible option for an air-based cooling concept. Even without overclocking, the enormous cooling capacity protects the ASIC chip and thus exorbitantly increases the lifespan of your miner. As mentioned above, overclocking is also possible outside of the specified limits.

The most common cooling solution is an air-based cooler, although some people like to experiment with other cooling concepts. These allow a significantly higher hash rate yield, so even an older Bitaxe Ultra Model can be operated at up to 1.4 Th/s.

You can follow the entire progress of the project on the user's X-Account, and μολὼν λαβέ Holdings is also developing a self-sufficient mining station based on photovoltaics, “Solarbit”. So feel free to take a detailed look at this very exciting concept as well.

Another important issue is the power supply of the Bitaxe. Most retailers deliver a power supply with the Bitaxe, but unfortunately the included power supply is absolute junk. It is almost never suitable for overclocking the Bitaxe and already delivers too little voltage at standard settings. The Bitaxe expects a stable voltage of 5V. So it is really recommended to use a different power supply with a 5V specification.

You can buy very good power supplies for little money, starting at just 35 watts of power, if you don't want to overclock but want to ensure a stable power supply.

Enclosed is a list of power supplies that you can use without hesitation. Note that the number of possible Bitaxe can also vary, depending on the Bitaxe generation/model and overclocking. The most common models used by many in the community are MEAN WELL LRS-100-5 and MEAN WELL LRS-200-5. With these models, you are on the safe side and experience shows that you will need more than one Bitaxe when you first start using this topic.

Note that you should use a good power wire with a protective contact plug with CEE/4 certification. Read the assembly documentation for the power supply unit carefully. 

If you have no experience with such power supplies, find an electrician who can prepare the power supply for you. After successfully attaching the cable, secure the open power pins with hot glue so that nothing can accidentally fall on the contacts or you accidentally touch the contacts. 

Caution: improper use can result in death!

It is very important to consider that in the case of a custom power supply like the Mean Well, it is essential to ensure that a sufficiently dimensioned power cable cross-section is selected. Cable cross-sections are marked with the AWG guideline, note that higher AWG indicate lower cable cross-sections. So here it is important to choose a value that is as low as possible.

In fact, I found a power supply that came with the Bitaxe Ultra that was labeled AWG 24... Such a cable is dangerous because it can burn through the high current and cause a fire in the house.
 

Especially in the case of a custom power supply, make absolutely sure that the selected cable is at least AWG 18.

90° angled DC plugs are particularly popular and practical; these can be conveniently ordered from Amazon or Aliexpress. I have noticed that many are offered in AWG 20-22 and of course are particularly cheap. 

You can NOT use these cables with the Bitaxe.

Thermal paste

Probably the cheapest and first thing to do is to change the thermal paste, immediately after buying the Bitaxe, regardless of which cooler you are using. This measure alone can significantly improve the heat transfer from the ASIC chip to the cooler, making it much cooler and more effective. In fact, the fan will not have to work as hard either and will run at a significantly lower speed, thus consuming a little less power, which further increases the efficiency of the Bitaxe.

Here are some thermal pastes that we have successfully used and that are very suitable for ASIC overclocking purposes.

• Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut
• Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme
• Thermal Grizzly Hydronaut
• Noctua NT-H2 AM5 Edition
• ARCTIC MX-6
• THERMALRIGHT TFX
• Gelid Solutions GC-Extreme

Cooler and Copper heat sink

Copper is the perfect conductive material when it comes to heat transfer. There are certainly other metals that have a higher transfer coefficient, but these are unaffordable and have a very poor cost-performance ratio. But even copper in larger quantities is significantly more expensive than aluminum, but offers incomparably better results than aluminum.

So if you still have an old computer or can get one of these coolers on the second-hand market, feel free to get one. Such coolers are actually significantly better than the currently available reference model in the form of the Argon THRML. One such copper Nothbridge cooler is, for example, “Ötzi” from “Alpenföhn”, which was produced between 2008-2011 and is unfortunately no longer available. The “Ötzi” is extremely massive, made of 100% copper and weighs 139.5 grams, it is simply a monster for the Bitaxe and is an absolute reference model.

