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Topic: DRILLBIT SYSTEM Miners - Avalon range available - Now $104.99! - page 111. (Read 273816 times)

member
Activity: 98
Merit: 10
Thanks for the vote of confidence Barntech! I've got some ideas (that I will also share) on how to run a small and efficient operation. Monitoring and compact cooling would be pretty key to keep costs down!

Speaking of the Cointerra chips, I've heard Hashfast may be selling bare chips as well. I know they plan to for the 250TH/s mine they are sourcing. It may be a good idea to contact them and see if they have any plans for additional sales. Has anyone else heard anything about hashfast and bare chips?

EDIT: Speak of the devil... https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=288101.new#new
erk
hero member
Activity: 826
Merit: 500
BARNTECH

I believe you are having the bare PCBs made in China, and the assembly will be done in Sydney ?

That might prevent some of the problems punin has seen with his August batch

http://m.imgur.com/a/t3AKx

Yes PCBs will be made in china and Assembly will happen in Sydney or the U.S. This is mainly so we can be present for the manufacture, also to avoid potential dodgey assembly like in those pics you sent. Also, none of us speak Mandarin.
http://www.futurlec.com.au get their boards done in Thailand. Also I think BkkCoins mentioned he has contacts for quick turn around boards in Thailand. You might want to PM him.





Interesting choice given that Thailand is the one country in the world that has completely banned everything related to Bitcoin!
I don't think you would be wanting to pay for the boards there in BTC Smiley
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
i believe there is no waiting list , but if there is
put me for waiting list as well , 2 8chip boards , thank you

There is currently no waiting list. Further Bitfury chip purchasing is looking very unlikely at this point unfortunately. If i can work something out, i will acknowledge the waiting list requests posted here, but at this point it's most likely just going to be one batch. A shame. If we do get a Cointerra GB happening, you will of course all be invited to join that.  Smiley

Barntech
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
BARNTECH

I believe you are having the bare PCBs made in China, and the assembly will be done in Sydney ?

That might prevent some of the problems punin has seen with his August batch

http://m.imgur.com/a/t3AKx

Yes PCBs will be made in china and Assembly will happen in Sydney or the U.S. This is mainly so we can be present for the manufacture, also to avoid potential dodgey assembly like in those pics you sent. Also, none of us speak Mandarin.
http://www.futurlec.com.au get their boards done in Thailand. Also I think BkkCoins mentioned he has contacts for quick turn around boards in Thailand. You might want to PM him.





Interesting choice given that Thailand is the one country in the world that has completely banned everything related to Bitcoin!
erk
hero member
Activity: 826
Merit: 500
BARNTECH

I believe you are having the bare PCBs made in China, and the assembly will be done in Sydney ?

That might prevent some of the problems punin has seen with his August batch

http://m.imgur.com/a/t3AKx

Yes PCBs will be made in china and Assembly will happen in Sydney or the U.S. This is mainly so we can be present for the manufacture, also to avoid potential dodgey assembly like in those pics you sent. Also, none of us speak Mandarin.
http://www.futurlec.com.au get their boards done in Thailand. Also I think BkkCoins mentioned he has contacts for quick turn around boards in Thailand. You might want to PM him.



sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
Oh, and nice to see that people are interested in that idea. Grin
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
I see long term problems with large ASIC farms, they have overheads that backyard rigs don't, such as staff, air-conditioning, space rental etc. I think they are doomed to failure from a shareholders perspective. I don't see a bright future for the likes of ASICminer unless they make hardware sales their main focus, even then, the ASIC chip industry is due for a shake out in the next 12mths. there are too many players.



Agreed, this part of why i'm more interested in mini-farms scattered around the place more than one centralized farm, and yes i agree, big changes ahead for the coming 12 months for sure. Will be an interesting ride.
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
BARNTECH

I believe you are having the bare PCBs made in China, and the assembly will be done in Sydney ?

That might prevent some of the problems punin has seen with his August batch

http://m.imgur.com/a/t3AKx

Yes PCBs will be made in china and Assembly will happen in Sydney or the U.S. This is mainly so we can be present for the manufacture, also to avoid potential dodgey assembly like in those pics you sent. Also, none of us speak Mandarin.
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
Barntech and others - We have some good mentions here of power supplies. They seem to really vary in price from 60 bucks to almost 200 bucks.

Some of them are modular (no cables connected, just the plug end - more money) and others are non modular (come with cables wired to box, LOTS of cables - cheaper). I prefer the former but need to know what cables to buy. I believe the Drillbit system can run off of a USB plug or Huh

And, if we are going to overclock the Drillbit system, do any of these power supplies work or do we need something special (e.g. more adjustments with Voltage, Amps, etc.)

