Topic: Spondoolies SP35 - Heat + Noise (Read 2873 times)

As nothing useful is now being added to this thread I am locking it.

Any cost implications are between myself and my manager and nothing to do with a public forum.

I have received the information I needed so I thank those who participated and provided an answer without starting an argument over who is paying for the hosting of my server.

So what you are saying then is if they don't notice or don't care then it is ok to steal $600 a month from work.

If the CFO is talking about a $600 increase for the electricity bill of a TEST RACK, I would not want to work there. The parking lot lighting is more than that usually, and no one remembers to turn it off.

That'd be a pretty crappy AC. Datacenters sometimes use a 1:1 rule because AC can be implemented crappily in old DC, but that is not the fault of AC itself. The COP of a decent air conditioner with a SEER of 16 is 3.75, which means you need to use 1J worth of AC to remove 3.75J of heat. In power terms, it would take 1W of A/C to remove the heat from 3.75W of power, and would vent 4.75W outside.

Even cheap old ones should have a COP of 3 or so. The minimum the US has allowed to be sold for residential use since 2006 (at least according to that WP article) is SEER 13 or COP 3.2.

So air conditioning - absent a circulation system that has access to cold air - will use as much energy to cool the air as the SP35 used to heat the air, which is basically all of the energy that went into the SP35. Computers radiate out more than 99% of the energy that goes into them as heat.

If you have an ability to pump in cold air, you may be able to reduce your air conditioning costs.

But if this is straight AC, then you will essentially double your energy usage. Right now, this SP35 will us roughly 2500 KW a month, and cost up to 2500 KW a month in AC. So that's a total energy usage of 5000 KW. 5.5 TH will make you $400/month right now.

So if your power is 10 cents/kwh, you'll be losing $100/month at a full 100% AC set up.

So presuming a slightly more efficient AC set up, you'll be breaking even. ie. The increase in your power bill will be as much as you mine each month.

Yes I presume a lot. Could his work be ok with the increased cost of hosting a SP35? Sure. He could be trading his services for the hosting of his equipment. In this case it could be a good exchange for both parties. If everyone is aware of what is going on and ok with it then I say more power to him and why not buy a second SP35 and have them foot the electric bill. If they really don't know and he values his job then better make sure they are aware so he doesn't get fired.  All I am saying.

I think its best to err on the side of safety I would advise FULL disclousre like the previous poster said before you plug anything in.

people have been fired for less

Everyone is assuming a lot.

He might work for a Fortune 500 company.  He just maybe located in a small office with a small server room.  In which case I doubt they would notice an SP35 on their 200 sites of electric bills.

He might work in a small office that has power included in their lease so building is paying the bill.

He could have his own company wind farm powering the office.

I say if he has permission let him do it, if he has to unplug it I will buy it cheap   LOL

You presume a lot with this post, it's entirely possible that could happen but I sure hope the basic questions like how much power would be used were asked by the authority approving permission..

We allow things like that to run knowing exactly what it will cost, the treatment of facility costs vary depending on the business but in our case it is a fringe benefit for employees and we know exactly what we are doing.. Another local facility provides 220V 30A as a benefit for the same purposes, in short while you make a valid point it's entirely possible it's no issue for them...

Ya I doubt that the people in charge know that their electric bill is going to go up 600 dollars.  Here is the conversation.

CFO: Why did our electric bill go up $600 dollars?
IT: We let a developer run a SP35 server FOC. Must be using a lot of electricity.
CFO: Unplug it right now. No way we are covering a $600 dollar bill.

If this were your business would you be ok with a $600 dollar increase in your electric bill?

The op posted that the company is relocating the existing equipment AND the SP35
to a better controlled environment that is going to have upgraded power.
It sounds as if the op has talked this over with the people "in charge".

 

correct on both. AC power isnt 1:1 with the kw of heat, its generally 30-35% depending on efficiency of the AC and other factors

and i can attest to the second point. I just setup an SP30 (basically an SP35 / smaller PSUs) to run at 30-40% fans in the daytime (3.6TH/2kw) and ramp up to 80-90% (4.2TH/2.6kW) at nighttime when noone is around and power is cheaper.

at 40% fans are comparable to an Sp20 at ~30%

Yes I read where he said this, however I don't believe his work knows how much electricity the SP35 will be using. His other 5 servers seem to be dell r710. At 500 watts each that is 2.5 Kw of electricity. The SP35 at full speed will be doing 3.6 Kw. So they are going to be seeing more than a 100 percent increase in the electrical cost associated with this rack of equipment. I don't think they would be willing to cover a 600 dollar electric bill per month FOC if they knew. I want to see how they feel after a few months of big electric bills.

