60W TDP is 60W TDP no matter how you slice it.

It doesn't seem like that much heat to manage when I think of the heat that comes off my 300W 5970, and that's only divided between two chips.

So, one might conclude that they have no working prototype...

...OR...

...that they do not want to silence their critics and doubters.

You've heard of "no such thing as bad press", right?

This thread has grown many pages in a single day, and what's it all about?  Talk centering on BFL products.

You can't buy that kind of "buzz".

The high level controller is to be a small Atheros MIPS board similar to a TL-WR703N running a linux based on OpenWRT.

Like a Raspberry Pi, but even smaller/cheaper/lower-powered, and with no video output.

http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr703n

I don't have any pre-orders with BFL (never did), and I believe they're for real.

They may not be going about everything in an ideal manner, but I believe they are making a sincere effort to produce ASIC miners, as they claim.  I also think they have a decent shot at success, though it may or may not happen in February.

Ppl have raised what may be some valid points about issues they ought to have anticipated.  It looks to me like they did not anticipate needing to apply OPC to the mask, and ended up with their "refraction issue" (which they are now more correctly calling a "diffraction issue") in their first spin.

https://forums.butterflylabs.com/bfl-forum-miscellaneous/690-13-jan-2013-asic-update-discussion-thread-9.html#post10463

That sounds like a rather elementary mistake to make.  I've never designed or produced an IC.  I've never even fabbed a PCB, but in my limited Internet Research (just a few hours) on IC production, I learned about the need for OPC (yes, before Josh elaborated on the issue).

How about this one?

http://cnysensiblepc.com/

If it is, it's not a very good one.

A good scam doesn't give anyone their money back, unless it's so they can scam even more money.

It may well not be salvageable.  Even if a team with the right talent, resources, and credibility were to step in immediately and Tom were to give full cooperation, succeeding would be an uphill battle.

And that's only if the chips are usable, which is a very big if.

At this point I think the chances of bASIC delivering an ASIC product ever are near zero.

IMO, The only way bASIC can succeed is if Tom steps down and hands the project off.  I don't think he's going to do that.

I had placed orders with Avalon and bASIC.

Now I just have the Avalon order left.  bASIC refunded me, mercifully.

With Avalon a week from shipping, I'm just hoping I don't pee my pants in anticipation waiting for it.

If Avalon delivers and works as promised, I imagine I will be ordering more of them in their next batch.

(I learned about mining ASICs too late to get a reasonable position on the BFL boat, so did not pursue them.)

mm hmm.  Changing the package type sounds pretty significant.  I doubt they can just hand tweak the existing synthesized logic to make that kind of change, so that means a whole new synthesis.

Of course they were already screwing with the clock tree to begin with.  Not exactly a minor change.

Inaba hasn't said anything about the demise of bASIC yet.

How much of the "update" do you reckon will focus on that?

I'm betting on more than 0%.

Either this round of chips will work and they'll begin shipping a week or two after receiving them, or a respin will be needed, and they won't get the next iteration until well after CNY.

Or there is some issue at the fab and the current round of chips is delayed.

If only Tom had done this, bASIC might not be so bad off as they ended up being now.

That and, you know, letting your PR guy handle PR.

There's really no reason for them to do this now.  They're not accepting any new orders for a while, and it's not like they have a credibility problem and need to post something to stop a wave of cancellations.

Personally, I want to be the first to post pics and vid of one, when I receive mine.

I think some of your questions are reasonable.
[/quote]

With less than a week left, we'll find out soon enough no matter what.

Dave, can you tell us exactly what you saw, for the good of the project and those invested in it?

Thanks.

You wish you had the balls.

Yeah, that totally happened to Sonny when he committed fraud on a much larger scale.

In October 2011, I ordered two tickets The Bond Fire festival, which was to take place December 30 2011.

A few days before the event, the organizers canceled the whole thing and promised full refunds to all:

http://www.jambands.com/news/2011/12/30/promoters-cancel-the-bond-fire-festival

Despite my multiple emails and voicemails, I got no refund.

In February 2012 I filed a chargeback.  They had to investigate some, and said that usually they don't do a chargeback after 90 days, but because it was for event tickets and the event was more recent, they approved it.  I had the funds credited in 5 days or so.

Regular First Class International Mail can vary a lot like that.  I think sometimes they wait for the pile of mail to get big enough before they send a batch over, so your mailpiece may arrive just as the pile gets full enough to be sent, or when it's still mostly empty and needs to wait.

The Avalons will all be dispatched by DHL Express (or EMS if the customer chooses), both of which should be consistently much faster than First Class Intl Mail.

If mine ships out by DHL on Monday the 21st, I expect I will have it in my hands here in the US on or before Friday the 25th.