ZTEX USB-FPGA Modules 1.15x and 1.15y: 215 and 860 MH/s FPGA Boards - page 31.

Turbor

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Quote from: rjk on March 17, 2012, 06:30:50 PM

Quote from: Turbor on March 17, 2012, 06:12:15 PM

Quote from: TheSeven on March 17, 2012, 03:43:48 PM

...and ztex's dynamic overclocking might not exactly help with that...

Why do you think that ?! It's not that the board changes the frequency every five minutes. You start the board, it changes the frequency and after that it runs for weeks at that speed if your temperature is constant (within 5 degree C). Compared to Icarus the ZTEX modules run cooler. And that with almost 30 MHz difference. Not sure why ?

Because ztex uses speed grade -3 chips, and Icarus uses speed grade -2 with industrial thermal ratings.

That makes sense. Not really the expert Cheesy

rjk

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1ngldh

Quote from: Turbor on March 17, 2012, 06:12:15 PM

Quote from: TheSeven on March 17, 2012, 03:43:48 PM

...and ztex's dynamic overclocking might not exactly help with that...

Why do you think that ?! It's not that the board changes the frequency every five minutes. You start the board, it changes the frequency and after that it runs for weeks at that speed if your temperature is constant (within 5 degree C). Compared to Icarus the ZTEX modules run cooler. And that with almost 30 MHz difference. Not sure why ?

Because ztex uses speed grade -3 chips, and Icarus uses speed grade -2 with industrial thermal ratings.

Turbor

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Quote from: TheSeven on March 17, 2012, 03:43:48 PM

...and ztex's dynamic overclocking might not exactly help with that...

Why do you think that ?! It's not that the board changes the frequency every five minutes. You start the board, it changes the frequency and after that it runs for weeks at that speed if your temperature is constant (within 5 degree C). Compared to Icarus the ZTEX modules run cooler. And that with almost 30 MHz difference. Not sure why ?

TheSeven

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Quote from: PulsedMedia on March 17, 2012, 02:32:19 PM

I just noticed Z-Tex offers 2years warranty, while BFL is 6months, and Icarus probably case by case.
So i would think the MTBF is to be calculated around 4-5 years then?

So i did some number crunching and all of sudden Z-Tex actually looks promising when bought at lots of 10 (or more), if lifetime can be expected to be at least 4yrs on average.

Am i correct that it achieves now 225Mhash/s with high confidence? Or what should i expect as the average rate?

Using the fastest bitstream, under proper conditions, does the 2 year warranty extend to businesses as well?

Package contents include heatsink, usb cable, and heatsink?

The only component besides the FPGA that I can imagine failing is the power supply. All but BFL currently use the same FPGA type (just with a slightly different package), so which board you're using shouldn't really matter for that. Keeping it cool is probably the most important factor to extend its lifespan, and ztex's dynamic overclocking might not exactly help with that.
As far as I can tell, the only board where it is really easy to replace failed voltage regulators is the X6500, which has them on separate PCBs, which are soldered to the main one by just a few pins. The voltage regulator modules used are nothing special, should be available at digikey.

PulsedMedia

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I just noticed Z-Tex offers 2years warranty, while BFL is 6months, and Icarus probably case by case.
So i would think the MTBF is to be calculated around 4-5 years then?

So i did some number crunching and all of sudden Z-Tex actually looks promising when bought at lots of 10 (or more), if lifetime can be expected to be at least 4yrs on average.

Am i correct that it achieves now 225Mhash/s with high confidence? Or what should i expect as the average rate?

Using the fastest bitstream, under proper conditions, does the 2 year warranty extend to businesses as well?

Package contents include heatsink, usb cable, and heatsink?

nelisky

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(cross posting from the cgminer thread)

A small status update: the cgminer support for ztex boards now compiles and runs on linux, osx and windows. There are still features missing and the hash rate reporting is pretty broken but the boards hash at their expected speed. Check it out: https://github.com/nelisky/cgminer/tree/ztex

Let me know of any problems / suggestions.

ztex

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ZTEX FPGA Boards

Quote from: spiccioli on March 13, 2012, 07:05:04 AM

I'd like to ask you a question about your bulk pricing, in particular, if I buy, for example, 25 units, do I pay them 229 EUR each (so the total is 229 * 25), or do I pay the first four 309, then the next four 284 and so on?

The total net price of a 25 unit order is 25*229 EUR.

ztex

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Quote from: rupy on March 13, 2012, 04:40:52 AM

What would you expect the price of a ZTEX Artix-7 chip would be?

