Author

Topic: New Version (unoverclockable) ASICMiner Blade Overclock Kit - IN STOCK (Read 15044 times)

newbie
Activity: 1
Merit: 0
Nice work Sidehack!

Just some info.  The stock oscillator can be disabled by placing a jumper from pin one to case ground or pin 2, either one.
This pulls the input low on pin 9 of the 7404 hex inverter and outputs a high on pin 8 enabling the four unpopulated pads on the green boards.

So, if people are having trouble desoldering the oscillator, or don't have a heat station, just place the new oscillator on the empty pads and install a jumper.
This will also enable you to slow the clock speed back down by removing the jumper to troubleshoot if need be and also alleviate some frustration with possibly not having the proper tool set.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Oh yeah, got a handful rollin' around.
newbie
Activity: 52
Merit: 0
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Got about five kits left ready to go to anyone that wants 'em.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Bump for kits will start shipping in a few hours.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
I can; international shipping will cost a bit more but I've shipped overseas a few times.
newbie
Activity: 10
Merit: 0
Do you send this kit to Brazil?  Cheesy
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
That's pretty balls. It should be able to cool several 100W blades... Now I gotta think about rebuilding my rack case to hold some of those guys instead of 120s...
full member
Activity: 158
Merit: 100
By the way, I got the idea of buying that fan, because I just replaced one of those at work. It's used to cool a 20kw AC motor drive. I figured, if it can cool that drive, it should be able to cool a 100w blade.

Art
full member
Activity: 158
Merit: 100
Yeah that's a beast alright. A veritable ice dragon; maybe I should get some for my backplane? I need to find some more 120mm and 92mm fans from Dell desktops; those things move air like nobody's business.

I though about getting some of those you suggested, but my 1000w p/s (actually 850 at 120vac) is already going to have trouble powering up a full backplane with overclocked blades. The beast, as you call it, is 120vac, and let me tell you, that thing blows more air than a 30 inch stand fan.

And the form factor is kinda rectangular, the heigh is just about the heigh of a blade, two of them side by side should cover an entire backplane.

And the best part, they are relatively cheap.

Now I wish I hadn't bought those puny 90 CFM case fans.

Art
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Yeah that's a beast alright. A veritable ice dragon; maybe I should get some for my backplane? I need to find some more 120mm and 92mm fans from Dell desktops; those things move air like nobody's business.
full member
Activity: 158
Merit: 100
I know. I kept getting more powerful fans.

But the overclocked blades really like their cooling.

After 3 different fan models, I decided to go for broke.

This one cools a bit more than half the backplane board worth of blades.

I only have space for 2 blades left, I'll have to get another fan next time I buy blades.


Cheers

Art
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Wow, that's quite a fan. Looks like you should be able to cool several with that guy. I look forward to hearing from you.
full member
Activity: 158
Merit: 100
I was finally able to properly cool the blades you overclocked. They are on the average producing 30% more than stock blades.

I had to use this to cool them. 12 VDC fans just did not cut it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007U01VMO/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

300+ CFM, a bit noisy but less noisy that the Butterfly Labs 60GH miner.

I am very satisfied with your work. I'll be contacting you soon to arrange for more blade work.

Cheers

Art
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Kits should start shipping tomorrow or Thursday. I already have about 25 spoken for, so another 25 available.
sr. member
Activity: 361
Merit: 250
If somebody need service to soldering sidehack parts on Blade or repair dead blade Contact with me UK only Smiley
legendary
Activity: 1778
Merit: 1003
NodeMasters
Parts are inbound for another round of kits, probably they'll be available for shipping on Thursday.

I also have a couple overclocked Blades I'm looking to sell if anyone's in the market. They're retailing for 0.38BTC in the group buys, I'll sell these for 0.43BTC which includes USPS Priority shipping and insurance. One's a 14.9GH, one's a 14.4GH

Total MHS:   14902
Received:   0000598799
Accepted:   0000594084
Per Minute:   203.59
Efficiency:   099.21%
Up Time:   2d,00h,37m,59s

Total MHS:   14412
Received:   0000006338
Accepted:   0000006316
Per Minute:   197.06
Efficiency:   099.65%
Up Time:   0d,00h,32m,03s
PM sent
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Parts are inbound for another round of kits, probably they'll be available for shipping on Thursday.

