Crypto Miners is driving high demand for AMD processors with large L3 caches

Now that crypto miners and their scalping-like counterparts have managed to grab all of our valuable GPU inventory, it seems they are now aiming for one more thing that gamers appreciate: the AMD CPU offering. According to a report in the UK's Bitcoin Press, part of the reason it's so difficult to find a current generation AMD processor for sale is somewhere due to a cryptocurrency called Raptoreum that uses the processor to break instead of an ASIC or a GPU. Obviously, mining is significantly accelerated by the large L3 cache embedded in processors such as AMD Ryzen, Epyc and Threadripper.

Raptoreum was designed as an anti-ASIC currency, as they wanted to keep the more expensive hardware solutions away from their blockchain because they believed it would lower profits for everyone. To accomplish this, they chose the Ghostrider mining algorithm, which is a combination of Cryptonite and x16r algorithms, and those in some unique code to make it highly randomized, which is its preference for L3 cache.

If you were not aware of this, AMD's advanced processors have more cache than their Intel competitors, making them a hot item for miners in this particular currency. For example, a chip like the Threadripper 3990X has a hefty 256 MB L3 cache, but since it's a $ 5,000 CPU, the miners are content with the still beefy Ryzen chips. A CPU like the Ryzen 5900X has a generous 64 MB L3 cache compared to just 30 MB on Intel's Alder Lake processors and only 16 MB on Intel's 11th generation chips. Several models of AMD processors also have so much cache, not just the flagship silicon, including the previous generation Ryen 9 3900X CPU. However, the really affordable models, like the 5800X, only have 32 MB of L3 cache.

According to the Raptoreum Mining Profitability Calculator, only one AMD 5950X can generate 181 Raptoreum per day, which at its current price is around $ 4. This means that you can theoretically pay off the cost of the CPU in about six months, apart from the electricity costs. AMD processors are also favorable in this situation, not only because of their L3 cache but also because of their excellent performance per watt, as they have been more efficient than Intel's chips for some time now, although the company obviously hopes be able to change that with Alder Lake. Still, notes Bitcoin Press, "Grove power consumption estimates for the Ryzen 9 3900X system are rated at 190W with OC settings," which is probably better than any CPU currently on the market.

To make matters potentially even worse, AMD's next update for its Ryzen processors will include adding V-cache, which is vertically stacked L3 cache on-die, with 64 MB per chiplet. These L3 upgrades will certainly make its chips even more desirable for Raptoreum miners, provided the currency still exists when the updates arrive in early 2022.