Custom RX470 with Four GPUs Spotted and Theorized to Have Been Made for Cryptomining Purposes

NewsTech
By Peter Brosdahl

The FPS Review may receive a commission if you purchase something after clicking a link in this article.

Image: GOK

Now here’s an interesting oddity from a bygone era: a custom PCB featuring not one, two, or three, but four GPUs, presumably made for cryptomining. Images of the card (via VideoCardz) in question were recently posted on social media, showing four Radeon RX470 GPUs on a single board. Each GPU was powered by a single 8-pin PCIe connector, and the board was designed for the PCIe x8 interface, suggesting it was aimed at mining rather than gaming. The four 8-pin connectors could potentially allow for up to 600W of power delivery and then another 75W via the PCIe interface. However, as just about everyone knows, AMD GPUs are famously known for their underclocking potential, so it’s unlikely one would need to utilize full power draw for this card.

A single HDMI port is provided, further alluding to its cryptomining prospects, given that many PC gamers opt for cards with multiple display options. It’s been theorized the card was made in China and, despite the AMD logo was not any type of official product. The card is missing its heatsinks, so its current owner has yet to try to fire it up, and the card would obviously need a very specialized cooling solution to encompass all four GPUs and their accompanying VRM and memory components. However, it would be interesting to have seen what the hash rates for this card were during the prime of the mining era. It wasn’t uncommon back then to hear about older GPUs being sent to the mines with rigs packed with cards, but it was rare to hear stories like this where a custom PCB was designed to house this many GPUs. Talk about a space saver! Who knows, perhaps we’ll see some kind of similar AI-focused creation pop out of Asia in the near future featuring four or more GPUs on a single PCB, such as this, sporting 3GB GDDR memory modules.

Join the discussion in The FPS Review Forums...

Discussion

Join Discussion →

No replies yet. Be the first to reply on the forum.

Peter Brosdahl
As a child of the 70’s I was part of the many who became enthralled by the video arcade invasion of the 1980’s. Saving money from various odd jobs I purchased my first computer from a friend of my dad, a used Atari 400, around 1982. Eventually it would end up being a lifelong passion of upgrading and modifying equipment that, of course, led into a career in IT support.

Recent News