I also have a couple overclocked Blades I'm looking to sell if anyone's in the market. They're retailing for 0.38BTC in the group buys, I'll sell these for 0.43BTC which includes USPS Priority shipping and insurance. One's a 14.9GH, one's a 14.4GH

Total MHS:   14902
Received:   0000598799
Accepted:   0000594084
Per Minute:   203.59
Efficiency:   099.21%
Up Time:   2d,00h,37m,59s

Total MHS:   14412
Received:   0000006338
Accepted:   0000006316
Per Minute:   197.06
Efficiency:   099.65%
Up Time:   0d,00h,32m,03s
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
My last few available kits are sold and going out today. I should have a second round as soon as I gather parts, probably in a week.
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 250
I ordered these upgrade kits from sidehack and he shipped very promptly.  Got exactly what I wanted.  Now I just need to see if I can make it work.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
I actually did some rework on my own blades today, built a new enclosure for them in a rack-mount case. I had problems in the new case, with keeping my original test blade cool; the polish and slight warp on the stock heatsink got the (full overclock) efficiency from 30% to 99% under the same fans. Atrocious thermal coupling beforehand.

Yeah, the fan you're getting to keep that blade cool should, with basic ducting, work for two or three of these. Good to hear everything's going well so far.
full member
Activity: 158
Merit: 100
I am very happy with the upgrade you did to my blade.

One interesting tidbit. I already told you about my lack of proper cooling, hopefully to be remedied when my fans arrive.

But I have noticed that cooling the chip side heatsinks improved my hardware error  rate substantially.

Even without proper cooling I am getting better than designed output. I can't wait to see what I'll get out of this blade when fans are installed.

Art
newbie
Activity: 8
Merit: 0
I'll take 5 kits.  Incoming payment!
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Got about 8 kits left. Gonna be doing a second round before long. In addition to upgrade, service, I'm also looking into Blade repair; if you're in the US and you receive a damaged Blade I might be able to help.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
As in the OP, kits are 0.025BTC apiece and flat 0.01BTC shipping per order. I've only got around a dozen kits in stock - these have really been flying off the shelf.
newbie
Activity: 39
Merit: 0
Blade upgrade kits are in stock and shipping. Parts for 20%, 30% and 40% speed increase in one kit, along with cooling components and parts to improve VRM stability. Got about 30 kits available at present.
whats the current price?
hero member
Activity: 504
Merit: 500
How much to upgrade 3 blades for me?
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Blade upgrade kits are in stock and shipping. Parts for 20%, 30% and 40% speed increase in one kit, along with cooling components and parts to improve VRM stability. Got about 30 kits available at present.
sr. member
Activity: 280
Merit: 250
Helperizer
I've now got my two blades running at ~14GH/s using 16.000MHz oscillators.  I've warped the heatsink to get better contact and on one blade I had to use thermal paste to get it stable.  Now they're running rock solid - nice jump from 12MHz to 16MHz.  ~33% speed increase, sweet!

Thanks again!

If you get these kits, do use a hot air station (they're not too expensive, or you can make one yourself).  The swaps are pretty easy with the right equipment - takes less than 30 mins each and that's if you're a first-time SMD modder.  The heatsink warping and application on the chips take longer than that!  ;-)
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Blade Kits should begin shipping on Wednesday. I've already responded to anyone that PM'd me in the last week or so showing interest. I'll have enough parts for about 40 kits to go out, and if they sell well enough I'll put together more.

Kits this round are improved from the last round - better regulator components, and hardware for three different overclock speeds so you can run yours at the highest speed *you* can keep stable, not the highest speed *I* could keep stable - every board is a little different and they don't all behave at top speeds. Kits do still include extra chip heatsinks, but I do also recommend smoothing out the backside of the stock heatsink and maybe using a bit of thermal paste to improve heat transfer. This can be a huge part of keeping a blade running stable and effiient even at stock speeds.


