Topic: Acorn M.2 FPGA based GPU Accelerator - page 68. (Read 73507 times)

Please answer if you can.

1. I have 2 free M.2 slots on my mobo "Asus z270a prime" will both slots work?
2. How many GPUs can 1 device help? If you have 2 on a single mobo does it help with straight gains? or just help an additional x cards?
3. Im currently HiveOS and been using many Linux Distros, will this be supported in terms of a how to get it working on linux?
4. My current Setup i have 13 x RX 570 on a single Asus z270a prime with 2 free m.2 slots do you expect to see hash gains on all cards or just "x" amount? What would be your ideal setup in theory (if you can apply it to my setup  i.e run 1 in my setup or 2)? Even if the gains are low but the power draw is significantly reduced would it be reduced on all cards? All cards are at PCIE GEN2

I totally understand it all needs to be tested etc... In just trying to understand if 1-2 cards were implemented how do cards interact.... is there a finite limit in terms of number of cards etc.

Cheers

Wow lots of activity over here - sorry for not being more attentive to the forum post.

As some have mentioned, there is an extremely active (> 2500 members?) discord focused on FPGAs and a ton of information and updates have been flowing there. Let me try to address the bullet points.

1. Acorn development is deep underway, specifically the production work. A lot of you want these, and I want to make sure you can have them. The good news is that any delay in opening pre-orders hasn’t delayed actual product production. That means at best a shorter wait (and hopefully better crypto market prices) once they do open.

2. I’m not in the business of trying to sell things or push things on people. We’re building things we think are going to be very useful and helpful in the community, and getting all of the information out there before taking anyone’s money is much more important to me than tossing out half-baked hashrates or collecting FOMO money. This information is being gathered now, and includes performance stats tested against a number of host configurations, as well as most GPUs that are out there, across quite a few coins. It also includes full supply chain sourcing so we can have concrete slip-free production dates and batch sizes. As you can imagine this is a lot of work, but we’re getting close and moving as fast as we can!

3. Others have detailed the BCU-1525 project, but the logistics and support effort involved to make sure these are a success for everyone have been pretty extreme. This has had an effect of delaying information (but not production!) for Acorn. We will keep working to get everyone the details they crave.

4. My company (Squirrels, and our hardware/crypto division Squirrels Research) is working closely with a number of great people in the community to make sure all this hardware is as beneficial and well supported as possible. We stand behind everything we’re involved in, and that means working with great people to ensure all that long term support is there. Senseless/AllMine have been working very hard alongside us on the 1525 project, and are bringing a great shell + bitstreams and open development code to the community. We’ve also teamed up with OhGodAGirl (Kristy) and Mineority to help make sure all of these FPGAs are available to those that may have export restrictions or expensive power or are otherwise unable to host themselves. In addition we are sponsoring numerous developers in the community through grants and development hardware/software access to ensure there will eventually be GPU level miner and algorithm support, enabling choice in the community.

5. The BCU-1525 was limited by complete supply chain constraints, as I said early on. We are even right now working extremely hard to meet the targets we have in place.  Even with market pressure those constraints are unlikely to be relieved until late Fall. I would be extremely skeptical of anyone who suggests that they will be bringing a board to market comparable with the 1525 anytime soon, and if they do I would expect significantly lower production volumes. For reference, even building the Acorn accelerator involves massive world-wide efforts to source parts and alternatives that are in some cases fully committed until next June in factory batches.

I would imagine that if coins are in the tank when the next batch comes out, and if Squirrels Research/Mineority can cut a higher-volume deal with Xilinx, prices could remain at around this level. Of course, if the BCU works really well, demand will drive it upwards.

OhGodAGirl in an interview yesterday said Mineority will be raising the BCU1525 FPGA prices in 2-3 weeks, so I would expect once the current batch is sold out the new batch will be priced higher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chjhL9XNmHw&feature=youtu.be&t=3979

Acorns:  yes, profitable... makes my GPUs useful for a while longer.  And... if there were any power efficiency gains from the Acorn (I thought I read that somewhere) then my wife would really be happy lol

On Xilinx... they could be the next bitmain/nvidia boom and it just so happened their stock was in a nice down cycle on some BS news... just saying... lol buying their stock looked attractive regardless of what happens here.

I suspect that there will be subsequent sales, especially if the BCU1525 lives up to projections. Part of the equation is Xilinx; what is their reaction to the crypto-market going to be? So far, they're dipping a toe in. If they like what they see, there shouldn't be a problem getting more from their supply chain, it just takes time.

My problem with the BCU1525 is the pricepoint. I just can't do it in this market. That's why I'm waiting on these Acorns. Some help to make cards a bit more profitable would be a boon.

Right on ZedZedNova  it's like I'm talking to my twin lol.

I wonder if there will be further VCU1525 sales after the first 5000 are gone or if they'll leave it as an elite FPGA gang.

My pleasure. Here yah go: https://discord.gg/Usdh6w3

If you are interested, here is the link for the mineority.io discord channel: https://discordapp.com/invite/HnJSDf2

Thanks for the nice lengthy post, I knew some of that information already, but you added some new stuff as well.    Would you happen to have a link to join that Discord channel (presuming it's allowed to join)?

Correct. In that picture Kristy-Leigh (OhGodAGirl) is holding the VCU1525 (it's unmodified, so VCU) and (I think) Dave (GPUHoarder) is holding the actual FPGA device (XCVU9P-L2FSGD2104E) that is on the VCU1525.

Nice summary grendel25.

