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Topic: I do not agree with Antminer S2's pricing (Read 7634 times)

full member
Activity: 154
Merit: 100
April 02, 2014, 05:41:09 PM
#27
Any of the Antminers are a ripoff and you will not make your investment back unless you hold your coins and hope Bitcoin someday rises.

The evidence you provide is overwhelming; you must be right. Aristotle would be proud.
legendary
Activity: 952
Merit: 1000
Any of the Antminers are a ripoff and you will not make your investment back unless you hold your coins and hope Bitcoin someday rises.
My goal for mining is to mine more BTC than it costs to buy the hardware. Our power costs are seen as an investment into BTC. The Antminers accomplish this.

https://tradeblock.com/mining/a/c526cb20e6

The current cost of 0.893BTC, that is easily accomplished within a 2-3 month timeframe. This is completely independent of price.
full member
Activity: 238
Merit: 100
Any of the Antminers are a ripoff and you will not make your investment back unless you hold your coins and hope Bitcoin someday rises.
hero member
Activity: 700
Merit: 504
Run a Bitcoin node.
You're missing 2 things.

1) When the S2 was announced, Ant S1s were 0.98BTC, and the coinbase price was $634. This made the cost of buying 1TH/s of S1s almost $3200. Now you still had to spend a few hundred in PSUs, but you were hashing within a few days. The point is that upgrading only cost an extra $400, and you could cut your power consumption in half.


2) The chips in the S2 aren't "underpowered". The reality is that Bitmain is using the same chips in the S2 as what they've already been using the in S1. The difference is that the S1 chips were set at max voltage and max clocks, for max performance. The S2 chips are set at the lowest voltage, with a much lower clock rate, for max power efficiency.

Here are the chip ranges:


The S1 uses 8 banks of 8 chips (total=64 chips) at 2.8GHs/chip for 179.2GH/s. The S2 probably uses somewhere in the range of 600-650 chips at 1.6GHs/chip for a total of 1TH/s.

It's theoretically possible to take an S2, and increase the chip voltage and clock speeds to higher, but IDK if the boards can handle it, nor if the PSU it comes with can handle it. You could probably OC to 1.2 or more pretty easily, tho.
Well put. The third thing the OP is missing is the cost of PSUs to power those 5 overclocked S1s. S1s do not come with a PSU, S2 does.
hero member
Activity: 529
Merit: 501
With the undervolting on the S2, I bet you could put a 1500 W power supply in there, and take out the 1000 W Enermax and use it to power some leftover AntMiner S1's.

Then you could jack up your S2 to 1.2-1.3 TH, and buy some leftover S1's cheap.

You'd be up to 2 TH in no time, and probably pulling 3200 W at the wall. Just enough for 2 circuits, which should be no problem.


legendary
Activity: 967
Merit: 1002

I believe the huge mod will be proper down clock of the s-1s to the lower wattage/voltage.  right now a down clock to freq 250 drops hash to 128gh and watts to 250.  volts stay the same. so watt per hash is not improved.
I run all my S1 Antminers undervolted to 8.5V at freq 275. They hash at 140 GH/s , around 160 watts at the wall. They run pretty quiet Smiley
 
please pm details .   do I just need to run a 9 volt power supply   to the gear using the older style hookup on the boards.  I know how to ssh the freq to 250 , 275 or 300.   
He meant he's got the chips undervolted from 1.10v to 0.85v. He is NOT running anything at 8.5v, that was a typo.

Yes it was a typo, sorry. I meant the chips undervolted to 0.85V, corrected my post now.
legendary
Activity: 952
Merit: 1000

I believe the huge mod will be proper down clock of the s-1s to the lower wattage/voltage.  right now a down clock to freq 250 drops hash to 128gh and watts to 250.  volts stay the same. so watt per hash is not improved.
I run all my S1 Antminers undervolted to 8.5V at freq 275. They hash at 140 GH/s , around 160 watts at the wall. They run pretty quiet Smiley
 
please pm details .   do I just need to run a 9 volt power supply   to the gear using the older style hookup on the boards.  I know how to ssh the freq to 250 , 275 or 300.   
He meant he's got the chips undervolted from 1.10v to 0.85v. He is NOT running anything at 8.5v, that was a typo.
full member
Activity: 154
Merit: 100
The first batch of S2 to be shipped out tomorrow.
Will this cause yet another jump in difficulty?

I bet the S1 will soon become unprofitable (only $8/day now MINUS electricity).
S2 uses less electricity per GH/s but will the investment ever be made back? I doubt it ...