Also, whatever you do, CHECK YOUR WORK. Always make sure that all parts have been installed correctly, and never EVER power up a blade with improperly installed or missing components. That's when disasters can happen, and it's easy to avoid.
full member
Activity: 121
Merit: 100
These guys on eBay have a decent selection of chip-sized heatsinks and ship from the US.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/diyfancylights

Thanks man that is exactly what I was looking for!!!!
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
These guys on eBay have a decent selection of chip-sized heatsinks and ship from the US.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/diyfancylights
full member
Activity: 121
Merit: 100


Hey where did you get those cool little heat spreaders on your chips? I have 1 blade with heat issues and Im thinking this may help.


Thanks
full member
Activity: 158
Merit: 100
The best luck I've ever had was with a three-point warp to the stock heatsink. Basically, laying it across two wood blocks and hitting it with a hammer through another wood block in the middle, and then halfway between the middle and the ends, to give the heatsink a fairly continuous slight curve - less than 1/8 inch total deviation, probably closer to 1/16 inch. When the board is screwed down over it, the backside of the board will flex slightly to press up against the heatsink, which will allow better heat transfer. I also used some thermal compound between the heatsink, pad and board and buffed the heatsink face smooth - the ones I've seen have been very rough, so not a good contact surface at all.
A three-point warp is good because it leaves a fairly continuous curve to the heatsink surface - just a single bend in the middle will make more like a triangle, so when the board flexes (into a continuous curve) it won't mate with the heatsink face evenly and could leave gaps under some rows of chips.

Between that and the simple chipside heatsinks in the kit, I've had a blade running at 14.5GH with good airflow, more stable than some of the stock boards I've seen under the same fan. It's pretty much the best bet without having to machine a plate to screw over the boards for heat spreading and pressure on the sink.

If you want to send the board in, I can see about improving stock cooling and, if that works well enough, try pushing some more hashes out of it for you. If it is a voltage issue I can look into that too, see if the VRM outputs are noisy and add some filtering to clean it up.

That sounds good. Please PM the snail mail address info I need to send the board to, as well as total BTC and a wallet address for your fees.

Art
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
The best luck I've ever had was with a three-point warp to the stock heatsink. Basically, laying it across two wood blocks and hitting it with a hammer through another wood block in the middle, and then halfway between the middle and the ends, to give the heatsink a fairly continuous slight curve - less than 1/8 inch total deviation, probably closer to 1/16 inch. When the board is screwed down over it, the backside of the board will flex slightly to press up against the heatsink, which will allow better heat transfer. I also used some thermal compound between the heatsink, pad and board and buffed the heatsink face smooth - the ones I've seen have been very rough, so not a good contact surface at all.
A three-point warp is good because it leaves a fairly continuous curve to the heatsink surface - just a single bend in the middle will make more like a triangle, so when the board flexes (into a continuous curve) it won't mate with the heatsink face evenly and could leave gaps under some rows of chips.

Between that and the simple chipside heatsinks in the kit, I've had a blade running at 14.5GH with good airflow, more stable than some of the stock boards I've seen under the same fan. It's pretty much the best bet without having to machine a plate to screw over the boards for heat spreading and pressure on the sink.

If you want to send the board in, I can see about improving stock cooling and, if that works well enough, try pushing some more hashes out of it for you. If it is a voltage issue I can look into that too, see if the VRM outputs are noisy and add some filtering to clean it up.
full member
Activity: 158
Merit: 100
I have a question. I have one blade that consistently gives me a high hardware error rate. I have noticed that if I lower the p/s voltage the error rate also drops, but below a certain voltage, some chips stop running. If I send this blade for the overclocking job, would you be able to fix that?

I believe that this is a voltage noise issue.

As an example at 11.80 VDC power supplied, I have one chip not running, and I still get 7% hardware error rate. At the normal 12.8 VDC the normal p/s (not adjustable) puts out, this one blade gives me 20+% error rate.

I have plenty of cooling and the heatsing does not get very warm, even without fans. Maybe I need to jimmy the heatsink a bit.

What are your thoughts on this?

Art
newbie
Activity: 57
Merit: 0
Something bad happened, that is all that I know. I took the resistor back off after I could not get it working and checked the voltage and it shows 0 volts with no resistor and the vrm seems to work after putting the resistor back, I see ~1.03 volts or so with the 68k in place and had 1.20 with 110k. It is an odd one and has me trigger shy on doing  any more.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Huh, wow that is weird. I can see low numbers at high clock without adequate cooling, but not put back to stock. Never had that problem.

