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Title: ASICs Post by: dgatba09 on March 17, 2013, 04:14:47 PM Hi, new to the forum, but I've owned bitcoin and been a dedicated lurker here since it had its first bubble.
Question: After the ASICs become obsolete for mining, will there be other uses for them? Anyone with a GPU mining rig can sell their cards and make up a bunch of the initial cost that way. Will there be such an opportunity when the next big hardware breakthrough gets developed? Does any other community have use for these? Thanks! Title: Re: ASICs Post by: woogoose on March 17, 2013, 04:46:58 PM There is more to an ASIC based device than just the hashing core itself; for example the interfacing to a host system issues work and receives results.
Depending on the design choices of a given device, it may be possible to remove the purpose-built hashing core and replace it with a core tailored for an algorithm used in another purpose. If this is possible, it would be somewhat cheaper than throwing the entire unit on the scrapheap. Title: Re: ASICs Post by: kea808 on March 17, 2013, 06:27:26 PM I can't wait! It's getting close to shipping and I'm on the forst batch list for a SC Single!! ;D
Title: Re: ASICs Post by: greyhawk on March 17, 2013, 06:38:52 PM Depending on the design choices of a given device, it may be possible to remove the purpose-built hashing core and replace it with a core tailored for an algorithm used in another purpose. Actually no, at least with the BFL miners. Their choice of using a BGA package pretty much excludes being able to remove/replace the chip. At least at reasonable cost/reliability. Title: Re: ASICs Post by: coinandable on March 18, 2013, 10:30:01 AM I dont think that using ASICs for other things than Bitcoin mining will be possible at all. These are highly specialized chips that were developed for just one task - mining with the SHA256 algorhythm. FPGAs are programmed chips that can be used for other things, when the programming is changed.
The good thing is: There wont be another hashrate jump within the foreseeable future. ASICs are the end of the line. And although someone might develop ASICs that are a bit more efficient of have higher clock rates, this will only increase the hashrate in a linear way and slowly over time. So unless you lose your interest in bitcoin and/or mining you will be able to use your ASIC for a long time. (But still: Other people that are buying ASICs and take part in mining will decrease profit over time.) Title: Re: ASICs Post by: fox20 on March 18, 2013, 02:15:57 PM i doubt it can work~~~
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