To the OP, do you have any other options, say a backup plan if things didn't work out?
Could you run the unit anywhere else temporarily if needed??
Or, downclock them both?

I am always looking for a silver lining, and with the prices of things at this time we must look at things as an investment, or fun worth the price, but I also want to make a profit. Actually, I am happy breaking even at current pricing because the knowledge gained is hard to put a price on.

I was mentioning to someone just moments ago that I was considering speaking with the main owner at our place. We have worked closely together for many years. I think the only issue would be that if I do it others will want to, and then the whining starts. It has happened before over company vehicles heh. But, you never know until you ask.

Another thought for a backup plan is if you decide to go ahead and things didn't work out you could have a buyer already lined up. Depending on how you made the deal you would not be out much and it is not going to take long to know if you have issues, even downclocked, what would it take, one hot day? Where I am we still have a couple of winter months I am enjoying. I hope you are as well.

I will check back on this thread and I say if you think it will work, if the line is that close in your mind, you ran the numbers, then get yourself a good backup plan and go for it.  

from the sentence that says "My work is allowing me to host this unit FOC in my test environment where all costs are covered (Power & Data)".
Especially the part--all cost are covered.

 

In the UK the averge cost per kw is .24 cents. So 20.76 dollar a day to run. 622.08 dollars per month. If he gets 2 BTC per month at 220 per BTC his net loss per month is 182.08 dollars. How is this a profit?

Funny how people always change their tune. The same people who said in the summer of 2013 that BTC mining was dead and no point in doing it were then the same people buying antminers s1 up the ass in December because BTC price when over $1000. Now with prices low again the same people now saying again that mining is a waste of time. Yes mining now is very difficult. Given the low BTC price and difficulty you are not going to make a profit or cover your cost. Unless you own a dam and are making your own electricity, you will not cover your electric cost for running the miner or air conditioning. Some people can mine at a loss with the hope of future profit. This is a good time now for the hobby miner, not so much for the big mining farms.

I am also confused by this argument. I see a profit can be made if you stay efficient with your set up.
I think that is because I don't see the word "Millionaire" when I read the word profit.
ALOT of people on here say mining is dead and gone, BUT they still do it!!!
They're on here everyday posting/reading topics and posting pics of their gear,...so if it's not profitable, even a little
WHY ARE THEY STILL HERE???

I think you're in a good position to make a Profit---Go For It!!!

Isn't AC roughly 1/3 the energy again to remove the energy, not 100%?

And to the OP, if you limit the SP35 to 800W per PSU it is crazily quieter as the PSU's fans remain low @ 40C. Or 950W @ 36C, 1100W at 30C, 1200W at 26C. Your numbers might vary slightly as my temp readings may not be entirely accurate.

Thanks guys,

That is the answer I was expecting but not the one I wanted, it does make sense given that the S5 kicks out enough heat that my lounge is a toasty 21c without heating. I was hoping that if I left the back door on the cab open it would keep the temps low enough that I could run it on a temporary basis until the rack is moved to its new location in a temperature controlled server room generally kept at 18 - 21c @ 30% - 36% RH

@Jamphone I am interested if you could elaborate your response regarding it not paying for itself.

My work is allowing me to host this unit FOC in my test environment where all costs are covered (Power & Data) so my only cost is roughly £1600 for the hardware itself. Given that my current setup (roughly 1.3th\s is yielding me 0.1 BTC per week) adding a SP35 should yield me roughly 0.5BTC per week. I have to give my manager 2BTC for hosting (up front fee not a re occurring cost).

So providing that it keeps making BTCs for me i will return a profit eventually; especially if the BTC price jumps in price to some silly price again then all will be well.

The only way I can see myself not making money off this is if it needs to be hosted in our T3 Datacenter which comes with a £450PCM fee + Electricity, or if the BTC price tanks and never recovers.

NOTE: I am not rubbishing your response all input is very valuable to me but I am struggling to get past all of the people who say " you will never profit/break even mining is a waste of electricity. the difficulty is too hard" I would like a balanced argument on both sides.

Thank you again for your input.