About 1.5 to 2.5 times the LX150 price.

In general (for a specific application this may look different) Artix 7 FPGA's should deleiver 1.3 to 2 times more performance per price than Spartan 6 FPGA's.

spiccioli

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nec sine labore

ztex,

I'd like to ask you a question about your bulk pricing, in particular, if I buy, for example, 25 units, do I pay them 229 EUR each (so the total is 229 * 25), or do I pay the first four 309, then the next four 284 and so on?

thanks.

spiccioli

rupy

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Quote from: ztex on March 13, 2012, 04:07:39 AM

Quote from: DeathAndTaxes on March 12, 2012, 08:41:32 AM

ztex have you looked at Artix-7. What do you think is possible with 350K LUTs? I know without access to the actual chip it is hard to say but looking at the specs & whitepapers does anything stand out?

About 600 to 900 MH/s.

According to my latest information the production version is scheduled for end of 2012 or begin of 2013. The smaller ones should come first. From my experience with Xilinx announcements I would not expect FPGA boards before mid of 2013.

What would you expect the price of a ZTEX Artix-7 chip would be?

600 - 900 is a big range, what makes you uncertain?

ztex

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Quote from: DeathAndTaxes on March 12, 2012, 08:41:32 AM

ztex have you looked at Artix-7. What do you think is possible with 350K LUTs? I know without access to the actual chip it is hard to say but looking at the specs & whitepapers does anything stand out?

About 600 to 900 MH/s.

According to my latest information the production version is scheduled for end of 2012 or begin of 2013. The smaller ones should come first. From my experience with Xilinx announcements I would not expect FPGA boards before mid of 2013.

CA Coins

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Sorry I am typing on my phone, but I have a total of 60 running off one computer. I kept the core i7 2600k but I am tempted to run it off my netbook just to try. I think it will run fine with an atom. The heat is not an issue at all. The whole system is pulling under 700 watts at the wall, and the boards are ~30C with the stock heatsink.

antirack

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Quote from: CA Coins on March 12, 2012, 06:05:36 PM

Just an update: Got another batch of boards from ztex. It has been running smoothly and it seems like the February batch is hashing really well like ztex posted. The average across the boards is around 213Mhz; 2 running at 224, 4 at 220, 12 at 216. Nice work!

That's good to hear. May I ask how many you have at this moment? One computer only? What do you think about the heat? I am very interested to hear your feedback.

CA Coins

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Just an update: Got another batch of boards from ztex. It has been running smoothly and it seems like the February batch is hashing really well like ztex posted. The average across the boards is around 213Mhz; 2 running at 224, 4 at 220, 12 at 216. Nice work!

Code:

2012-03-13T15:51:42: bus-0-1: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-B1: f=216.00MHz,  errorRate=0.39%,  maxErrorRate=1.32%,  hashRate=215.2MH/s,  submitted 13 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00
2012-03-13T15:51:42: bus-0-2: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-A0: f=216.00MHz,  errorRate=0.11%,  maxErrorRate=0.99%,  hashRate=215.8MH/s,  submitted 17 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:42: bus-0-2: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-A1: f=212.00MHz,  errorRate=0.00%,  maxErrorRate=0.47%,  hashRate=212.0MH/s,  submitted 17 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00
2012-03-13T15:51:42: bus-0-2: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-A2: f=216.00MHz,  errorRate=0.32%,  maxErrorRate=1.16%,  hashRate=215.3MH/s,  submitted 15 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:42: bus-0-2: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-A3: f=220.00MHz,  errorRate=0.01%,  maxErrorRate=0.89%,  hashRate=220.0MH/s,  submitted 17 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00
2012-03-13T15:51:42: bus-0-2: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-A8: f=216.00MHz,  errorRate=0.00%,  maxErrorRate=0.65%,  hashRate=216.0MH/s,  submitted 9 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00
2012-03-13T15:51:42: bus-0-2: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-A9: f=224.00MHz,  errorRate=0.00%,  maxErrorRate=0.64%,  hashRate=224.0MH/s,  submitted 9 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-2: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-B0: f=208.00MHz,  errorRate=0.00%,  maxErrorRate=0.25%,  hashRate=208.0MH/s,  submitted 15 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-2: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-B2: f=212.00MHz,  errorRate=0.01%,  maxErrorRate=0.89%,  hashRate=212.0MH/s,  submitted 14 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-2: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-B3: f=212.00MHz,  errorRate=0.11%,  maxErrorRate=1.48%,  hashRate=211.8MH/s,  submitted 15 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-2: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-B4: f=212.00MHz,  errorRate=0.39%,  maxErrorRate=1.32%,  hashRate=211.2MH/s,  submitted 18 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-3: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-A4: f=220.00MHz,  errorRate=0.05%,  maxErrorRate=0.65%,  hashRate=219.9MH/s,  submitted 14 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-3: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-A5: f=216.00MHz,  errorRate=0.08%,  maxErrorRate=0.89%,  hashRate=215.8MH/s,  submitted 18 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-3: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-A6: f=212.00MHz,  errorRate=0.00%,  maxErrorRate=0.50%,  hashRate=212.0MH/s,  submitted 15 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-3: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-A7: f=220.00MHz,  errorRate=0.14%,  maxErrorRate=1.23%,  hashRate=219.7MH/s,  submitted 17 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-3: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-B5: f=208.00MHz,  errorRate=0.48%,  maxErrorRate=1.83%,  hashRate=207.0MH/s,  submitted 9 new nonces,  luckFactor=0.99
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-3: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-B6: f=216.00MHz,  errorRate=0.01%,  maxErrorRate=1.17%,  hashRate=216.0MH/s,  submitted 10 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-3: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-B7: f=212.00MHz,  errorRate=0.00%,  maxErrorRate=0.74%,  hashRate=212.0MH/s,  submitted 15 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.02
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-3: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-B8: f=216.00MHz,  errorRate=0.00%,  maxErrorRate=0.62%,  hashRate=216.0MH/s,  submitted 9 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-3: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-B9: f=208.00MHz,  errorRate=0.00%,  maxErrorRate=0.31%,  hashRate=208.0MH/s,  submitted 13 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.02
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-3: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-C0: f=212.00MHz,  errorRate=0.18%,  maxErrorRate=1.18%,  hashRate=211.6MH/s,  submitted 12 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.03
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-4: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-C1: f=212.00MHz,  errorRate=0.03%,  maxErrorRate=0.77%,  hashRate=211.9MH/s,  submitted 14 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-4: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-C2: f=208.00MHz,  errorRate=0.12%,  maxErrorRate=1.13%,  hashRate=207.7MH/s,  submitted 15 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-4: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-C3: f=212.00MHz,  errorRate=0.32%,  maxErrorRate=2.16%,  hashRate=211.3MH/s,  submitted 20 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-4: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-C4: f=216.00MHz,  errorRate=0.04%,  maxErrorRate=1.18%,  hashRate=215.9MH/s,  submitted 12 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-4: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-C5: f=212.00MHz,  errorRate=0.02%,  maxErrorRate=0.67%,  hashRate=212.0MH/s,  submitted 24 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-4: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-D0: f=216.00MHz,  errorRate=0.00%,  maxErrorRate=0.61%,  hashRate=216.0MH/s,  submitted 18 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.02
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-4: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-D1: f=216.00MHz,  errorRate=0.30%,  maxErrorRate=1.99%,  hashRate=215.4MH/s,  submitted 9 new nonces,  luckFactor=0.99
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-4: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-D2: f=204.00MHz,  errorRate=0.55%,  maxErrorRate=1.79%,  hashRate=202.9MH/s,  submitted 13 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-4: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-D3: f=212.00MHz,  errorRate=0.00%,  maxErrorRate=1.00%,  hashRate=212.0MH/s,  submitted 13 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-4: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-D4: f=208.00MHz,  errorRate=0.00%,  maxErrorRate=0.43%,  hashRate=208.0MH/s,  submitted 17 new nonces,  luckFactor=0.99
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-5: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-C6: f=212.00MHz,  errorRate=0.49%,  maxErrorRate=1.60%,  hashRate=211.0MH/s,  submitted 12 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-5: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-C7: f=204.00MHz,  errorRate=0.01%,  maxErrorRate=0.86%,  hashRate=204.0MH/s,  submitted 12 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-5: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-C8: f=204.00MHz,  errorRate=0.44%,  maxErrorRate=1.04%,  hashRate=203.1MH/s,  submitted 16 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.03
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-5: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-C9: f=212.00MHz,  errorRate=0.40%,  maxErrorRate=1.41%,  hashRate=211.2MH/s,  submitted 17 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-5: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-D5: f=216.00MHz,  errorRate=0.50%,  maxErrorRate=1.10%,  hashRate=214.9MH/s,  submitted 15 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-5: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-D6: f=220.00MHz,  errorRate=0.27%,  maxErrorRate=0.81%,  hashRate=219.4MH/s,  submitted 11 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-5: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-D7: f=216.00MHz,  errorRate=0.00%,  maxErrorRate=0.71%,  hashRate=216.0MH/s,  submitted 17 new nonces,  luckFactor=0.99
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-5: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-D8: f=208.00MHz,  errorRate=0.50%,  maxErrorRate=1.89%,  hashRate=207.0MH/s,  submitted 18 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.01
2012-03-13T15:51:43: bus-0-5: ztex_ufm1_15d3-2012-L2-D9: f=224.00MHz,  errorRate=0.42%,  maxErrorRate=1.66%,  hashRate=223.1MH/s,  submitted 15 new nonces,  luckFactor=1.00

