Does an Antminer S9 use Asic Boost? I recently got a couple Antminer S9's and I'm wondering if Bitmain sells their Antminer S9's with Asic Boost? I know of another miner called the Halong DragonMint Miner that achieves about 16 Terahashes with the same power usage and they say they use ASICBOOST. But does the Antminer S9 have ASICBOOST functionality built in and can you use that functionality?
Bitmain says that have tested ASICBOOST on the Testnet but have never used ASICBOOST on the MainNet...


  Bitmain has tested ASICBOOST on the Testnet but has never used ASICBOOST on the mainnet as implied in Gregory Maxwell’s proposal. We ask conclusive proof from whoever claims this to be false because such baseless claims are toxic for the Bitcoin space. We also believe the math used by Gregory Maxwell is incorrect and that the method is not practical in a production environment.


They also say that the chips they use for their miners have a circuit design that supports ASICBOOST...


  Our ASIC chips, like those of some other manufacturers, have a circuit design that supports ASICBOOST. However, the ASICBOOST method has not been used by us on the mainnet. We have not seen any evidence yet on the main net that anyone has used it in the patented way.


They even hold the patent in China for ASICBOOST...


  Bitmain holds the ASICBOOST patent in China. We can legally use it in our own mining farms in China to profit from it and sell the cloud mining contracts to the public. This, however profitable, is not something we would do for the greater good of Bitcoin.


And They say they don't use ASICBOOST on their mining farms...


  The mining equipment produced by Bitmain for its own use is in no way intended to be technically superior or more power-efficient than the equipment it sells to the public. The ASICBOOST method has not been employed by Bitmain to increase the power-efficiency of the miners in its own mining farms.


But they also say that whether ASICBOOST is used or not, they will continue to produce more efficient miners...


  Bitcoin mining equipment depreciates rapidly. Bitmain has constantly been introducing newer more efficient miner models for all. As such the statement that the deployment of ASICBOOST, which can lead to a 20% difference in power efficiency, is some kind of negative development for Bitmain’s business model is false. Bitmain has shown the ability to adapt and thrive in the constantly changing and extremely challenging Bitcoin mining environment. Whether ASICBOOST is used or not, Bitmain will continue to produce more efficient miners.


Given on how secretive Bitmain is and the nature of their business they could be using ASICBOOST but they also could be telling the truth and not be using ASICBOOST. Right now it seems that you can't use ASICBOOST on an s9.

Source:

Bitmain Blog