I will have the Drillbit 4 card system into 1 backplane (100 watts or so) AND a Burnin Mining system with 2X20 282Mhz chip unit. (Think that is around 200 watts or so). I'll probably get a 450 watt unit (90% efficiency) or higher.

Thanks,
IAS

The Drillbit Boards power from a 4 pin molex. The miniplane from an ATX power connector. The overall draw on a fully stacked miniplane won't be all that high. We're moving into testing phase this week and will publish details as we have them. There have been some good suggestions for PSUs on this thread. We may recommend one, but in the end it will be up to everyone how they want to do it, how many boards they will be needing to power etc. A $60 PSU should be fine though. More on that stuff soon.  Smiley

Barntech

How about powering more than 4 boards? I don't get why you chose an ATX cnx for only 100W. Are we suppose to buy a PSU for each 100W / 64GHps rig?? Initialy, it was clear we can stack "mini stack" to a upper lever and that would lead to a 16 PCB rig. Is it still true?
Will you still provide a PCB for 16 boards for free? Will it postpone shipping than without?
Or can we just supply each 4PCB rig using one of the 4 molex instead of using ATX ?

I'm not so worried about all that, I'm just trying to understand clearly so I can pave the way of the drillbit. As my previous miner, I just unpacked, plugged, and configured it  Cool . I will share all my hardware choices (microPC, PSU, ...) on this topic.

By the way I'm glad that everything went as expected so far, congrats!!

Hey Beast.

Firstly, no, one 4 pin molex won't run a 4 PCB stack. Definitely don't try to do this. It would probably damage your equipment.

At this point, what we are doing for larger stacking is a hub which stacks two miniplanes. One ATX will power this. They will cost approximately $50. Beyond that you will either have to get a larger PSU and potentially convert the 12v to 5v to run the second, or as you say, get a second power supply. You will be able to get away with pretty cheap ones though.

The main reason for the power going this way is the overclocking. The boards are rated so that you can push them up to max on the power without any troubles. This requires more draw. If you were to run them conservatively it may be possible to run two hubs from one atx connector, but not ideal if you are wanting to overclock.
erk
hero member
Activity: 826
Merit: 500
I see long term problems with large ASIC farms, they have overheads that backyard rigs don't, such as staff, air-conditioning, space rental etc. I think they are doomed to failure from a shareholders perspective. I don't see a bright future for the likes of ASICminer unless they make hardware sales their main focus, even then, the ASIC chip industry is due for a shake out in the next 12mths. there are too many players.

hero member
Activity: 546
Merit: 500
Owner, Minersource.net
After looking at cointerra's website, their individual chip prices aren't that bad... http://cointerra.com/product/goldstrike1-25th-asic-pack-50-500ghsec-asics/ $139,750 isn't that bad for 50 500gh/s chips. That puts a single chip unit at around $2795. I'd be curious what sort of samples they might send out to test the feasibility of a design. Even though its a ways off, if the cost of the board isn't too high I would certainly be interested in a $3000 500GH/s board. Might be cool if it was mountable in a PC case, as I imagine something like that would require quite a bit of cooling, much more than an array of much smaller bitfury chips. Price per a GH/s would be better than even our cheap bitfury pricing, as we would only get around 225-450GH/s with bitfury based on current and future pricing.

EDIT: I'd be interested in trying to run some group hosting as well. I've got years of experience in big IT. Main issue would be the establishing proper legal protection for the customers and for the mining operator. Being based in the US, a mining coop would also have to follow any laws and regulations pertinent to the mining. Just putting it out there as food for thought. 

Most likely we will be doing something like this. Can't give any details as yet on pricing, but we will make it as cheap and affordable as possible. Thinking about offering whole miners and 1/10th shares in miners. As you mention, this will require hosting. As i have mentioned in a previous post, my preference would be for small farms in each city so a little collective of people could form in any given place as a bitcoin mining co-op of sorts. That way people could meet and be able to visit the hardare that they have a share of. Also, it would help to fight against the centralization and monopolization of the Bitcoin network that i feel is coming with the new wave of hardware.

Nice to see you putting your hand up console cowboy. Yes, the legal situation would have to be solid so no one gets scammed but that shouldn't be too hard.

Are people into this idea?

