Topic: LargeCoin C200 Integrated Mining Unit - page 3. (Read 7111 times)

A myth.  Price is irrelevant.  Only price/difficulty matters or in terms easier to deal with revenue per GH/s.

IF price went up to $30 and stayed there difficulty would go up 6x making equipment no more profitable then today at current difficulty and $5 BTC.

Rapidly increasing price can provide a short term benefit as difficulty lags price by a couple months (takes time for miners to commit to near hashing power, build rigs, and get them online) but in the long run difficulty follows price.

$5 BTC, $50BTC, $500,000 BTC it doesn't really matter difficulty is going to follow price.

Look at how much both price & difficulty have changed in last 90 days but the daily revenue per GH/s trades around $4  (+/- $2).  I love these charts that bitcoinx made but chart is in 100MH/s which is just a weird increment still just multiply values by 10 to get daily revenue per GH/s.



If BTC was $100 and the block subsidy was down to 25, and difficulty was 12 million 1 GH/s would be making ~ $4 per day.

I think the OP needs to reconsider the pricing.

LargeCoin C200 IMU as offered:
Price: $30,000
Hashrate: 20 GH/s
Power: 100W
Capital Efficiency: $1500 per GH/s
Power Efficiency: 200 MH/W
Size: 1U rackmount space

BFL RigBox
Price: $30,000
Hashrate: 50 GH/s
Power: 2500W
Capital Efficiency: $600 per GH/s
Power Efficiency: 25 MH/W
Size: ?? Likely would fit in 4U of rackmount space ??  Maybe BFL could release a rackmount chassis one day.

Pros - Lowest $ per GH.  
Cons - Not released yet, specs unproven, potential delays

50 BFL Singles
Price: $30,000  (50x singles @ $600 ea possibly less w/ bulk pricing)
Hashrate: 41.5 GH/s (50x 830 MH/s)
Power: 4500W (50x 90W likely less w/ high efficiency power supplies)
Capital Efficiency: $720 per GH/s
Power Efficiency: 9.2 MH/W  
Size: ?? Physically could likely fit in 3U of space but removing 4500W will require more space, airflow, fans, etc.  A guess to put it into rack units 6U?
Pros:  Specs proven in the wild.  
Cons: Worst MH/W
Notes: Doesn't make much sense to get 50 of these instead of a RigBox but if delivery is in 4 weeks one could start hashing sooner on 50 BTC blocks than waiting 3+ more months for RigBox or IMU.  

144 ztek boards (Why 144?  Just a guess on max one could put in an industrial 2U chassis w/ separate chassis for host)
Price: $36,720  (144 single FPGA boards @ $255 ea possibly less with a custom licensed run)
Hashrate: 30.67 GH/s (144x 213 MH/s)
Power: 1400W (144x 9.8W likely less w/ high efficiency power supplies)
Capital Efficiency: $1190 per GH/s
Power Efficiency: 22 MH/W
Size: 2U or 3U?
Pros:  Specs proven in the wild.  Similar MH/W than rig box.  Could start mining in 2-4 weeks.
Cons:  Worst $ per GH OTHER THAN IMU.

100 Hypothetical "next gen" 28nm ztex board
(doesn't exist yet don't bug ztex, just a back of napkin guestimate based on conservative 28nm FPGA performance)
Price: $30,000  (100x 28nm FPGA boards @ $300 ea possibly less with a custom licensed run)
Hashrate: 40 GH/s (100x 400 MH/s)
Power: 1100W (100x 11W likely less w/ high efficiency power supplies)
Capital Efficiency: $750 per GH/s
Power Efficiency: 36 MH/W
Size: 2U or 3U?
Pros:  Competitive w/ all offerings.
Cons: Doesn't exist.  Availability will depend on economical availability of 28nm parts which is likely 2013+
Assumptions:  33% per FPGA price increase due to demand.  80% increase in MH/s and 40% decrease in MH/W due to die shrink.


So lets normalize all these for a hypothetical 1 GH/s fractional rig (@ $0.10 per kWh)

The year costs are the purchase cost plus total electrical cost.  (i.e. to run 1GH/s of BFL singles for 4 years will cost $1078 total).

On edit: fixed decimal place error (which massively changes results) and the update is even worse for LargeCoin's relative value.  It doesn't even offer a lower total cost of ownership compared to the power hungry BFL Single.