From what I can tell by lurking on the FPGA discord channel:

• FPGA.land is GPUHoarder's endeavor, and he negotiated a deal with Xilinx to buy 5,000 of their VCU1525 dev boards.
• mineority.io and FPGA.land are collaborating, with mineority.io buying 2,000 of the 5,000 boards from FPGA.land.
• There will be mods made to the boards to improve mining performance, especially for better cooling and power, and because of the mods and also to reduce confusion, Xilinx has asked GPUHoarder/OhGodAGirl/whomever to change the name, and that's why you see BCU1525 references.
• The price that you pay for the BCU1525 in fiat is US $3600 through FPGA.land, however they are sold out. The price you pay through mineority.io is also US $3600, but as grendel25 said, mineority.io takes all sorts of crypto, but not fiat.
• Because FPGA.land and mineority.io are collaborating, I believe, if I understand correctly, that you can make an arrangement to pay in fiat to FPGA.land for a BCU to be delivered from mineority.io.
• mineority.io is also offering hosting plans that range from 1-3 years long for an additional sum.
• If you host the BCU1525 with mineority.io you are supposed to have access to their proprietary bitstreams.
• If you host with mineority.io they also extend the warranty out to the length of time that you host with them.
• The Acorn is a GPUHoarder design and sold through squirrelsresearch.com, another website run by GPUHoarder.
• mineority.io is not offering the Acorn, yet. I would be surprised if the Acorn didn't appear in an offering from mineority.io eventually.
• bitstreams for the Acorn will be provided by or through GPUHoarder.
• The Acorn will have an API that mining programs can take advantage of if they are updated to do so. It is unclear which, if any miner devs (z-enemy, dust, ewbf, etc.), have been given the required info and/or pre-seeded with working prototypes to allow Acorn integration to be incorporated into their miners.
• GPUHoarder's team is going to produce a miner.
• No definitive list of what algorithms will be supported yet.
• No definitive collection of performance data with regards to GPUs, motherboards, and algorithms. GPUHoarder has said that he, or his minions, are collecting that data and will release it all at the same time. On the discord channel GPUHoarder has been collecting a number of different motherboards and has taken suggestions/requests for specific boards. I imagine that GPUHoarder has, or has access to, a broad selection of GPUs to test. I have not seen any requests for GPUs to be tested.

for what it's worth, these same questions come up all the time in the discord channel. GPUHoarder and OhGodAGirl are fairly active, as are a number of other bitstream devs.

[ edited to add "power" to the third bullet point so it reads "better cooling and power" ]

Here are a couple of photos that GPUHoarder posted on the discord channel a few days back.

https://imgur.com/a/VNowx3l

The first picture is an Acorn (immediately to the right of the x16 slot) with a tiny fan and a heatsink on it. The second picture is of two prototype Acorns/Acorn boards on a M2 x16 riser card to check for spacing.

I've signed up to receive notifications for the Acorns, and I follow the discord channel, and I'm hoping that I can get one of them to boost my hobby mining rig.

I offered to help them a while back.
I have been through enough grief on projects like this that I have a lot of concerns.

I also know builders
Of gear are always slow to launch.

I waited until the 26th which is 11 days past mid month.

No preorder was taken so far.

This means  op missed a date

My post was simply a reality check.

Actually people do care. That's why almost all the BCU's are sold out. If you need a youtube video and commentary as a substitute for your own due diligence, then why don't you just wait?

Same Here Phill IS the most Trustworthy GUY on this entire board.  When you get one working Send one to him to test and run.  When Phil verifyies that it's true and working You WILL have more orders then you will know what to do with.  Other then doing that, having a discord and videos is all fu$king bullshit.  No one including me cares about that crap.
 

mineority.io/product/fpga  I know the acorn is a different product.  The point is that the two are VERY connected.  

And... that is a really good thing.  However, there still could be a far better job of demonstrating the products being developed.

just watched a long video from a week ago with good inputs about mineority and acorn... mostly on mineority which I don't see fully illustrated here... but maybe that's on the senseless thread.  That's a whole other concern but here are my notes:  https://youtu.be/PHlKmrqAufc

2 or 3 open source crypto mining bitstreams are available

bit stream: customized arrangement of virtual componentry to perform in a certain way

payment methods: mineority "all sorts of shit/alt coins" this is pretty awesome... fiat has to go through fpga.land which is gpuhoarder (okay... so this is good and bad... good that there is an option... bad that it is not directly functional through both sales platforms.)

Acorn:  each device gives a boost to up to 4 GPUs.  25-30 Mh/s spread across 4 GPUs.  3 versions.. (i think this is covered somewhere in this thread)  ethlargement pill would have a boost and improve power efficicency.  

ethlargment pill: can improve any "memory-downed" algo

200,000 P106 will be coming online for hosting purchase at mineority

Mineority goal is to help small miners.  I imgaine that is similar to Acorn

Walton coin miner... more may come relating to this.

Really good insight on DIY porting.  1525 shell... c-logic into fpga and make bitstream

couldn't answer questions about actual performance stats... rule of thumb about 10x various algo (ethereum excluded).  Public results could be posted any day.  

Users will be able to choose which algo through some interface if hosted.  if delivered to user, users will have pre-loaded senseless/gpuhoarder bitstreams to be chosen through senseless/gpuhoarder software.

It's an hour and 40 minute video and I had to take a break.  will update more later.

bad ass news about a pool coming in about 3 months...  It would automate optimization settings once connected to the pool.  0% fees on mineority pools

answered q's about setup and open/closed configs, maintenance costs included in hosting price.  

discussion about algos... she likes pigeon coin.  something like 30-ish algos exist for mining.  discussion on ASIC production details. 

can send asic to mineority and they will boost performance... 14th/s easily to 17 and possibly 21 th/s  (I think that was on S9)

more...