Screws instead of plastic pins

In fact, a very effective and inexpensive optimization is to replace the plastic pins with screws on the cooler attached to the Bitaxe PCB. The significantly higher contact pressure allows the heat from the ASIC to be transferred much better to the cooler.

Fan duct and/or second fan

With a little skill and imagination, fan duct concepts can be combined with the Bitaxe. Self-made fan duct solutions, for example, using an adapter from 80 mm to 60 mm, significantly increase cooling performance, but usually look unappealing. Likewise, a 3D-printed adapter is usually required that fits the cooler used. If you can't find a suitable one in the common 3D libraries, you will have to design one yourself using a 3D program. Likewise, screws with an integrated spring can help to relieve tension and thus protect the ASIC chip from damage.

Likewise, a second air vent at the back of the Bitaxe is extremely effective and not only protects the hardware and extends its lifespan, but also helps with overclocking. Not only the ASIC chip needs to be well and optimally cooled, but also the mosfets at the back and partly at the front. You can use any air cooler you like, but our recommendation is clearly Noctua fans because they are very quiet, efficient and powerful. The size is irrelevant, but the following fans would be perfect for this expansion:

• Noctua NF-A4x20 5V PWM
• Noctua NF-A6x25 5V PWM
• Noctua NF-A8 5V PWM
• Noctua NF-A9 5V PWM

If you are using multiple fans, we recommend getting a PWM fan hub. This allows you to connect multiple fans to your Bitaxe or power supply, or alternatively use the included Y-adapter from Noctua, where you can power two fans using the Bitaxe 4-pin fan connector.

Note: in certain constellations, when an air vent is attached to the back of the Bitaxe, the magnetic field can collide with the main fan for the ASIC on the cooler. This can occur in particular when a standard cooler or a horizontally mounted fan is attached to the cooler. However, this behavior has not been observed with the “Ice Tower” from 52Pi.

Normal overclocking above the specified values in the settings menu is easy to select and can be tested step by step. However, it should be noted that not every ASIC on the Bitaxe can be overclocked equally well. It is primarily due to the so-called Silicon Lottery, which indicates how well the ASIC chip itself was manufactured. Just as it is soldered cleanly, it is still an open source project and not all dealers deliver the same experience when soldering the necessary components.

• Step 1: Read the above basics to understand the topic of overclocking and dependencies. Without the basics, you cannot determine the correct overclocking, and this can even cause damage to the Bitaxe. This is really important, so don't skip these points. Also, we do not take any responsibility for your actions. When overclocking, you are acting outside the specifications at your own risk.
   

• Step 2: Open the setup menu in the AxeOS of your Bitaxe. Here you will see two fields for Mhz and vCore. With Mhz you overclock the ASIC chip directly, telling it the speed at which it should process operations. With vCore, you determine how much voltage the ASIC chip should receive. Both values must harmonize with each other for the overclocking to be successful and, above all, for the Bitaxe to work stably.

   

• Step 3: Increase the Mhz setting by one level, at the same voltage. Save the configuration and restart the Bitaxe. The dashboard display of the estimated hashing rate is very accurate and reflects an average. Wait 5-10 minutes for everything to settle down. Check that the power supply is not too hot, check that the ASIC chip is not overheating and that the temperature is not too high (for guidelines on optimal temperatures, see above). The Bitaxe must run absolutely stable, then your overclocking was successful.
   
• Step 4: Proceed as described in step 3. If the hash rate speed drops or stagnates at a certain Mhz selection, then you have to increase the voltage (vCore) by one level. After increasing the voltage, the Bitaxe must work properly.
   
• Step 5: Step 3 and Step 4 describe your further steps if you want to overclock the Bitaxe further. Always pay attention to the most important parameters: ASIC temperature, hasing rate fluctuations, vCore fluctuations and the heat generated by the power supply. Also note the power consumption, which is given in watts; under no circumstances should this exceed 80% of the capacity of your power supply.
   
