Intel can make cryptocurrency mining chip 'without compromising the supply of new CPUs or GPUs'

pcgamer.com:

Intel has just announced a brand new cryptocurrency mining chip. Called Blockscale, Intel's new chip promises to be more energy-efficiency than others at SHA-256 hashing, which is most commonly used in bitcoin mining. Sounds wonderful, if you own a bitcoin mining farm. Though before you get too down in the dumps about it, Intel at least says production of this new chip won't compromise production of its CPUs and GPUs.

That's because it's able to avoid any such compromise due to the «nature of the silicon powering this technology.» Assumedly that means the process node the Blockscale chip will be produced on won't be the same as those used by its CPU and GPUs. That could mean it's using older technology, but more likely it's using a very recent node instead.

Just not necessarily its own.

Intel had previously outlined two generations of its cryptocurrency chip, known as Bonanza Mine. The first generation was more of a prototype, while the second is the basis for the Blockscale Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) we're seeing today.

The first-generation test unit was confirmed to be using a 7nm process node. Though this was not confirmed to be Intel's own Intel 4 node or a rival's, such as TSMC. Despite having its own manufacturing facilities around the world, Intel has bought supply through TSMC for its lineup of upcoming Arc GPUs and other products, so it's very possible that's the case here.

Intel has yet to confirm which process Blockscale, née second-gen Bonanza Mine, uses, but it has been linked to TSMC's 5nm process.

That means it's possible that Blockscale uses a different process node to Intel's CPUs, which for the most part are built by Intel's own foundries; and GPUs, which are built by TSMC but may be