Topic: FPGA - 1st Quarter 2012 Summary (BFL vs. Icarus ?) - page 2. (Read 5633 times)

bitlane,

a x6500 is as good as Icarus, performs as well and costs as much, so why don't you consider it as a good solution?

spiccioli.

Ztex was always one step ahead. He still has the fastest board per chip. It is expensive but this boards and the software are (were) proven to work from the start. It's the most professional product in my eyes. But the others are catching up

BFL had to add a second fan due to overheating, and even then it starts slowing down if room temperature isn't cool. This does not bode well long-term for them.

Icarus looks like a far better engineered product that will stay profitable a lot longer. Icarus also has a volume discount.

It comes down to how long do you plan on mining before you throw the FPGA away? 6 months? Then BFL if you can get one. 1+ years? Icarus.

Dont forget,none but the BFL has ANY warranty.At least BFL offers a 6 month & Ztex offers up to 2 years,maybe,Icarus & X6500 have NONE.So for $600 my money is on BFL

That is a huge bonus. Good to see.


Unfortunately I don't see either of those 2 products/projects as a very attractive solution as they really don't stand out in any way, but rather they are simply too average (or not extreme enough in a specific area....like, no focus)....?

The BitForce Single and the Icarus both do SOMETHING extremely well, on opposite sides of the 'spectrum' and are great competitors both on paper and in use. 1 being extremely power-usage-friendly for the performance achieved (the Icarus) and the other being extremely powerful for the money (Butterfly Labs).

Neither the Ztex nor X6500 units are real stand-outs unfortunately and unless something drastic were to happen (as in major price cuts, major performance increases or something rediculous such as single-digit max (W) power-draw for existing performance figures) with either project/product, I really couldn't see too many people ordering them over the other 2 above.....it simply wouldn't make sense.



The BFL units have clearly began shipping, as there are a couple users on this forum who are currently running their pre-order units.
Availability is the one thing that could really KILL the BFL product, because they clearly have the 'bang-for-buck' covered....now they just need to come up with quantity and immediate availability.

Regardless of the BFL's raw power, I still am interested in the Icarus due to it's low power consumption and think that along with slight performance increases, the Icarus project should really focus on overall power draw, because I don't think they will be capable of competing with Butterfly Labs for outright horsepower on a single unit-vs-unit basis.....

My 2 bitcents...
bitlane.

cgminer 2.3.0 supports icarus/

Y U NO LIKE

X6500: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/x6500-custom-fpga-miner-40058
ztex: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/ztex-usb-fpga-modules-115x-and-115y-215-and-860-mhs-fpga-boards-49180

You should also consider availability. Icarus is available right now (I think ?) and BFL's delivery date is kind of uncertain. Shipping costs are also important for people who live outside the US/China.

So, just to get this right, as I might be a bit 'behind' the times as it were.....
As of February 2012, it seems that we clearly have 2 winning FPGA Designs/Projects that are essentially 'Production' ready and each have quite opposite strengths and merits worth taking note of.

Please correct me if anything below is WRONG.

-------------------------------------
Butterfly Labs BitForce Single
830 MH/s
85W
$600 USD (shipping not included)
**Sexy Software Support (CGMiner etc)
-------------------------------------
$0.72/MegaHash ..or.. 1.38 MegaHash/$Dollar
0.102W/MegaHash ..or.. 9.76 MegaHash/W


.......VS.......

-------------------------------------
ngzhang's "Icarus"
380 MH/s
20W
$570 USD (shipping not included)
**Specific Software (so far) Now with CGMiner 2.3.0 support.
-------------------------------------
$1.50/MegaHash ..or.. 0.67 MegaHash/$Dollar
0.053W/MegaHash ..or.. 19 MegaHash/W


I guess it's almost safe to say that when/IF choosing between the 2 designs/projects above, POWER CONSUMPTION, POWER PRICE and INITIAL INVESTMENT might be what it all comes down to.....(ie. Is your power more expensive over X amount of time, making the option of purchasing a BitForce Single less cost effective than purchasing a pair of Icarus units even though 'out of pocket' is more ?).....

Comparing them at face value....
BitForce = 2x MegaHash/$Dollar
Icarus = 2x MegaHash/Watt

I think for current GPU Miners, the Bitforce is the clear winner....but what about NEW Miners ? Might Icarus keep reoccurring costs down (even though initial is higher) due to ever increasing difficulty and decreasing mining profit ?

Is there anything else on the horizon even worth a mention ?