I did have one guy didn't connect a resistor properly and it blew out a buck regulator chip down around the control hardware at the end of the board, never came back to life. I wonder if the extreme overvolt on yours (from the miswired VRM likely outputting full power in open-loop) might have somehow affected a logic input to one of the interface or firmware controllers? Sucks that happened.
newbie
Activity: 57
Merit: 0
I think that something definty got fried when it was powered up without the resistor. Anyhow even after returning it to stock it would only hash at 500 mhash max with good cooling.  Sold it on eBay for parts so not a total loss , but it still sucks. Maybe someone will have luck fixxing it or harvest the asics.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Likely what happened is, since the VRM wasn't getting feedback from the output voltage, it basically locked onto the highest voltage output and possibly fried your chips.

As for running at 300-500MH/s, that's probably a cooling issue. All the ASICs on these guys are fairly independent, and one or a few dropping out shouldn't hinder the rest. The thing is at higher voltage and higher clock, more power is consumed in the chips so they get warm, and the V2 blades are legendarily bad at stock heatsink contact. Chipside heatsinks (as would be provided), and if possible a slight warp of the stock heatsink to pull the blade's board down firmly over it instead of floating with no pressure and very bad contact, will get these guys running well. I just the other day worked up a board to a 33% over-spec oscillator, that was running 14.5GH 99% efficient with nothing fancy but good airflow. Improving heatsink efficiency on these guys goes a LONG way. I've worked up about a dozen blades and had zero X'd chips that weren't from improper cooling.

newbie
Activity: 57
Merit: 0
FWIW I oc's one of my blades and managed to damage it. I went with parts to set to ~13 GH @ 1.2 volts. Took it slow and did the oscillator and then one vrm. Looked good so I removed the rest of the vrm resistors and soldered new ones in. Fired the blade back up and found four chips XXXX chips 13-16. A quick look and I see that I forgot to install the new resistor for this lane, it was showing 0 volts. I powered it down and installed the proper resistor. No dice still does not work. I tried a bunch of things including going back to stock speed and voltage and the blade still does not work.  Those 4 chips show XXXX now no matter what. The board will only hash at 300-500 m/hash with about  96% error rate. I believe that all the hashing chips must be working or the board will not function properly.Had two blades now only one.  3 more on the way. Hope this saves someone else the headache.
full member
Activity: 137
Merit: 100
For anyone with blades - I'm thinking of doing another round of kits, this time with select-an-overclock. I'll have parts included to run the same overclock as on the V1 blades (~13GH), as well as ~14.4GH and ~15GH, so you could put it to the highest speed you can keep stable.

Super discounts this time, since blade prices are at an all-time low and the BTC exchange is at an all-time high.

Let's say 0.025BTC per kit, flat shipping 0.01BTC for orders of one to whatever.

If there's enough interest I'll make them available, so folks gotta let me know. Is it worth 0.025BTC and an hour of work to get 2-4GH more out of your existing equipment?

I'd on the fence, I'd love to bump blade speeds but it's finding someone locally who can do the upgrade.   Huh
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
For anyone with blades - I'm thinking of doing another round of kits, this time with select-an-overclock. I'll have parts included to run the same overclock as on the V1 blades (~13GH), as well as ~14.4GH and ~15GH, so you could put it to the highest speed you can keep stable.

Super discounts this time, since blade prices are at an all-time low and the BTC exchange is at an all-time high.

Let's say 0.025BTC per kit, flat shipping 0.01BTC for orders of one to whatever.

If there's enough interest I'll make them available, so folks gotta let me know. Is it worth 0.025BTC and an hour of work to get 2-4GH more out of your existing equipment?
sr. member
Activity: 280
Merit: 250
Helperizer
If you don't have a hot air station, you can make your own for about $25 or so.  I put one together last night after no good luck with a soldering iron.  Will try out the new hot air setup tonight, practicing on a dead board.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/07/how-to-make-a-surface-mount-soldering-iron/
member
Activity: 117
Merit: 10
After some heat sinks and another fan, my OC bladev2 has been running for 3 weeks at 14.9 GH/s with no issues!