Mining is only for those with VERY cheap electricity or for those who do it for fun - not for profit.

Assuming 20% difficulty increases and no change in btc price, you're going to lose over 1.5 btc with an S2 that's being shipped right now. The first batchers should profit, though.

S1's are still moneymakers with those assumptions, although a lifetime profit of only about .15 btc.

Almost everything is obsolete.

Mining is a hobby. And it's nice to not have to purchase through exchanges.
newbie
Activity: 42
Merit: 0
The first batch of S2 to be shipped out tomorrow.
Will this cause yet another jump in difficulty?

I bet the S1 will soon become unprofitable (only $8/day now MINUS electricity).
S2 uses less electricity per GH/s but will the investment ever be made back? I doubt it ...

Mining is only for those with VERY cheap electricity or for those who do it for fun - not for profit.
sr. member
Activity: 378
Merit: 250
Antminers s1 earn you about $8 per day at the currrent difficulty,why would you even bother running 5?
legendary
Activity: 967
Merit: 1002
You're missing 2 things.

1) When the S2 was announced, Ant S1s were 0.98BTC, and the coinbase price was $634. This made the cost of buying 1TH/s of S1s almost $3200. Now you still had to spend a few hundred in PSUs, but you were hashing within a few days. The point is that upgrading only cost an extra $400, and you could cut your power consumption in half.


2) The chips in the S2 aren't "underpowered". The reality is that Bitmain is using the same chips in the S2 as what they've already been using the in S1. The difference is that the S1 chips were set at max voltage and max clocks, for max performance. The S2 chips are set at the lowest voltage, with a much lower clock rate, for max power efficiency.

Here are the chip ranges:


The S1 uses 8 banks of 8 chips (total=64 chips) at 2.8GHs/chip for 179.2GH/s. The S2 probably uses somewhere in the range of 600-650 chips at 1.6GHs/chip for a total of 1TH/s.

It's theoretically possible to take an S2, and increase the chip voltage and clock speeds to higher, but IDK if the boards can handle it, nor if the PSU it comes with can handle it. You could probably OC to 1.2 or more pretty easily, tho.

I believe the huge mod will be proper down clock of the s-1s to the lower wattage/voltage.  right now a down clock to freq 250 drops hash to 128gh and watts to 250.  volts stay the same. so watt per hash is not improved.

I run all my S1 Antminers undervolted to 8.5V at freq 275. They hash at 140 GH/s , around 160 watts at the wall. They run pretty quiet Smiley
 

please pm details .   do I just need to run a 9 volt power supply   to the gear using the older style hookup on the boards.  I know how to ssh the freq to 250 , 275 or 300.   


No it will not work with 9v power supply.
You need to apply a pencil mod to resistors R3, R66, R38, R52 on each blade to put their resistance down from factory 4.47 KOhms to 2.8-3 KOhms.
The detailed guide is here - https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/guide-undervolt-antminer-s1-119wgh-at-the-wall-526060
legendary
Activity: 4102
Merit: 7763
'The right to privacy matters'
You're missing 2 things.

1) When the S2 was announced, Ant S1s were 0.98BTC, and the coinbase price was $634. This made the cost of buying 1TH/s of S1s almost $3200. Now you still had to spend a few hundred in PSUs, but you were hashing within a few days. The point is that upgrading only cost an extra $400, and you could cut your power consumption in half.


2) The chips in the S2 aren't "underpowered". The reality is that Bitmain is using the same chips in the S2 as what they've already been using the in S1. The difference is that the S1 chips were set at max voltage and max clocks, for max performance. The S2 chips are set at the lowest voltage, with a much lower clock rate, for max power efficiency.

Here are the chip ranges:


The S1 uses 8 banks of 8 chips (total=64 chips) at 2.8GHs/chip for 179.2GH/s. The S2 probably uses somewhere in the range of 600-650 chips at 1.6GHs/chip for a total of 1TH/s.

It's theoretically possible to take an S2, and increase the chip voltage and clock speeds to higher, but IDK if the boards can handle it, nor if the PSU it comes with can handle it. You could probably OC to 1.2 or more pretty easily, tho.

I believe the huge mod will be proper down clock of the s-1s to the lower wattage/voltage.  right now a down clock to freq 250 drops hash to 128gh and watts to 250.  volts stay the same. so watt per hash is not improved.

