First -- I'm curious if there are any new Scrypt ASIC machines coming? Or is everything going into the "so-called" cloud - which feels a little scam-like to me, but I'm not going to judge. It just takes out the fun for me.
I've also heard of new X11 to X15 mining and Neoscrypt mining machines coming in a year. But I will never pre-order or pay full price for a rig.
From my observations, it seems that the promised:- Antminer L1 units are sold out on two pre-orders and no more will be made. Which leads me to believe that maybe this product will not even deliver on time or at all.
- KNC units are still an expensive hot mess and now they aren't selling anymore?
- The Zeusminer upgrade boards are vaporware. Non-existant and people are being screwed on refunds or exchanges for "cloud" mining.
So -- is this the end of new hardware? And eventually the demise of personal Scrypt mining?My personal setup:I'm still running my units, on a good pool. This pool does not trade the coins to BTC -- so I like that. Adds another variable in the setup.
- (4) A2 Terminator 90Mh/s (average power draw 850w ea)
- (2) Zeusminer Hurricane X6 10Mh/s (average power draw 250w ea)
- (1) Zeusminer Thunder X6 20Mh/s (average power draw 460w)
- (1) Zeusminer Lightning X6 40Mh/s (average power draw 960w)
I don't believe in over-clocking the units as I'm always worried about a fire and some wires get a little warm already. To me pulling 1Kw out of a 15 amp circuit --
continuously -- it is not safe. I'm sure an electrician will say otherwise - but I've seen outlets get brown in color. That can't be a good sign.
Out of all these -- the A2 Terminator machines are by far the most quiet, best performing and are really well built. I paid $1500 each for them about 2 months ago. They of course came with built in PSU and controller. One unit, seems to pull more power than all the others (like 980watts) - so I under clock it. Also, I've heard that if you run these on a 220v circuit, they use less wattage, but I'm not willing to rewire.
The Zeusminer X6 10Mh/s units perform as expected. They are abit noisy and generate the typical amount of heat. I paid $400 for one 3 months ago and $200 for one 1.5 months ago. I use an existing Gold 850w Corsair PSU with one PCIE connection each.
The Zeusminer X6 20Mh/s unit performs ok - but is super loud and the two PCIE connections to my Gold 850w Corsair PSU get quite hot sometimes, so I usually either cool it off for an hour each day or under-clock it. I paid $300 for it about 2 months ago and used an existing PSU.
The Zeusminer X6 40Mh/s unit performs terribly for me - it is also super loud and just generates a lot of heat. I'm lucky to get 35Mh/s with maybe 10% error rate. Using a Gold 1200w Corsair PSU with four PCIE connections. I paid $700 for it about 3 months ago and used an existing PSU. I don't always run this unit because I don't like it - lol. 950 watts for maybe 35Mh/s. Too much heat and too much power.
So am I making a profit or recovered my costs? I admit I'm not the best accountant on figures -- but rough estimate I am probably making .9 to .15 BTC daily. This can really fluctuate, since I am not always trading in my alt coins for BTC immediately or there are long delays in getting the actual coins (big example with be BTM coin). I'm not seeing a dramatic drop in what I make each week (especially compared to BTC mining) -- so it is still fun.
Obviously I have not gotten my ROI - which I guess would be close to $8k. I believe right now I've made about 6 BTC and even at $500 each would only be $3k. I'll definitely sit on the BTC in hopes it might spike really high, but who knows. Everyone has a different prediction.
I eventually expect to reach my ROI -- but it will take some time and hopefully the equipment won't break down prior.
Oh - and yes - electricity! Where I am - electric is about 11 cents per kw/h. Not the best - but definitely not the worst. Half of my electric is not out of pocket and half of it is. Basically some of my equipment is at home and the rest is at another location.
What about heat? Not much of a problem now since the temperatures outside are dropping and I have windows available, but I still have to monitor it as they are tucked away so I do not hear them. I use the WeMo Insight Wifi Switches to monitor the units power usage by smartphone. It is great, in that I can shut them down if I feel it is getting too hot and also it tells me the actual wattage being used. Being a worrier -- if I go on vacation, I usually turn off my units at home and monitor the others religiously. I always keep a smoke alarm nearby and fire extinguisher. I use multiple circuits and of course keep any combustibles away from the equipment. I can also monitor the units via camera and login to them remotely.
Would I sell my units? Probably not. I'm in this for the fun and I've heard horror stories of selling your gear on Ebay. I guess if someone locally offered me double what I paid -- maybe, but then there goes my little hobby (preventing me from getting real work done).
Anyway - I would love to hear about other people's stories…
Tip: rewire the zeus miner the wires don't get hot .
.. I rewired two thunder x6 from two pci 6 pins to four . i guess the down side would be the PSU has to have to four pci plugs and all mine do or use two 500 gold psu. it lowered my power at the wall i think maybe 30 watts each I'm still watching that to make sure.
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. now I'm at steadily speeds higher or = to what each miner can do per miner, not over clocked.
. most i ever want to take it to is 10 miners is my goal .