I can't wait to see what sidehack can do with the new cubes coming out. I ordered a couple from China yesterday  Smiley
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
It's possible with a standard soldering iron, but the crystal is definitely the tricky part - either a lot of time and care, or two soldering irons and a bit of finagling. Air station is definitely highly recommended.
full member
Activity: 219
Merit: 100
Quote
How difficult is the install? and approximately how long does it take please. Can this be done with a regular 7.00 soldering iron?

I would not attempt this with a traditional soldering iron. I used a hot air SMD rework station. Temp set to 431C.

Air Pump for the resistors set low to about 3.75 (just enough to blow air out the tip) any higher and you blow the resistor off the board or loosen adjacent components.

Air Pump for the crystal set to 6.5, takes quite a bit of heat to get this guy loose. This is the primary reason for using the rework station.

Air nozzle should be the same size (in diameter) as the component you are working, so you need to swap tips.

Once I got rolling and built up confidence, it would take about 15-20 minutes per board to disconnect, remove old components, install new components and test.
hero member
Activity: 686
Merit: 500
Sidehack, you sir are a genius!! I had no luck with 16.384, but 14.318 worked beautifully and turned all of my V2's into V1 like performers..




No heatsinks required... runs just a little warmer than stock. Notice the single V1 in the upper left corner.

You da man!!

 How difficult is the install? and approximately how long does it take please. Can this be done with a regular 7.00 soldering iron?
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Nifty, great to hear. I've worked up at least 10 of these boards and within my experience, running at 16.384 they really like airflow. Cooling is a bit finicky. Good to know they run without issue at the 14.3 - that's still a pretty good upgrade from standard.

Hopefully I can get my hands on more hardware as it comes out, keep the streak going giving you guys a boost.
full member
Activity: 219
Merit: 100
Sidehack, you sir are a genius!! I had no luck with 16.384, but 14.318 worked beautifully and turned all of my V2's into V1 like performers..




No heatsinks required... runs just a little warmer than stock. Notice the single V1 in the upper left corner.

You da man!!
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Yeah, about half a dozen.
sr. member
Activity: 356
Merit: 250
Dock.io
do you have any left for sale??
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
It's probably gidi337, the UK reseller.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
US, or UK? UK pricing is up to gidi337. US pricing is the same.
member
Activity: 82
Merit: 10
How much are kits now?
member
Activity: 97
Merit: 10
hi everyone i just recieved the kits so all are welcome to pm me

regards
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
I'll be working up, testing and selling overclocked blades direct in limited quantities. Looking at 1.4BTC or best offer. PM for details - got a few on hand already.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Kits are on the way to Europe for distribution there, so anyone UK and whatnot needs to contact user "gidi337" about buying.

Kits will be coming with heatsinks, and are ready to ship out as soon as ordered.

Note that with the price of blade drops, this takes the hash price to above 11GH/BTC which at this scale is pretty hard to beat.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
I'll have the heatsinks in hand for complete kits tomorrow afternoon; complete heatsinked kits will start shipping Thursday.

This also includes kits being shipped to a reseller in the UK, so anyone over there will have the chance to grab.

If you've already bought a kit and find you need chipside heatsinks to keep it running cool enough to hash properly, PM me and I'll see what I can do.

I'm considering fetching some blades to work up and resell direct. PM me if you're interested in anything like that and we'll work out an arrangement.
member
Activity: 82
Merit: 10
I would like 3 kits with the small heatsinks whenever you have them ready
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
legendary
Activity: 1593
Merit: 1004
Interested in you installing on my boards.
full member
Activity: 137
Merit: 100
I wish you lived closer, I'd just bring my blade over and let you do the magic.  Sad

Time to whip out the iron and start practicing.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
I've found a good supply of what should be excellent chipside heatsinks for these blades. If the information I have is accurate they should clear just fine in backplane installations. I'll be adding heatsinks and thermal tape to the kits without changing the price, which should help out a fair bit.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
So far I have shipped six kits and done one upgrade service. I'm sending several kits to an associate in the UK for European distribution; details to follow.