I run all my S1 Antminers undervolted to 8.5V at freq 275. They hash at 140 GH/s , around 160 watts at the wall. They run pretty quiet Smiley
 

please pm details .   do I just need to run a 9 volt power supply   to the gear using the older style hookup on the boards.  I know how to ssh the freq to 250 , 275 or 300.   
legendary
Activity: 967
Merit: 1002
You're missing 2 things.

1) When the S2 was announced, Ant S1s were 0.98BTC, and the coinbase price was $634. This made the cost of buying 1TH/s of S1s almost $3200. Now you still had to spend a few hundred in PSUs, but you were hashing within a few days. The point is that upgrading only cost an extra $400, and you could cut your power consumption in half.


2) The chips in the S2 aren't "underpowered". The reality is that Bitmain is using the same chips in the S2 as what they've already been using the in S1. The difference is that the S1 chips were set at max voltage and max clocks, for max performance. The S2 chips are set at the lowest voltage, with a much lower clock rate, for max power efficiency.

Here are the chip ranges:


The S1 uses 8 banks of 8 chips (total=64 chips) at 2.8GHs/chip for 179.2GH/s. The S2 probably uses somewhere in the range of 600-650 chips at 1.6GHs/chip for a total of 1TH/s.

It's theoretically possible to take an S2, and increase the chip voltage and clock speeds to higher, but IDK if the boards can handle it, nor if the PSU it comes with can handle it. You could probably OC to 1.2 or more pretty easily, tho.

I believe the huge mod will be proper down clock of the s-1s to the lower wattage/voltage.  right now a down clock to freq 250 drops hash to 128gh and watts to 250.  volts stay the same. so watt per hash is not improved.

I run all my S1 Antminers undervolted to 0.85V on the chip at freq 275. They hash at 140 GH/s , around 160 watts at the wall. They run pretty quiet Smiley
legendary
Activity: 952
Merit: 1000
Here are the chip ranges:

I believe the huge mod will be proper down clock of the s-1s to the lower wattage/voltage.  right now a down clock to freq 250 drops hash to 128gh and watts to 250.  volts stay the same. so watt per hash is not improved.
Yes, there are a few threads out there aimed at undervolting the S1. But I have to ask: what good is downclocking the S1s if the W/GHs remain the same? If you're cutting your power bill in half, but also cutting your earnings in half, you're not gaining anything. Why don't you just remove one of the boards and run it at 100GH/s @ 200W?

The whole point of lowering the clock speed is so that you can lower the voltage as well, and save power. W/GHs is what we're after. Lowering down to 128GH/s at stock volts might be ~250W, but with undervolting it's prolly closer to 130W.

The S1 uses 8 banks of 8 chips (total=64 chips) at 2.8GHs/chip for 179.2GH/s. The S2 probably uses somewhere in the range of 600-650 chips at 1.6GHs/chip for a total of 1TH/s.

It's theoretically possible to take an S2, and increase the chip voltage and clock speeds to higher, but IDK if the boards can handle it, nor if the PSU it comes with can handle it. You could probably OC to 1.2 or more pretty easily, tho.
According to what your saying, the S2 has 10 times more chips than the S1 but only delivers 5 times more hashing power out of the box.  If the S2 could be powered the same way as the S1, then a single S2 could deliver 2 T/H; not that I would know how to do that.
Yes, the S2 has somewhere in the range of 10x the number of chips, but each one runs at a lower voltage, almost half the clock speed, and MUCH lower power. There is a LOT of potential hashrate in each S2, but whether you'll be able to unlock it is the question right now.

The low voltage is severely limit how far you can OC. We don't know what the S2 will have for voltage control, and if we can increase the voltage (through software; I'm assuming hardware mods will be possible). If you can increase the voltage, and then increase the clock speed, then you've got to worry about heat and power issues. The stock PSU probably won't be able to provide the 1.5-2kW of juice, so a second or upgraded PSU is probably going to be needed. Then, you'll run into temp issues. The heatsinks and airflow on the S2 are going to be designed for 1W/chip, not 2-4W/chip. Cooling them is going to be a bitch. I'm guessing some cooling mods are in order.

So yes, there is a LOT of theoretical OC room, but how to get there is unknown at this point, and it prolly won't be easy.
full member
Activity: 210
Merit: 100
You're missing 2 things.

1) When the S2 was announced, Ant S1s were 0.98BTC, and the coinbase price was $634. This made the cost of buying 1TH/s of S1s almost $3200. Now you still had to spend a few hundred in PSUs, but you were hashing within a few days. The point is that upgrading only cost an extra $400, and you could cut your power consumption in half.