Barntech

I would be more than willing to donate my time/help/hosting space to your project Smiley
hero member
Activity: 756
Merit: 500
After looking at cointerra's website, their individual chip prices aren't that bad... http://cointerra.com/product/goldstrike1-25th-asic-pack-50-500ghsec-asics/ $139,750 isn't that bad for 50 500gh/s chips. That puts a single chip unit at around $2795. I'd be curious what sort of samples they might send out to test the feasibility of a design. Even though its a ways off, if the cost of the board isn't too high I would certainly be interested in a $3000 500GH/s board. Might be cool if it was mountable in a PC case, as I imagine something like that would require quite a bit of cooling, much more than an array of much smaller bitfury chips. Price per a GH/s would be better than even our cheap bitfury pricing, as we would only get around 225-450GH/s with bitfury based on current and future pricing.

EDIT: I'd be interested in trying to run some group hosting as well. I've got years of experience in big IT. Main issue would be the establishing proper legal protection for the customers and for the mining operator. Being based in the US, a mining coop would also have to follow any laws and regulations pertinent to the mining. Just putting it out there as food for thought. 

Most likely we will be doing something like this. Can't give any details as yet on pricing, but we will make it as cheap and affordable as possible. Thinking about offering whole miners and 1/10th shares in miners. As you mention, this will require hosting. As i have mentioned in a previous post, my preference would be for small farms in each city so a little collective of people could form in any given place as a bitcoin mining co-op of sorts. That way people could meet and be able to visit the hardare that they have a share of. Also, it would help to fight against the centralization and monopolization of the Bitcoin network that i feel is coming with the new wave of hardware.

Nice to see you putting your hand up console cowboy. Yes, the legal situation would have to be solid so no one gets scammed but that shouldn't be too hard.

Are people into this idea?

Barntech

Totally into this and would be interested in hosting.  I'm in Los Angeles, CA.

(If anyone wants to combine on shipping for these boards shoot me a message)
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
After looking at cointerra's website, their individual chip prices aren't that bad... http://cointerra.com/product/goldstrike1-25th-asic-pack-50-500ghsec-asics/ $139,750 isn't that bad for 50 500gh/s chips. That puts a single chip unit at around $2795. I'd be curious what sort of samples they might send out to test the feasibility of a design. Even though its a ways off, if the cost of the board isn't too high I would certainly be interested in a $3000 500GH/s board. Might be cool if it was mountable in a PC case, as I imagine something like that would require quite a bit of cooling, much more than an array of much smaller bitfury chips. Price per a GH/s would be better than even our cheap bitfury pricing, as we would only get around 225-450GH/s with bitfury based on current and future pricing.

EDIT: I'd be interested in trying to run some group hosting as well. I've got years of experience in big IT. Main issue would be the establishing proper legal protection for the customers and for the mining operator. Being based in the US, a mining coop would also have to follow any laws and regulations pertinent to the mining. Just putting it out there as food for thought. 

Most likely we will be doing something like this. Can't give any details as yet on pricing, but we will make it as cheap and affordable as possible. Thinking about offering whole miners and 1/10th shares in miners. As you mention, this will require hosting. As i have mentioned in a previous post, my preference would be for small farms in each city so a little collective of people could form in any given place as a bitcoin mining co-op of sorts. That way people could meet and be able to visit the hardare that they have a share of. Also, it would help to fight against the centralization and monopolization of the Bitcoin network that i feel is coming with the new wave of hardware.

Nice to see you putting your hand up console cowboy. Yes, the legal situation would have to be solid so no one gets scammed but that shouldn't be too hard.

Are people into this idea?

Barntech
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
I havent seen it (may have missed it, sorry) but could you let me know the dimensions of the cards please?

I'm interested in this as well. Judging from the CAD pics and actual board photos, they look to be a smidge over 4x molex plugs in length and width?

I'm looking at housing them in an Antec Solo case. CPU, motherboard, RAM, PSU in their usual spots, and the Drillbit boards mounted on the floor of the case, with a case fan blowing over them, and the exhaust air going out the PCI expansion slots. The 24-pin ATX connector would be occupied by the PC's motherboard, so I gather I could just mount the Drillbit boards separate from each other (not using the four-stack mini-plane), and power them individually via their molex plugs?

Another option is to use my old Dell Mini 9 netbook, but I'm concerned about reliability over the long-term. It's a passively cooled netbook, using a thin aluminium plate just under the keyboard. I was thinking of removing the keyboard as well as running it headless, with a [dust filtered] fan blowing into the guts of the netbook. Power consumption (DC estimate) for the netbook alone would be 6~7W, compared to ~20W for the desktop CPU and motherboard (Celeron G1610 and H61 board).