It looks like I also have secured a source for chipside heatsinks, which if my information is accurate should work just fine with clearances in backplane installations and should provide enough additional cooling surface to do the job well. They're basically identical to the prototyped heatsinks I have working on my test unit, and should be available with the kits in the next few days. Pricing for everything will depend on how the exchange plays in the next few days.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
The first orders will be shipping out Saturday morning, US CST. I'm working on an instruction page; we were having some server trouble today and nothing got posted but it should be up by end-of-day Saturday.


I am going to recommend the end user figure out some sort of chip-side heatsinking solution; testing on my own hardware has indicated it doesn't like running with just forced-air cooling on the backside. The thermal impedance of the board vias, soldermask and silicone pad seem to be too high to keep the chips at an operationally cool temperature even with a cool heatsink.


If enough people are interested in being provided with chipside heatsinks, I may look into stocking sets of those as well, to be added to standard kits for a minimal additional fee (0.05BTC perhaps) just to cover costs.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
I'm talking with a guy right now about Europe distribution. When details are ironed out we'll let you know.
sr. member
Activity: 361
Merit: 250
how much u whont for all parts need 5 set shipping to uk
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
donator
Activity: 2352
Merit: 1060
between a rock and a block!
Where are you located?
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
So, here's the skinny on the kits. The first batch I'll have 55 kits available, and will start shipping either Saturday October 19, or Monday October 21.


The kit comprises entirely of surface-mount components, so access to a hot-air station and/or experience with precision soldering is highly recommended. Only one of the parts is likely to be problematic without an air station; the rest are pretty straightforward.


The total cost of the kit, to US customers, will be 0.2BTC per unit. Orders of 5 or more kits will cost 0.16BTC. This includes USPS Priority shipping from near the geographic center of the country - three days maximum.
Orders outside the US, contact me through PM to discuss the situation.


For that 0.2BTC, you get parts to overclock the new-version (unoverclockable) ASICMiner Blade, to approximatley 14.7GH/s. This is an improvement of 4GH/s over the stock model - about a 37% increase. This basically gives you a full diff-change of edge using existing equipment. The power consumption for the blade will increase from the stock rating of about 85W (around 7A) to about 140W (mine pulls 11.3A plus fans). Note this is an increase in heat generation also - I will not provide additional cooling options (if they prove necessary in your setup) because I don't know the physical constraints of your setup.
The small easy-to-lose parts will each have at least one spare included just in case.
I will also include a basic set of instructions for what parts go where and in what orientation.


For people that would like the upgrade kit applied to their Blade(s) but do not have the skills, I will be offering upgrade service for 0.4BTC with next-business-day turnaround and priority return shipping. This is not a swap for preassembled hardware; I will be working, testing and returning your own blades guaranteed. PM me for details regarding this service.


To place orders, submit payment to address 1EpQdQgAs2CrF2TYRTmdAasE5vQNPWwQCs
PM me with your desired shipping address and a link to the transaction block of your payment. I'll respond with a confirmation that your order has been received, and a tracking number for the shipment when it ships.
In the event that more orders come in than I have parts for, orders will be shipped on a first-come, first-serve basis. I'll contact those left behind for how to proceed- wait for the second round, or refund.

If anyone has any further questions regarding specifics or things I've overlooked, feel free to PM.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
There's a really good thread in Custom Hardware on overclocking the USB Block Erupters (https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/block-erupter-usb-overclocking-hacking-241652)

I've gotten USB BE's running steady at about 460; others have done much more. If you're asking about the new-version Blade overclock as discussed in this thread, mine converges to a reported rate of about 14.8GH
full member
Activity: 281
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What's this about overclocking USB miners?

What hash rates can you get it to?
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
I'll be assembling kits starting tonight, but not all the parts will be in until probably Friday. Testing will continue through this weekend to make sure everything's top notch functional and I'll start delivering to the post office on Monday.


What I'm thinking is, after looking at all the costs associated, 0.2BTC for the full kit, USPS Priority shipping included. I can also offer upgrade service for folks that don't have their own skills or equipment, next-day turnaround and priority return shipping, for 0.4BTC
As long as that sounds reasonable that's what we'll do. I know it's a little higher than initial estimate, but it's calculated based on updated actual costs. International shipping cost/speed will have to be figured out on individual basis, and bulk discounts are available for folks buying more than 1 since shipping will combine.


