KnCMiner Enters Final Phase of Titan ASIC Chip Production

KnCMiner has announced that production of its Titan line of scrypt miners has moved into a new phase.

The cryptocurrency mining hardware maker broke the news on its official blog, indicating that the Titan ASIC chips are now in the wafer encapsulation phase. During this process, a protective layer is applied to electronic components to safeguard the parts from damage caused by temperature and humidity changes.

The update comes nearly two months after KnCMiner said that the tape-out for the Titan had begun. At the time, the company noted that it expected to complete production on the hardware in time for shipment in the third quarter of this year.

The company wrote:

“Our new Titan Scrypt Miner is finishing its first run in fabrication this weekend with wafers being sent to the next step: encapsulation. As so, we’re awaiting completion and the arrival of the finished chips in Stockholm, Sweden, where they’ll move into our testing and assembly phase, for delivery.”

More design elements revealed

The announcement is the latest news related to the Titan, which has been in active development since early this year. Pre-orders for the Titan began in March, with buyers paying $10,000 per unit. Originally designed to provide roughly 100 MH/s in scrypt mining power, the units were later estimated to produce 250 MH/s instead.

Work on the Titan has continued despite persistent problems for KnCMiner itself. Throughout the Titan's production period, KnCMiner has been dogged by accusations of deceptive business practices and negligence resulting in problematic deliveries to customers.

The wafer encapsulation update follows a recent statement saying that the Titan will sport a modular design, with each chip contained within what KnCMiner called “cubes”. At the time, the hardware maker declared that the approach made sense from a cooling and operational perspective, saying:

“Each module having it’s own case also enhances efficiency in cooling and we can make each cube very quiet.”

The post also suggests that the printed circuit board utilized for the Titan will be the same kind used in its Neptune mining product. Finally, the company said that finalized specifications for the Titan would be released once testing has been completed.

Chip image via Shutterstock