An Intel NUC (Celeron 847 model -- ~$200 AUD) would be another option, drawing around 10~12W from the wall.

Or skip x86 and get a Raspberry Pi with negligible power consumption?

Just throwing some ideas around. Smiley I'm currently leaning towards the desktop CPU option, as I'm not too fussed about the slightly higher power consumption, plus I'd feel more comfortable with troubleshooting in Windows 7 than learning afresh in linux. Need a VGA port as well for my perfectly sized Asus 15.6" VW161D monitor, so would need an adapter for the Intel NUC. I gather with the rpi you could use an s-video/composite to VGA adapter?

Sounds like a pretty good set up.

Here are the dimensions:

102mm x102mm for the 8 board (will fit in a hdd bay)
39mm x52mm for the thumb, more or less. Its an odd shape so not the full rectangle.

 Smiley
member
Activity: 76
Merit: 10
i believe there is no waiting list , but if there is
put me for waiting list as well , 2 8chip boards , thank you
hero member
Activity: 692
Merit: 500
BARNTECH

I believe you are having the bare PCBs made in China, and the assembly will be done in Sydney ?

That might prevent some of the problems punin has seen with his August batch

http://m.imgur.com/a/t3AKx
full member
Activity: 145
Merit: 102
Barntech and others - We have some good mentions here of power supplies. They seem to really vary in price from 60 bucks to almost 200 bucks.

Some of them are modular (no cables connected, just the plug end - more money) and others are non modular (come with cables wired to box, LOTS of cables - cheaper). I prefer the former but need to know what cables to buy. I believe the Drillbit system can run off of a USB plug or Huh

And, if we are going to overclock the Drillbit system, do any of these power supplies work or do we need something special (e.g. more adjustments with Voltage, Amps, etc.)

I will have the Drillbit 4 card system into 1 backplane (100 watts or so) AND a Burnin Mining system with 2X20 282Mhz chip unit. (Think that is around 200 watts or so). I'll probably get a 450 watt unit (90% efficiency) or higher.

Thanks,
IAS

The Drillbit Boards power from a 4 pin molex. The miniplane from an ATX power connector. The overall draw on a fully stacked miniplane won't be all that high. We're moving into testing phase this week and will publish details as we have them. There have been some good suggestions for PSUs on this thread. We may recommend one, but in the end it will be up to everyone how they want to do it, how many boards they will be needing to power etc. A $60 PSU should be fine though. More on that stuff soon.  Smiley

Barntech

How about powering more than 4 boards? I don't get why you chose an ATX cnx for only 100W. Are we suppose to buy a PSU for each 100W / 64GHps rig?? Initialy, it was clear we can stack "mini stack" to a upper lever and that would lead to a 16 PCB rig. Is it still true?
Will you still provide a PCB for 16 boards for free? Will it postpone shipping than without?
Or can we just supply each 4PCB rig using one of the 4 molex instead of using ATX ?

I'm not so worried about all that, I'm just trying to understand clearly so I can pave the way of the drillbit. As my previous miner, I just unpacked, plugged, and configured it  Cool . I will share all my hardware choices (microPC, PSU, ...) on this topic.

By the way I'm glad that everything went as expected so far, congrats!!
hero member
Activity: 624
Merit: 502
I'd like to put myself on any waiting list for another 2 assembled boards.

Thanks,
member
Activity: 75
Merit: 10
I would like to put myself on the waiting list for a thumbdrive board w/ chip assembled! Barn if one becomes avalible please PM and I will send the funds! 

Thanks and IN before The floods of Waitlist requests!!!
member
Activity: 98
Merit: 10
After looking at cointerra's website, their individual chip prices aren't that bad... http://cointerra.com/product/goldstrike1-25th-asic-pack-50-500ghsec-asics/ $139,750 isn't that bad for 50 500gh/s chips. That puts a single chip unit at around $2795. I'd be curious what sort of samples they might send out to test the feasibility of a design. Even though its a ways off, if the cost of the board isn't too high I would certainly be interested in a $3000 500GH/s board. Might be cool if it was mountable in a PC case, as I imagine something like that would require quite a bit of cooling, much more than an array of much smaller bitfury chips. Price per a GH/s would be better than even our cheap bitfury pricing, as we would only get around 225-450GH/s with bitfury based on current and future pricing.

EDIT: I'd be interested in trying to run some group hosting as well. I've got years of experience in big IT. Main issue would be the establishing proper legal protection for the customers and for the mining operator. Being based in the US, a mining coop would also have to follow any laws and regulations pertinent to the mining. Just putting it out there as food for thought. 
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