Bitcoin Forum

Hey there,

(REMOVED)

Thanks,
Loshan

You might want to use the search function and find out that half the threads on this whole forum are about Scrypt ASICs.

Seems like an interesting venture although I'm very highly skeptical about this working or going anywhere. Send me a PM when things are in motion, I'll be interested in buying your first batch that comes out.

ASIC chips designed to mine bitcoins will never mine scrypt-based coins.  It's not a problem of RAM, the problem is the chips spit out SHA hashes which are not compatible with scrypt.

This is where you lost it, and probably why you're not getting many replies.

This shows a profound misunderstanding of what these chips are.  I don't mean that as an insult, I'm just laying it out there.

These are not general computing devices, and in theory or in practice they are literally not capable of ever producing a scrypt hash.

You might consider pursuing this project with bulk ATI processors, I've been told they're nearly ideal for the task of hashing scrypt.

Here's someone giving me a very detailed lecture on the ins and outs of the current tech: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=242987.msg2580579#msg2580579

i ordered a pre-order for batch 1  from bitbars.net  . i know it's a long shot but heck if it comes threw it will be badAZZ

ROFL, that "ASIC" was the most obvious scam I've seen posted to these forums. "Long shot" is very optimistic. ;)

These are not FPGAs that you can reprogram. These do one thing and one thing only: double SHA algorithm.

????

Do you know what an ASIC is? It is an APPLICATION SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT.

The key phrase there is APPLICATION SPECIFIC.

Do you know what application the ASICs currently produced for Bitcoin mining are specific to? SHA-256 hashing. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. They can't do general purpose calculations, they can't run generic code, they can only do SHA-256 hashing.

Do you know what Litecoin uses? If you think SHA-256 you'd be wrong. It uses scrypt, a COMPLETELY different mechanism. If you hope to use a SHA-256 chip to generate an scrypt hash you're sorely mistaken. What you want to do is IMPOSSIBLE.

Someone in this thread asked if you'd searched and read - your lack of understanding as to what an ASIC is indicates that you didn't read enough.

This will be my last shot at this:

It's literally not possible.  You can't re-program them.  They're formed in silicon to do only one thing: apply the SHA256 algorithm to provided data. And the data has to match pretty closely the expected template.

It can't even do basic math like 1+1 = 2.

This is not a function of the motherboard or other accessories mounted around it. There's not logic units or reprogrammable anything, you couldn't use it as a processor to make an ipad or a tablet or a laptop or a scrypt miner.

sigh...

lol

Good luck on your project of reprogramming ASICs

I think you are confusing knowledge in designing electronics with knowledge of how to use them them. Just like people think they'll do good in computer science just because they play lots of computer games.

*facepalm*

yea i have seen the negative stuff about this company but they update me every other day.I even got a phone call my some chick "jess" from the bitbar.net .She wanted to confirm my shipping address by phone.  WE will see how legit they really are very soon  ;D

Yes, I understand it's confusing.

After all, why can't you reprogram a SHA-256 ASIC to hash Scrypt?

If I were you, I would do some research first.

Princeton.edu has a really nice explanation on ASIC's and FPGA's: http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Application-specific_integrated_circuit.html

Just understand that ASIC's are made to do one thing and one thing only. You can't make them do anything else.

I'm concerned about some people and what type of air they are breathing. I thought only Alice was in Wonderland.

No need to be rude.

Most people are new to this kind of stuff, and don't understand how circuits, etc. work.

In that case, I can have some scrypt ASICs ready in two weeks. Taking preorders now.  ;)

I think rudeness is okay here.  OP wasn't asking for information on ASICs... he was stating that, with his electronics knowledge, he could just simply reprogram a SHA256 ASIC into hashing Scrypt.  Which is hilariously incorrect.

Gotta love how a post like this contributes absolutely nothing to the conversation, yet it still garners towards activity. Rather than take this off topic by poking fun, perhaps you'd have something brilliant to share in the thread?

Like the previous poster said, not everyone knows all the details about ASIC (let alone FPGA) so cut the TC some slack. Topic creator, you definitely have an idea that a lot of people have thought about at least once hypothetically speaking. Developing a PCB and the components to an ASIC or FPGA is very simple, however obtaining a design, even by hiring a well trained software engineer will still require you to invest a lot of money. The cheapest I have seen is no less than $30,000 for about 20 test chips with no guarantees that they will work, up into the millions of dollars. Because of its speculative nature, it would be hard to get a kickstarter going.

It's a huge thing, and the only thing holding you back is a chip design which costs a lot, and production which also costs you a lot. But as I said in my original post before, if you do somehow manage to crank a batch of these, let me know, and I may just buy the entire batch. :-)

Are you seriously that stupid?  THAT IS A SCAM

Did you also send money to Nigeria to get your million dollar "inheritance"?  I bet you did.  Let me guess - you are still waiting on it ...

He gave them his address/phone number too apparently. Have fun with your identity theft I guess.  :-\

The problem is that what is holding Scrypt back is not what was holding SHA-256 back. You can throw more and more processors at SHA-256 and come out with more and more hashrate. This is simply not true for Scrypt. Scrypt requires more processors combined with a higher and higher memory bandwidth. Nvidia and AMD place a lot of money into memory R&D to that end, more than any person interested in a Scrypt ASIC can currently field.

Basically, a Scrypt ASIC will not hash faster than a GPU, because you're not going to put >GDRR5 memory on an ASIC. However, a Scrypt ASIC could work as a standalone unit, which would be beneficial for someone who wants a lot of them. Other than that, there is no real benefit to designing a Scrypt ASIC for anyone interested in cryptocurrency.

Hey bro .. its a scam because why? So many people said BFL was a scam and now i am mining at 50 g/h with my BFL miner. I was one of the first to order with BFL. Risk was high but my money roll today is a lot fater . Bitbars.net has already sold out of batch 1 3000 something orders. So i am guessing i am not the only one rolling the DICE  ;D

It's just a silly scam run by Trucoin - was the butt of a whole lot of jokes on here a few weeks ago.  If you were dumb enough to preorder, your money is gone.  Sorry.

(note his first scam was to sell a $7.95 gold bar USB drive, a widely available common retail item, for $100 claiming it was some kind of special bitbar vault)

(note#2 just because a web site says there are 3000 orders does not make that true.  My guess, friend, is you are the first person naive enough to place an actual order)

FPGA = Re-programmable
ASIC = Not

Read through the thread in my signature, there is a decent amount of discussion on the subject.

You are forgetting about the power costs.

Since ASIC's are so much more efficient than using a GPU, they use a lot less energy.

Say an ASIC and a 7970 both hashes at 700KH/s, but the ASIC uses only 80 watts while your 7970 uses 300 watts.

That will save me around $25 a month per ASIC (it's $0.16/kWh where I live)

If I get 12 ASIC's, I'll hash at around 8.4MH/s and save $300 a month.

That's quite a lot when added over the lifespan of my mining rig.

Not to mention it should be a lot quieter!  :)

+1

Plus no messy wires from PSU's and you don't have to get anyone to rewire your house unless you plan to start a huge ASIC farm.

Yea i have researched this truCoin . Turns out it was a girl. Wonder if that's the person who called me to confirm my order "jess" .Seems like this trucoin was a bag of dicks most of the time but sometimes had some valid thoughts. Oh well i am only out  65 LTC No worries but it would be the tits if the device shows up at my door

Absolutely!