Price needs to be cut by 50% for it even to make economical sense under any conditions.  Sure 1U of space is nice, and sure 100W power draw is incredible but it doesn't matter if the upfront price is so far out of line as to be noncompetitive.  To be viable it likely doesn't need to be the lowest cost offering but it has to at least get in the ballpark.

The price of Bitcoin is the key to the ASIC miners.

Make a discount on those specs, and you'll get an approximate spec of this system. Is it worth $30k? For me not at all.

I love the part about the specs coming from the chip manufacturer simulations.

If the simulation is as good as the one BFL made then we know they are dreaming

They announced it many months ago (it was before this, but I didn't find the link). Also, there is another thread here.

Is this the second unicorn project

Even BFL appears to be WAY more legit than this cheap PR trick.

Who is ordering ?

20 GHash/s at 100W only possible with dedicated ASIC.

You think they have the $$$ millions needed for that ?

I doubt it ...

My initial assessment is: It's more than twice as expensive as it should be. Thank you, but no, thank you.

I just got this via email, I'm not affiliated with them:


LargeCoin is pleased to announce that we are now taking deposits against pre-orders of our first dedicated, ASIC-based mining appliance, the LC 200C Integrated Mining Unit (IMU). Deposits will be held in third party escrow until final product delivery, which is expected in July 2012, and will be refunded if the product cannot be delivered on time. And yes, you can pay with Bitcoins if you prefer. Additional product details, along with terms and conditions, are found toward the end of this message.

If you would like to be contacted about making a pre-order, please use the following Google form to let us know:

[url removed]

PRICING AND DEPOSIT DETAILS

The C200 IMU is priced at USD $30,000. We are selling 25 units initially, with more to come later in 2012. To secure your place in the line, you must make a $4,500 deposit, which will be held in escrow by a third party until product delivery. You and LargeCoin will sign an escrow agreement to this effect before any money is transferred. The deposit will be returned to you if product delivery does not take place by July 31, 2012.

==============================================

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

The LargeCoin C200 is the world's first purpose-built Bitcoin mining appliance. Designed to fit within a standard 1U of rack space, the C200 connects to the network using Ethernet, and starts mining as soon as it's plugged in to the wall. Mining is controlled via an online control panel hosted by LargeCoin, which allows you to direct mining shares to the pool of your choice and manage your entire LargeCoin cluster in one convenient place. Each C200 mines at 20GHash/s, consuming a mere 100W. Designed for high density operation, the C200 provides efficient movement of air and is suitable for operating in a fully loaded 42U rack (up to 40 units per rack).

Despite the incredible power efficiency and spatial density of the C200, it's priced competitively with GPU mining. When compared with GPU mining, the C200 consumes 100 times less electricity and 14 times less rack space, meaning there's virtually no operating cost associated with this device.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Your deposit guarantees that LargeCoin will ship you a C200 IMU by July 31, 2012, that the specifications of the final product will not deviate materially from the specifications shown here, and that the device will function properly when it is plugged in. When you receive the unit and connect it to the network, you will be granted a temporary mining license enabling the system to mine for a period of 30 days. When we receive the balance of your payment, a permanent mining license will be issued to you. C200 IMUs may be transferred and re-sold -- just let us know before you make the sale so that we can transfer ownership of your license key.

SHIPPING

LargeCoin ships to North American destinations for free. Shipping costs for other destinations will be born by the customer and must be paid in advance. We will notify you when the shipping date approaches and provide a shipping quote for your review and final approval. International customers should be aware that air freight and insurance may cost $2,500 or more.

90-DAY LIMITED WARRANTY

LargeCoin warrants that the C200 will function materially consistent with the specifications for a period of 90 days following device activation, which occurs when you plug the unit in to a network with Internet connectivity for the first time. If the device fails, you may return it to us at LargeCoin's expense for a full refund, or replacement unit. Devices that are dead on arrival will be replaced or refunded.

NO GUARANTEE OF MINING REWARD OR FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Due to the random nature of Bitcoin mining, and the large uncertainties in the Bitcoin economy and network, LargeCoin cannot guarantee that the C200 will solve Bitcoin blocks at a particular rate, or that it will generate a financial benefit of any kind. Mining profitability depends on a number of factors, including the selection of a mining pool, which may or may not charge fees that reduce the mining reward; changes in the Bitcoin mining reward calculation including but not limited to scheduled reductions in the mining reward; and fluctuations in difficulty factor. LargeCoin's warranties and guarantees extend only so far as the hashing rate provided by the appliance, and its level of average power consumption.