I'll be setting up a wallet address specifically for this in order to keep track of things more readily, and a reasonable signed payment scheme. I know I'm sorta new to the forums, been a lurker for months but hadn't really ever posted anything. For any credibility concerns, I refurbish and sell electronics for a living - eBay/Amazon seller "midwestrefurb".
sr. member
Activity: 403
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GREAT work sir.  Please post how we pay you and how we get you shipping address information.  Thx for the work.

H@shkraker
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
I should be able to start shipping parts kits on Monday for anyone looking at it. That'll give me time, I reckon, to work out some details on international shipping and a few more days to test, tweak and organize. And a few more days to work out payment and address verification requirements.
hero member
Activity: 1008
Merit: 501
Good WORK!

Congrats.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
The bulk of things can be done with a standard soldering iron and a careful hand. The oscillator, having four pads, will be the only iffy part. I used a hot air station to swap that out - did some oscillator swaps on BEs and had trouble removing them with just an iron. The pads on this one are larger and more accessible, so it should be easier.

I would recommend a hot air station for sure, but it should be possible for a well-practiced person to do with a basic iron. You'll probably want both fine and heavy tips though, because some of the pads tie directly to voltage/ground planes and take a lot of heat to flow, where some are very small and precision is needed.

All the work on mine was done over several stages with various tests inbetween, but to do one fresh start-to-finish would be the work of less than an hour even being careful.
hero member
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Owner, Minersource.net
How hard would this be for us to do our selves? Very interested
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Quote
The total board metered out at 12.35A consumption off the 12V rail

This equates to a shy 150W
full member
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Great work

Can I ask what the power usage is after the upgrade
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Here's my test rig with all modifications in place. Running a core clock of 16.384MHz at 1.25V. The oscillator is a temp pulled from what I had on hand, and will be replaced by a proper-fitting part (of the same specifications) in the actual kit. The VRM switching transistors and inductor aren't warm to the touch and don't seem to have any trouble handling the drive current. The total board metered out at 12.35A consumption off the 12V rail, which is actually less than predicted.



Also notice the added components on the VRM power rails - this reduced line ripple and parasitic switching noise substantially, which should improve the reliability of the ASIC chips.
I also added topside chip heatsinks, but it's up to experimentation to determine if that's actually necessary since by design the majority of heat dissipation is through the board. I noted the ASIC chips were warmer running overstock voltage than standard and I added chip heatsinks, but the main heatsink is mostly cooled with indirect air so better direct cooling might negate the need for these. I will not be including advanced heatsinking parts in the kit because I don't know what each person will need to fit their existing setups.


Here's a screencap of the configuration page after running overnight. It had been functional for ~20 hours steady before starting this "session". The converged data rate reported is a little higher than I had been getting in steady-state, but is within acceptable margins for accuracy.



I mine at Ozcoin; the .1 and .2 workers are overclocked USB Block Eruptors. The blade is on a Stratum proxy credentialed under sidehack.0 and is the only device on this worker. Reported hashrates have ranged between about 12GH and 18GH depending on luck.



I haven't considered overmuch the requirements for doing the upgrade as a service - it's possible for a nominal fee. I know folks aren't going to want their machines out of service for long, so depending on location high-speed shipping options and turnaround guarantees will have to be worked out with cost in mind.
newbie
Activity: 56
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Would you be willing to do this as a service too for those of us that don't have the needed skills??? Sending you a pm.
newbie
Activity: 56
Merit: 0
I'm putting together a basic DIY kit for overclocking ASICMiner new-version Blades (the ones without OC adjustments built in), taking the stock up to around 14.6GH.

Looking at two versions of the kit, one with just the basic parts to overclock/overvolt and one with additional power supply components to reduce line ripple and noise for more stable operation.

Neither kit will include advanced cooling options; I'll let you guys figure that out yourselves. The kits will include requisite parts and printed instructions for what gets swapped with what. This will require soldering skills.

Kits may be available by the end of this week, at least to people in the United States. Just as an initial estimate, what would people be willing to pay for the parts to upspec a standard Blade by about 35%?