• Step 6: Find the golden mean between voltage and frequency of the ASIC. The goal is to achieve the lowest possible voltage at the highest possible frequency of the ASIC chip. Take your time and be patient to be able to explore and test everything carefully.

As mentioned above, you should create perfect conditions so that your Bitaxe is supplied with optimal voltage of 5 volts. As a rule, all included power supplies are not suitable for normal overclocking measures. For extreme overclocking, a good and powerful power supply is needed that can stably deliver the necessary voltage. 

The power supply should also allow you to adjust the voltage in order to optimally supply the Bitaxe with power after overclocking and to avoid overvoltage or undervoltage. Usually, such power supplies are protected against overload and especially against short circuits, but you need to be familiar with them and pay attention to the pin assignment and specifications of these power supplies. Furthermore, it is essential that a power supply is never loaded above 80%. So pay attention when choosing. Power supplies that work beyond their own parameters can destroy the miner and sooner or later burn out because they are simply overloaded.

For primary overclocking attempts, at least the MEAN WELL LRS-200-5 5V 40A should be used. The MEAN WELL LRS-100-5 AC/DC 18A is not sufficient in this case, for a simple reason, mathematics again. We should expect a maximum load of 50W on the Bitaxe and a maximum of 1.5V voltage, the small Bitaxe won't handle more power anyway due to its non-designed transistors.

Don't use MEAN WELL LRS-100-5 AC/DC 18A 5V power supply, because it is only approved for up to 18 amps. You will get a higher frequency on the ASIC (1000 Mhz), but the voltage will be unstable and the power supply will be overloaded.

The 300-watt version, the MEAN WELL LRS-300W 5V 60A, is even better and, above all, has sufficient reserves; this can manage 60 amps.

Note that with such extreme overclocking, you will probably only be able to operate one Bitaxe per 200W power supply.

With this form of overclocking, not only does the ASIC need to be well cooled, which means that you should at least use the “Ice Tower” from 52Pi and Noctua NF-A4x20 5V PWM, but also the underside of the PCB with mosfets. Even better, or significantly better results can of course be achieved with a sufficiently dimensioned cooler made of copper or, as the best alternative to a copper cooler, the “Argon THRML 60mm Radiator Cooler”.

The mosfets on the back of the PCB that get the hottest are Q1 and Q2, as well as the area around the DC plug gets very hot. These mosfets and areas must be equipped with at least an aluminum heat sink, better with a heat sink made of pure copper.

Under normal circumstances, it is not possible to set individual clock rates for the ASIC or vCore. This is correct and important so that inexperienced users do not “grill” the Bitaxe. To be able to change the values individually, the following steps must be performed.

Note: Read the basics again, which are listed above, without basics you can destroy your Bitaxe by the following measures.

• Step 1: Open the Setup menu in the AxeOS of your Bitaxe, with the Chrome or Firefox browser.

   

• Step 2: Right-click with the mouse and go to Inspect. An additional window will open on the right side, which you can ignore.

   

• Step 3: From a drop-down menu at the frequency and vCore fields, text boxes. In these text boxes, you can enter your desired values and start overclocking.

   

• Step 4: Here you have to go very slowly and as mentioned above, go up in 1 step at frequency. With more experience, you can also slowly increase the clock in 10 Mhz steps. However, under no circumstances should you increase it by several dozen or 100 steps.

   

• Step 5: Check the temperature, the voltage (must deliver a constant 5V), the heat of the power supply, carefully touch the heat sinks on the mosfets – these must not be so hot that you burn your fingers on them.

   

• Step 6: Take more time for this process to find the optimal settings for your Bitaxe. If you have arrived at a maximum frequency, it is recommended to clock down by about 5-10% for safe and stable operation, just as you would reduce the vCore by the corresponding value.

