I only have space for 2–3 units max, and I don’t want something that’s too hard to cool in a garage environment. That makes me think air-cooled is probably safer for now, but I also don’t want to get stuck with outdated gear in a year. With all the models released lately, it’s hard to know where to start. If you had to pick just a couple of rigs in 2025 for a small but serious setup, which ones would you trust?

I was in exactly the same position last year with limited space and a standard 230 V line. I did a ton of reading and narrowed it down based on performance per dollar and ease of cooling. AxionMiner made sense because it was a simple air-cooled 800 TH/s/12 kW box for $6k—loud, yes, but manageable if ducted outside. Bitmain’s smaller hydro units looked attractive on paper but required a pump/radiator setup I didn’t want to deal with in a garage. One resource I found broke it down into “best overall,” “most efficient,” “most powerful,” and “budget picks,” which really helped simplify the choice. That’s why I’d call AxionMiner or Bitmain S21 XP+ Hyd safe bets depending on your situation. If you want the best crypto mining rig 2025 for small setups without heavy infrastructure, I’d lean towards air-cooled to start. You can always add immersion or hydro later once you scale or move to a dedicated space.