Defnetly interesting. maybe you come up with a concept to reuse old FPGAs as well. Like all those spartan boards out there (without memory) could be used in a chain to work with scrypt?! (Just guessing here, i don't know much about this)
There are other issues involved beyond memory.....we went down that road already a few months back.
Operatr: If you need help I am happy to give any assistance. The point of the fpga is to build value into LTC, we are not out to squash any potential competition. PM me if you would like any help I can offer.
Awesome jasinlee I will do that. I agree, I just see Litecoin going where Bitcoin is now right along side it as a silver to Bitcoin gold. As BTC is blazing a trail through the old world financial system, LTC will start getting more attention and grow larger as a secondary economy as well probably. BTC has hit Stage 4 into ASIC, LTC should follow the same path, it seems FPGA stage is imminent.
Anyone remember the value of BTC when FPGA's first appeared off hand?
I'd be down for a significant investment if you could prove that they offer a serious advantage over GPUs.
FPGA is already proven to offer similar or better performance as GPUs without the heat and substantial power requirement once you get to a certain point adding ever more GPUs to the mix. In price it works more like a "more now but less later" long term mentality. However since the only FPGAs out there are more geared for Bitcoin SHA256 than Scrypt, I am uncertain what kind of performance an optimized board would offer. I will need to prototype to see.
1. Do you think the market and community is ready for FPGA Litecoin?
Yes. Why not? Don't see any reasons agaist that.
2. Is there definite interest in FPGA Litecoin machines? Would you buy one if the price was reasonable? What is reasonable?
Yes but only if they will cheaper at 20-25% than similar bitcoin FPGAs, because they less perspective.
3. Would you pre-order one to support first round funding for prototyping and first wave production? Yes. I'd want to preorder at least one sample by bitcoins (or litecoins) but only after people will write good reviews. Don't get me wrong, but here too much of scammers.
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Unfortunately these would be similar in price to Bitcoin FPGAs, simply because hardware cost is hardware cost, it doesn't care what you are doing with it per se.
Yes there are a lot of scammers out there to be wary of, I wouldn't expect a startup like mine to have any credibility until something is actually visible, and delivered as promised. Though this is why I am asking the community before anything else to build validity and everyone can see this start from the very beginning in detail. These sites like gxminer.com spring up out of nowhere (blatant BLF copy scam) without a shred of proof about their products or production even exist, or even who they really are, and are there just to snare a few suckers buying into Bitcoin hype. Even still legitimate manufacturers are so new to this emerging industry it is hard to tell sometimes.
I have no intention of scamming anyone, those people only hurt Bitcoin at large. My vision is a long term one, where many seem to be fairly short sighted when it comes to cryptocurrency. I believe its the future, and I want to help. Money is nice but only as a byproduct of the real reason Im getting into this, which is simply I believe we need it now in a world so utterly broken. BlockBurner exists for the betterment of mankind and nothing more. It feels like the right thing to do, and given my economic status personally, the only thing I can do that will make a difference in the world and in my own life. My faith is derived from being one of the many shut out of the banks system for good, which means also like many Im pretty much stuck exactly where I am, even my last IT position's salary was a sick joke, and I'm tired of it. With all my energy and resources, I will assist in taking that system out of power forever. Bitcoin is how we do that. I am down to build machines with the direct purpose to siphon power back to the people, as they did to us.
Hardware is only one of the elements of Bitcoin business I intend to tap going down the road, which will give alternative sustainability to the hardware side.
I have an ASIC on order with BFL, though Im feeling a little iffy like the rest given inconsistent updates from the BFL crew. Unlike them Im not out to dick anyone around here. Just to keep building this dream with the rest of you.