Important: Do everything calmly and carefully. You can get an electric shock or cause a short circuit in addition to the defect of your Bitax. Do everything in a quiet environment and without distractions, concentrate on this process and, if possible, secure your socket/power line with a fuse. Be aware that you are working with live electrical parts here. This is extremely important to know and understand!

I wanted to tidy up my IT box a bit, and I noticed a cooler that was made entirely of copper, produced between 2008-2011 and designed for use on an emergency bridge of a PC mainboard. In fact, it was also the right size for a Bitaxe and I couldn't help but spontaneously test this monster made of 139.5 grams of copper on the Bitaxe.

I still had an old Noctua 60mm fan, unfortunately it was designed for 12V and therefore ran very slowly on the 5V Bitaxe. But that was perfectly adequate and it was possible to successfully overclock the ASIC processor to an incredible 800 Mhz at 1,375V.

However, I noticed that the MOSFETs on the bottom side of the PCB, Q1 and Q2 to be precise, get extremely hot. So hot that it is simply not healthy to run the Bitaxe Supra at such a high overclocking rate for long periods of time.

After much deliberation and testing to see what was possible, I came up with the idea of using a fan duct adapter from 120mm to 92mm. The acceleration of the air significantly improved the cooling of the Bitaxe, and the Q1 and Q2 mosfets could no longer overheat. I could even touch them without burning my fingers.

After I was able to eliminate all thermal problems ASIC processor rarely reached 55°C with the monster copper cooler, the MOSFETs were actively cooled with a 120 mm NONAME fan and the coolers were able to dissipate the heat perfectly on the MOSFETs. This opened the way to further progress with the extreme overclocking, which meant a lot of testing with the clock frequency for the ASIC processor and, of course, the voltage itself.

"ck pool" was used as the test pool because the statistics were still very detailed at the time and so it was possible to see how stable the miner really was. In the first tests, the Bitaxe Supra was able to achieve a stable 1.2 Th/s without any problems over several hours. It just kept going up, the copper cooler did everything, as did my ugly functional fan duct for the underside, even though the whole construction was on wobbly feet. 

So I achieved a new personal record, running a Bitaxe Supra with air cooling for over 10 hours at 1050 Mhz and a voltage of 1.5v, which resulted in this photo, which many of you already know.

This record day was really very hot, in the study it was 29°C. But the extreme overclocking worked without any problems, relaxed between 1.3-1.7 Th/s, at 45W and an ASIC temperature of 60°C... average hash rate was 1380 Gh/s. Absolutely silent or so quiet that you didn't notice the strange construction.

However, I noticed that the coolers on the underside of the PCB for Q1 and Q2 had become extremely hot again, so hot that it could not have been healthy for continuous operation at these settings in the long run. In addition, the NONAME 120 mm fan, in my opinion, simply did not build up enough pressure and thus could not accelerate the airflow as much as I would have liked.

So a powerful Noctua fan had to be procured, but I found that there are an extremely large number of 120 mm Noctua fans. Each individual model was designed for a specific application and described in detail in diversion articles. But I couldn't tell which fan variant I would need for my test setup. I didn't have a case and other requirements couldn't be determined exactly. So I just ordered all the models that I thought would be useful.

That's how I got the idea that you could combine two fan ducts. Specifically, the idea was to go from 140 mm to 120 mm, then connect the second fan duct and go from 120 mm to 92 mm.

So I ordered the incredibly great and powerful Noctua NF-A14 5V PWM. The Noctua NF-A14 5V PWM moves an incredible amount of air and accelerates the air through the fan duct incredibly well... Well, I should have done the math in advance, you can't cheat physics and mathematics.

So the first test was started with the two fan ducts and the Noctua NF-A14 5V PWM, and I was very surprised that so little air came through the 92mm fan duct opening, significantly less than with the noname 120 mm fan.It turned out that the air escaped at the slots between the fan and fan ducts, but in this way the air flow was reflected and thrown back by the 92 mm fan duct. Thus, the Noctua NF-A14 5V PWM was working against itself... The explanation is simple: you can't compress the air in such a setup and force it through such an extreme reduction by force. A simple calculation would have solved the problem that such a setup can't work at all.