2) The chips in the S2 aren't "underpowered". The reality is that Bitmain is using the same chips in the S2 as what they've already been using the in S1. The difference is that the S1 chips were set at max voltage and max clocks, for max performance. The S2 chips are set at the lowest voltage, with a much lower clock rate, for max power efficiency.

Here are the chip ranges:


The S1 uses 8 banks of 8 chips (total=64 chips) at 2.8GHs/chip for 179.2GH/s. The S2 probably uses somewhere in the range of 600-650 chips at 1.6GHs/chip for a total of 1TH/s.

It's theoretically possible to take an S2, and increase the chip voltage and clock speeds to higher, but IDK if the boards can handle it, nor if the PSU it comes with can handle it. You could probably OC to 1.2 or more pretty easily, tho.

According to what your saying, the S2 has 10 times more chips than the S1 but only delivers 5 times more hashing power out of the box.  If the S2 could be powered the same way as the S1, then a single S2 could deliver 2 T/H; not that I would know how to do that.
legendary
Activity: 4102
Merit: 7763
'The right to privacy matters'
You're missing 2 things.

1) When the S2 was announced, Ant S1s were 0.98BTC, and the coinbase price was $634. This made the cost of buying 1TH/s of S1s almost $3200. Now you still had to spend a few hundred in PSUs, but you were hashing within a few days. The point is that upgrading only cost an extra $400, and you could cut your power consumption in half.


2) The chips in the S2 aren't "underpowered". The reality is that Bitmain is using the same chips in the S2 as what they've already been using the in S1. The difference is that the S1 chips were set at max voltage and max clocks, for max performance. The S2 chips are set at the lowest voltage, with a much lower clock rate, for max power efficiency.

Here are the chip ranges:


The S1 uses 8 banks of 8 chips (total=64 chips) at 2.8GHs/chip for 179.2GH/s. The S2 probably uses somewhere in the range of 600-650 chips at 1.6GHs/chip for a total of 1TH/s.

It's theoretically possible to take an S2, and increase the chip voltage and clock speeds to higher, but IDK if the boards can handle it, nor if the PSU it comes with can handle it. You could probably OC to 1.2 or more pretty easily, tho.

I believe the huge mod will be proper down clock of the s-1s to the lower wattage/voltage.  right now a down clock to freq 250 drops hash to 128gh and watts to 250.  volts stay the same. so watt per hash is not improved.
legendary
Activity: 4102
Merit: 7763
'The right to privacy matters'
So... Bitmain wants $3600 for the Antminer S2.  This is taking into consideration that the same 1 T/H performance can be bought for $2,000(at time of this writing, from Bitmain) in 5 Antminer S1's.  Sure, the S2 uses half the electricity, but that still does not justify the $1,600 higher price tag.  5 S1's use about $200 in electricity per month so S1's, being half that, would only save $100 per month for electricity.  That means that the S2 would have to run for 16 months to make up for the initial price difference.  I heard someone mention that the S2 may be seriously underpowered and is much more powerful than advertised.  Is this true?  Otherwise, the S2's pricing makes no sense.

added:  ...unless the price of Bitcoin increases drastically and electrical efficiency becomes that much more important...

 you are correct no on would buy one today for 3600.   but you did omit the fact that bit main is no longer selling them at any price.


  lets do some math 5x s-1 = 2250 vs 3600 or 1350 usd in price.   2100 watts vs 900 watts.   and if you are in the usa add more watts for ac.  so 2500 watts vs 900 watts.

that is 1600 x 24 =38 kwatts a day make it 40 a day . or about 5 to 8 dollars a day.   that is 150 to 250 a month   so in as much as 10 months you make up for the power.  or if you are in a high power place you make up for the power in 6 months.

I followed your thinking and expanded to 6x s-1's I hope to buy 2 s-2s when they cost 1000 to 1200 usd which may be about june 1st.
full member
Activity: 154
Merit: 100
S1's are the cheapest for mining because they are ugly. The masses prefer self-contained units with an attached, internal power supply.

This is great for those of us who don't care about that.  Cheesy

S1's make great pets.
full member
Activity: 210
Merit: 100
I would deffo plump for the S2 with PSU included than 6 X S1's which gives you 1080GH/s. 5 only gives you 900GH/s. So it makes even more sense.

5 overclocked is 1 T/H.
full member
Activity: 182
Merit: 100
I would deffo plump for the S2 with PSU included than 6 X S1's which gives you 1080GH/s. 5 only gives you 900GH/s. So it makes even more sense.
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