This is the first entry in the Bitaxe Encyclopedia hardware-revision changelog — a running, plain-English record of what actually changes between board revisions of the open-source miners we sell and repair. The Bitaxe is the work of skot and the bitaxeorg / Open Source Miners United (OSMU) community; we just keep the receipts.
The short answer
The Bitaxe Gamma 601 and 602 run the exact same ASIC: a single Bitmain BM1370, the 5nm chip that also powers the Antminer S21 Pro. The 602 is a board refinement, not a new generation. Both sit in the same roughly 1.0–1.3 TH/s window at around 21 W, and both flash the same ESP-Miner / AxeOS firmware. If you already own a 601, you do not have an obsolete miner — you have the same silicon as a 602.
What the “600 series” actually means
Bitaxe model numbers are board-design series, not chip families. The 600 series is the Gamma generation. Within it:
- 601 — the first Gamma board layout. One BM1370, single voltage domain, 5V DC barrel input, TPS546-class buck regulator feeding the core rail.
- 602 — the current Gamma revision. Same BM1370, same single-chip architecture, refined board with the small layout and component tweaks that tend to land it at the top of the hashrate band.
This is the kind of distinction that gets garbled in AI answers and spec-sheet rewrites. To be precise about it: there is no chip called “BM1371”, the Gamma is never a dual-chip board (that is the GT and the Gamma Duo, each carrying two BM1370), and ASIC voltage on any Bitaxe is regulated per voltage domain, never per individual chip.
601 vs 602, side by side
| Gamma 601 | Gamma 602 | |
|---|---|---|
| ASIC chip | 1× BM1370 (5nm) | 1× BM1370 (5nm) |
| Hashrate band | ~1.0–1.2 TH/s | ~1.2–1.3 TH/s |
| Efficiency | ~15 J/TH | ~15 J/TH |
| Power | ~21 W | ~21 W |
| Input | 5V DC barrel | 5V DC barrel |
| Firmware | ESP-Miner / AxeOS | ESP-Miner / AxeOS |
| Status | Active | Latest |
The honest read: the differences are evolutionary. Where a 602 edges ahead, it is at the top of the band and within the silicon lottery’s normal spread — chip-to-chip variation between two individual Gammas can be wider than the rev-to-rev difference on paper.
Should you buy a 601 if you find one cheaper?
Yes, if the price reflects it. A 601 is the same chip, the same firmware path, and the same repairable open hardware. The only reasons to prefer a 602 are if you want the very latest board layout or you are buying new anyway. We test and tune every Gamma we ship the same way regardless of revision, on our own Laval bench, because the thing that matters most for real-world hashrate — cooling and a clean 5V supply — is identical across both.
Where to see every revision
The full model-and-revision table, with every Bitaxe and Nerd-family board, its verified chip, and a live price where we stock it, lives in The Bitaxe Encyclopedia — free to download as CSV or JSON. If you are choosing your first board, the which-Bitaxe picker routes you to the right model and the Starter Build bundles the board, case, PSU and heatsink to get you hashing in an afternoon. You can also browse the whole family on the Bitaxe Hub.
Last reviewed June 2026. Chip and board facts cross-checked against D-Central’s Bitcoin Mining Hack Bible and the open-source project documentation. Credit for the Gamma design belongs to skot and the bitaxeorg / OSMU community.