DeathAndTaxes

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Quote from: DeepBit on March 12, 2012, 12:11:50 PM

Quote from: DeathAndTaxes on March 12, 2012, 08:43:44 AM

Quote from: TheSeven on March 11, 2012, 05:14:22 AM

Placing more FPGAs on a board doesn't neccessarily make things better because it also increases the risk of board failure.

Which is why a daughter card like board would make sense for 4+ FPGA right?

Put all the DC to DC switching, power routing, fan headers, host communications (USB microcontroller) on a backplane and make the FPGA board very simple. Essentially the FPGA, some caps, and an edge connector.

This will require more expensive high-current connectors for daughter cards, but may be a good idea sometimes.

I don't think the connectors would need to be that expensive. We are only taking <8A per card.

DeepBit

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Quote from: DeathAndTaxes on March 12, 2012, 08:43:44 AM

Quote from: TheSeven on March 11, 2012, 05:14:22 AM

Placing more FPGAs on a board doesn't neccessarily make things better because it also increases the risk of board failure.

Which is why a daughter card like board would make sense for 4+ FPGA right?

Put all the DC to DC switching, power routing, fan headers, host communications (USB microcontroller) on a backplane and make the FPGA board very simple. Essentially the FPGA, some caps, and an edge connector.

This will require more expensive high-current connectors for daughter cards, but may be a good idea sometimes.

TheSeven

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Quote from: ztex on March 12, 2012, 07:29:47 AM

Quote from: TheSeven on March 12, 2012, 06:11:49 AM

Quote from: ztex on March 12, 2012, 06:01:47 AM

Three single single hash, two stage per sha256 round pipelines does not fit on a LX150. This simply requires more resources than available on the chip.

One stage per sha256 round pipelines as used by eldentyrell are about 30% to 40% slower.

...which I hope will change soon

It's not a matter of hope. Longer pipelines have less levels of logic and are therefore faster.

From what I can tell, the Xilinx tools usually screw up spartan6 routing rather badly. It might well be possible that a hand optimized design can reach the 200MHz area, or even more, even with just one pipeline stage per SHA256 round. I'm also not sure if it even has only a single pipeline stage per round, or if he managed to cram two in there. (LUTs as shift registers should provide sufficient space)

And a this design uses space and routing resources much more efficiently than anything not hand-placed. So even if he "only" reaches the same clock as the current designs, he'll fit a whole additional hashing core in there, so speed would be 50% higher.

DeathAndTaxes

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Quote from: TheSeven on March 11, 2012, 05:14:22 AM

Placing more FPGAs on a board doesn't neccessarily make things better because it also increases the risk of board failure.

Which is why a daughter card like board would make sense for 4+ FPGA right?

Put all the DC to DC switching, power routing, fan headers, host communications (USB microcontroller) on a backplane and make the FPGA board very simple. Essentially the FPGA, some caps, and an edge connector.

DeathAndTaxes

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Gerald Davis

ztex have you looked at Artix-7. What do you think is possible with 350K LUTs? I know without access to the actual chip it is hard to say but looking at the specs & whitepapers does anything stand out?

ztex

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Quote from: TheSeven on March 12, 2012, 06:11:49 AM

Quote from: ztex on March 12, 2012, 06:01:47 AM

Three single single hash, two stage per sha256 round pipelines does not fit on a LX150. This simply requires more resources than available on the chip.

One stage per sha256 round pipelines as used by eldentyrell are about 30% to 40% slower.

...which I hope will change soon

It's not a matter of hope. Longer pipelines have less levels of logic and are therefore faster.

Topic: ZTEX USB-FPGA Modules 1.15x and 1.15y: 215 and 860 MH/s FPGA Boards - page 31. (Read 182444 times)