Topic: X6500 Custom FPGA Miner - page 47. (Read 220050 times)
Finally got started mining with mine and so far it's nice!!!
What's the status on the Mac miner?
So far not tested yet. I was putting a little more focus on the ARM miner, but haven't had success yet. I'll try Mac soon.
Well, there's a software section on the website that appears to have software downloads and instructions, though I've no idea if that's the latest version and obviously don't have the hardware to actually use it.
Thanks, makomk, for looking over my shoulder there! I meant to post a link to that, especially now that these boards are getting to people. Like those instructions say, the software is very new so please tell us about any problems you have. So far the only people that have used it so far are the people that wrote it! We need you alpha testers!
Everyone, please read the general guide first, then the software guide. Pre-built bitstreams can be downloaded from Bitstreams.
The v0.1 of the software should work, but the latest on github should be even better. The code there should always work because it's tested before it goes up. I would suggest using that now.
If anyone gets their board today and has trouble (or success!), please post here or send an email to [email protected].
What's the status on the Mac miner?
Thanks for that! I will give it a shot later today and let everyone know!
Well, there's a software section on the website that appears to have software downloads and instructions, though I've no idea if that's the latest version and obviously don't have the hardware to actually use it.
I am going to get mine in a couple hours! Will you have the software posted on the first post so we will be ready to go? Or does it come with a disk or something?
What will need to be done to get it running?
What will need to be done to get it running?
Cross posting this pic with the "mining rigs" thread because it's so awesome 
Actually, they have both!
ahh, that's freakin awesome. =)
How are the stock heatsinks attached, by the way? I bought mine with heatsinks included, but given this whole discussion of how important cooling is, I might want to try out some alternatives and want to know what I'm dealing with.
The heatsinks are attached with thermal tape, so they can be removed if you do it carefully. I'll experiment with it to find the best method, but I think it involves twisting it carefully when the adhesive is either cold or hot. I'll try that out on one of these boards so that you don't have to risk it on your own board.Hypothetically, if you were going to buy a cheap barrel connector from Amazon to use with this, what would you get???
Good question. Actually, Cablesaurus will have some recommended power supplies for sale soon. thirdlight seemed to find some good options on ebay in this post. On Amazon, this one would do but the center pin is the wrong size. It might work but I wouldn't recommend it. Better if you have something like one of these to adapt it to the 2.1 mm ID plug. Haven't found that on Amazon yet.
They've got a 4 pin molex on them now. Are you meaning to actually replace that connector on the board?
Actually, they have both! Hypothetically, if you were going to buy a cheap barrel connector from Amazon to use with this, what would you get???
They've got a 4 pin molex on them now. Are you meaning to actually replace that connector on the board?
Hypothetically, if you were going to buy a cheap barrel connector from Amazon to use with this, what would you get???
How are the stock heatsinks attached, by the way? I bought mine with heatsinks included, but given this whole discussion of how important cooling is, I might want to try out some alternatives and want to know what I'm dealing with.
Packed boards ready to go out:
This is the second batch, ready to go. Cablesaurus has the first batch already and they will start going out to customers tomorrow!
This is the second batch, ready to go. Cablesaurus has the first batch already and they will start going out to customers tomorrow!
Woohoo! Excited!!!!
Packed boards ready to go out:
This is the second batch, ready to go. Cablesaurus has the first batch already and they will start going out to customers tomorrow!
This is the second batch, ready to go. Cablesaurus has the first batch already and they will start going out to customers tomorrow!
fizzisist, first off, these look awesome!
Second, I swear that I read somewhere that you were, at some point entertaining the idea of quantity discounts. Did anything ever come of this? In all of my reading, I sort of lose track of when things were said/what has happened since. And now I can't find the comment that originally made me think this.
Also, I know that this board is not yet on par performance-wise with other offerings, but improvements are planned. Is there any rough timeline on this?
Not trying to prod/demand anything, I'm just looking at the feasibility of buying a small fpga setup (~10 boards) and I want to get a good idea of what's out there.
Thirdly, these look awesome.
Second, I swear that I read somewhere that you were, at some point entertaining the idea of quantity discounts. Did anything ever come of this? In all of my reading, I sort of lose track of when things were said/what has happened since. And now I can't find the comment that originally made me think this.
Also, I know that this board is not yet on par performance-wise with other offerings, but improvements are planned. Is there any rough timeline on this?
Not trying to prod/demand anything, I'm just looking at the feasibility of buying a small fpga setup (~10 boards) and I want to get a good idea of what's out there.
Thirdly, these look awesome.
Ask and you shall receive! Actually, your post served as a gentle reminder to get this together:
Quantity
I just find it odd when people take the countless hours to work on products, and some people still cry MAKE THIS BETTER, I NEEDZ DA MONIES!
fizzisist, first off, these look awesome! Second, I swear that I read somewhere that you were, at some point entertaining the idea of quantity discounts. Did anything ever come of this? In all of my reading, I sort of lose track of when things were said/what has happened since. And now I can't find the comment that originally made me think this. Also, I know that this board is not yet on par performance-wise with other offerings, but improvements are planned. Is there any rough timeline on this? Not trying to prod/demand anything, I'm just looking at the feasibility of buying a small fpga setup (~10 boards) and I want to get a good idea of what's out there. Thirdly, these look awesome. I like how defensively you formulate your inquiry. Seeing stuff like the following, I must conclude we need more politeness: We demand regularity of dividend payments! Automate them! jeeesh, right?
fizzisist, first off, these look awesome!
Second, I swear that I read somewhere that you were, at some point entertaining the idea of quantity discounts. Did anything ever come of this? In all of my reading, I sort of lose track of when things were said/what has happened since. And now I can't find the comment that originally made me think this. Also, I know that this board is not yet on par performance-wise with other offerings, but improvements are planned. Is there any rough timeline on this? Not trying to prod/demand anything, I'm just looking at the feasibility of buying a small fpga setup (~10 boards) and I want to get a good idea of what's out there. Thirdly, these look awesome. A warning to everyone: Cooling these boards properly is crucial. Improper cooling will increase your power consumption, increase error rates, and shorten the life of the FPGAs. If the board or heatsinks feel hot at all, you are not cooling them properly. We are not responsible for any damages that may arise from insufficient cooling. To emphasize here: Semiconductor devices can be prone to thermal runaway: Higher temperatures make them less efficient which leads to higher temperatures until its dead. The GPUs most people use to mine today have automatic thermal throttling. Even if the fan fails the GPU will slow itself down before it self destructs. The FPGA mining devices do not. Cheap fans which are acceptable in devices which can self-throttle when the fan fails are not acceptable for devices which do not throttle. It might be the case that miner will crash and fail into a low power state if it overheats, thus saving you from lasting damage— or it might irreparably harm itself. You don't want to be the person who finds out which of these failure modes is more likely. Thanks for these comments, gmaxwell. You are absolutely correct. The only type of protection you might have on these boards is that the power supply should not be able to supply enough current to completely kill the FPGA. We might be willing to risk sacrificing an FPGA to a test of this, but we haven't yet. It should also be possible to implement some sort of error checking and force the FPGA to disable itself if the error rate gets above some threshold. I'm adding that to my ever growing to do list now. Until something like that is implemented, everyone should be extremely careful. In fact, everything you do with these boards should be done with extreme caution. We're in pretty much uncharted territory here (as far as bitcoin mining goes), and you don't want to be the one to learn a lesson the hard way. Jump to:
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