Kolink PCIe x1 to Quad x16 - Quad-Mining / Rendering Upgrade Adapter

Bitcoin is a virtual payment method launched in 2009 that is created and managed by all participating clients of the decentralized Bitcoin network. Like many other proof-of-work cryptocurrencies, bitcoins are generated by computer-solving cryptographic computational tasks that consume a lot of energy, called mining.

Meanwhile, GPU-based mining for bitcoins is no longer worthwhile due to the immensely increased demands. As a result, new cryptocurrencies, so-called Altcoins, such as Ethereum, are constantly being launched, which continue to be profitably mined with GPUs. In principle, normal computer processors (CPUs) are capable of scrapping new Altcoins, but they can only calculate a few (kilo) hashes per second and are therefore not suitable for mining in relation to the time and energy used for this purpose. In terms of efficiency, they are significantly beaten by graphics processors (GPUs), with especially graphics chips of the Radeon series from AMD have proven to be particularly powerful. As so-called mining rigs, PC systems are referred to as commercially available hardware components whose sole task is to calculate cryptocurrencies in continuous operation by means of several graphics cards.

In order to counteract the resulting high heat generation and to operate as many graphics cards as possible in parallel, these GPU-Miner systems usually use very open housings (comparable to benchtables) or partly adventurous, self-built housing creations. As with AMD CrossFire or NVIDIA SLI gaming PCs, the system-based mainboards usually can not use all the PCI Express slots, as powerful graphics cards generally have wide dual-fan or even triple-fan coolers and so the space required for other GPUs is missing or, in the case of many mining PCs, all PCIe slots must be routed based on the respective graphics card constellation.

This is where the handy quad-mining adapter comes in and allows four graphics cards to be connected to a PCIe slot on the motherboard when combined with separately available riser-card (or to-rise) adapters. The quad adapter has four USB 3.0 ports and can be connected to as many riser cards. The USB 3.0 standard ensures sufficient bandwidth for the PCIe x1 output slot to which the quad adapter is connected to the motherboard. Since only calculations are performed by the GPU during mining and, unlike video games, no textures or shader data have to be transported to the graphics memory, the bandwidth available here is completely sufficient for this application.