Here is an example: the 92mm Fun Duct has an opening area of 6,645 mm2, while the 140 mm Fan Duct has 15,366 mm2. This means that the 92 mm opening has only about 43.2% of the area of the 140 mm fan. So the airflow was extremely reduced instead of increased, it was not healthy for the fan in the long run because it simply worked against itself.

So the 120 mm Noctua fans were tested, the 12V version connected to a Mean Well 12V power supply, the 5V version connected directly to the Bitaxe Supra via a Y-splitter.

After a lot of lengthy tests, it became clear that Noctua NF-A12x25 5V PWM was perfect for the construction and produced the best results.

The tests also showed that the Bitaxe should be at a certain angle so that the lower Mosfets are perfectly cooled. I had measured about 32° in my test setup, which will play a role later.

My simple fan duct design, with the combination of a 120 mm to 92 mm, a very good Noctua NF-A12x25 5V PWM fan and the angled Bitaxe, proved that it is possible to overclock a Bitaxe Supra extremely with the simplest of means. But my setup looked very wild and, for us enthusiasts, possibly nerdy hot, but not really suitable for the living or study room. 

Furthermore, I still had a small problem that the top side of the PCB did not receive any active cooling, or only to a very small extent. The top side, exactly between the ASIC and AC/DC power plug, also became extremely warm, even a copper cooler at that point did not really help.

So I thought to myself, I have to construct something for 3D printing, at the same time I can do air/water flow simulations in the CAD program and see if my idea for an OC Bitaxe case would work.

In fact, it is not yet perfect, as the physical test shows, and there were some challenges with 3D printing, as the 3D printing service provider informed me. However, the path has been laid and it continues to move forward with tests and optimizations.

The idea of using O-rings as feet was definitely a good idea, no transmission of vibrations or noise, which is pleasing. The internal air ducts work great and the top side of the PCB is now cooled excellently. The surface of the case is still not optimal, so I still have some work to do on that. But on the whole, the direction is easy to see and the most important thing is that it works, looks good and can be used perfectly in the living/work room.

Visually, there is still a lot to be done on the prototype. I should slightly adjust the design and coordinate with the 3D service provider. In the current version, the thing really doesn't look very clean, but I suppose that's probably how a prototype should look.

However, the function itself cannot be criticized, the OC'Axe Prototype beats my experimental construction by far, it is not only significantly more compact, but also performs significantly better.

I have not tested all of them between overclocking, as listed above for the experimental construction with the Fan Duct... I tried to squeeze the maximum out of my Bitaxe Supra right away.

I connected it blindly and let the test setup run for an hour, as can be seen on X.com, at 1000 Mhz and 1.5v voltage, on average it managed 1250 Gh/s. It was almost silent, 1 meter away from the test setup and you simply couldn't hear the fans anymore.

With my further test, I came to the optimal value:

Average hash rate was at 1356 Gh/s, so more than perfect. The temperature is also totally relaxed: 54°C at the ASIC, I could touch the Mosfets problem-free with my finger and it didn't even get uncomfortable. So functionally the prototype is a complete success..

After an hour of runtime, the "ck pool" automatically assigned a share difficulty value of 1080, with 1,013 shares and exactly 0 rejects. This means to me that the extreme overclocking is very stable and gives you high-quality shares.

Sweet spot: of course you don't have to run the Bitaxe to the limit, a good 10% down and you still have over 1.2 Th/s, lower power consumption, a significantly longer lifespan because neither the ASIC nor the mosfets can overheat. Even for very warm regions, OC'axe is suitable, the miner is guaranteed not to shut down due to overheating. 

So far, a complete success. Now just the aesthetics and the visual in nice and smooth.

The development of the OC'axe continues. It is described in detail in a separate article, as there is unfortunately no more space here in this article. 

But a few impressions can still be shown. 

Many thanks to the entire Bitaxe community, who are finding new solutions with so much enthusiasm and fun and I can be a part of it. 
 

So the journey continues...