The real number would depend on time to complete project, but a 20% of purchase price of a blade to get a 35% increase in performance would not be obsurd... so for a real number figure, I'd be willing to do about .20 to .25 btc for a full kit shipped.  If the powerdraw doesn't increase substantially and the backplane could still be used, you're talking a gain of 40gh per full backplane, now that I can take to the bank.
sr. member
Activity: 280
Merit: 250
need more evidence!
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Stuff should be ready to ship on Friday. I'll have some pictures and screenshots up later so's to verify the numbers I'm seeing. Definitely keep you guys in the loop. Had a lot of fun hacking on the USB Block Erupters, was a bit worried at the scale of the blade but everything's working well, especially with the added VRM filtering. Might have been a fluke, but taking out some line ripple and HF noise (the added filtering quartered noise and ripple) I saw about a 100-200MH increase in steady-state hashrate, and that should also reduce strain on the chips which is nice with an overvolt.

As a note, this kit is a fixed-voltage overvolt and fixed-frequency overclock (of about 35%). But I will be working on an adjustable clock source and see just how far these things can be pushed at a given voltage, which should be fun.
member
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I would consider this as well, for 3 blades.
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
That amount would get you a bulk discount, but additional (international) shipping may eat it up. Either way we'll keep it reasonable.
sr. member
Activity: 406
Merit: 250
It really doesn't take a lot, thinking something like 0.1BTC for the base kit shipped, 0.15 for the full kit shipped. Sometime soon (it's been a hectic weekend, and will continue to be a hectic week) I'll have an actual build log posted - gotta get a webserver up first though.

For reference, the stock rates at about 10.7GH; with the base kit applied mine was reporting about 14.6 and after adding parts to the VRM output (which greatly dropped line noise) it's been reporting around 15GH (which is actually higher than theoretical expectations, go figure). Running stable for 13 hours now, no X chips and no heating issues.

That would include USPS Priority shipping in the US. Bulk orders would be negotiable, and shipping outside the US researchable.

Looking forward to this, will be a UK Buyer Smiley Have 10 Blades that could do with the upgrade Smiley
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
It really doesn't take a lot, thinking something like 0.1BTC for the base kit shipped, 0.15 for the full kit shipped. Sometime soon (it's been a hectic weekend, and will continue to be a hectic week) I'll have an actual build log posted - gotta get a webserver up first though.

For reference, the stock rates at about 10.7GH; with the base kit applied mine was reporting about 14.6 and after adding parts to the VRM output (which greatly dropped line noise) it's been reporting around 15GH (which is actually higher than theoretical expectations, go figure). Running stable for 13 hours now, no X chips and no heating issues.

That would include USPS Priority shipping in the US. Bulk orders would be negotiable, and shipping outside the US researchable.
hero member
Activity: 1008
Merit: 501
Good job!

Watching Smiley
legendary
Activity: 1974
Merit: 1003
good job for developing these, im sure there are some serious buyers out there
legendary
Activity: 3318
Merit: 1848
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Kits will start shipping today, 12/18

I had enough questions from people having difficulty keeping overclocked blades cool and efficient, that I'll be including parts to run three different overclocks - the same ~13GH overclock from V1 blades, a ~14.4GH overclock and the maxed-out 15GH like the original kit. Basically just find the one you're able to keep stable and use that.

Selling for flat 0.025BTC per kit, as many as you want shipped for 0.01BTC

I'll also be offering upgrade service with return shipping and next-business-day turnaround for 0.085BTC per unit.

I also have a couple overclocked Blades I'm looking to sell if anyone's in the market. They're retailing for 0.38BTC in the group buys, I'll sell these for 0.43BTC which includes USPS Priority shipping and insurance. One's a 14.9GH, one's a 14.4GH


To place orders, submit payment to address 1EpQdQgAs2CrF2TYRTmdAasE5vQNPWwQCs
PM me with your desired shipping address and a link to the transaction block of your payment. I'll respond with a confirmation that your order has been received, and a tracking number for the shipment when it ships.


Instructions on applying the kit
http://www.gekkoscience.com/be_ins/blade_ins.html

More details farther down. If anyone has any further questions regarding specifics or things I've overlooked, feel free to PM.


I'm also currently developing additional overclock for ASICMiner Cubes, as well as working on standalone high-efficiency power supplies for them and other devices (including GPUs) that use PCIe 12V connectors. The next few weeks should be interesting.
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