AntMiner S4+ available for global sales on April 20th, shipping within one week

[Meech]

The expected specs. released by Bitmain for the S2 upgrade kits @ >.4w per gh were indeed hopeful.  I assumed the S4+ would have been comparable.  Seems they rushed this out with little thought of who'd buy it.  They patched the psu problem with a bandaid (205v + only) and made a new record as the noisiest miner to date.  Clearly they don't listen to the public and will go the way of Bitfury and KNC to produce their own product.

[dogie]

They patched the psu problem with a bandaid (205v + only)

Its an entirely different PSU, and while high voltage only isn't desired its also not unreasonable. Anyone running larger equipment like this should really be on 220V anyway.

[toptekk]

nice price compared to the older S4, 946 + shipping   well worth it,  but the noise at 70 db . id have to turn  it off at nite and 220 v which is np for me, its clearly meant for a data center .

[notlist3d]

nice price compared to the older S4, 946 + shipping   well worth it,  but the noise at 70 db . id have to turn  it off at nite and 220 v which is np for me, its clearly meant for a data center .

Neither sound or power is a issue for me.   I am working on making a area just for mining.  I'm hoping to have it done in next week or two.

I think it's interesting this is using 220 v.   I think it shows promise for future releases aswell.    Going to 220 allows a lot more hash and options on releases.

[Meech]

nice price compared to the older S4, 946 + shipping   well worth it,  but the noise at 70 db . id have to turn  it off at nite and 220 v which is np for me, its clearly meant for a data center .

Neither sound or power is a issue for me.   I am working on making a area just for mining.  I'm hoping to have it done in next week or two.

I think it's interesting this is using 220 v.   I think it shows promise for future releases aswell.    Going to 220 allows a lot more hash and options on releases.

That may be true but reducing the overall power / gh @ .58 wasn't a huge change.  If they would have used their 1384 chip we would have possibly  stayed on 110/120 and had better efficiency.  Understandable the larger rigs should be on 220/240 but Bitmain just didn't do much homework on this release.

[notlist3d]

nice price compared to the older S4, 946 + shipping   well worth it,  but the noise at 70 db . id have to turn  it off at nite and 220 v which is np for me, its clearly meant for a data center .

Neither sound or power is a issue for me.   I am working on making a area just for mining.  I'm hoping to have it done in next week or two.

I think it's interesting this is using 220 v.   I think it shows promise for future releases aswell.    Going to 220 allows a lot more hash and options on releases.

That may be true but reducing the overall power / gh @ .58 wasn't a huge change.  If they would have used their 1384 chip we would have possibly  stayed on 110/120 and had better efficiency.  Understandable the larger rigs should be on 220/240 but Bitmain just didn't do much homework on this release.

With 220/240 it opens them up to even bigger rigs in future.  I think it was a good move overall.   

I still think 110/120 has a spot aswell.  There will always be some home miners that will be stuck with this.   So I don't think it will go away. 

[MidwestMiner]

Outside of the slightly (marginally) better power consumption, what's the point of this product? You can reach 2.5 TH/s with a regular S4 at half the price and without need for 210 volt power. I have to say that I don't understand at all why they spent the time to even design this miner.

[Prelude]

So I sold 2 S4s today locally for a very good price, and ordered 2 S4+ to replace them with. Very cheap upgrade after selling them.

Placed the order this morning, and I just got shipping notification. If there's something bitmain can't be faulted for, it's shipping on or ahead of time.

I never got an S5 or had much interest in it, so I can't say I know anything about these string setups for chips vs dc2dc. Is there a good explanation anywhere? I'd like to understand how the S4+ runs at the same frequency as the S4 (200Mhz) with 44 extra chips and manages to consume approximately the same wattage.

[Prelude]

Outside of the slightly (marginally) better power consumption, what's the point of this product? You can reach 2.5 TH/s with a regular S4 at half the price and without need for 210 volt power. I have to say that I don't understand at all why they spent the time to even design this miner.

That's simply not true. An S4 at 2500gh/s steady average will be consuming more than a 20A 120V circuit can handle. Half the price? Are you factoring in the 2x ~200$ power supplies you'll need to pull that off? (assuming you're original psu is dead since it likely is or will be in short order )

[philipma1957]

It is not as terrible as some people think,but it is very much more a specialty miner.

Like the Avalon 4.1  where you pay a lot for quiet running. A different quality but a premium none the less.

I had:
 sp20's
s-5's
 avalon 4.1's

If I was single and lived alone I would have kept my sp20's
But married and sharing my house with the wife I kept avalon 4.1's

Looks to me  like the s4+ works on a real farm in a barn.

Many USA farms have land so noise has no worries.  Most farms have a spare shed or out building.

 S-5's would not be the best choice for that.  These would be good due to the case.

 Also it may turn out that a better psu with plat 92-94% could be sourced.  Some 2000 watters are around and even the massive 2880 watter could work.

2 s4+ on 1 240 30 amp circuit using the 2880 watt psu from finksy

 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=966135.0

could bring down that .58 watts per gh to  .55 watts per gh.

making these more attractive.

[Finksy]

Thank you for the mention Phillip, but the breakout board is J4bberwock's, I'm only helping him with North American sales and can't take any of the credit for his hard work.

Any PSU going from 120V to 240V will gain 1-2% in efficiency at any rating, there is just no reason for miners not to do it if they have the ability to.  240V also allows most server PSU's to run at higher wattage, and is required for the 2000W & up PSU's.

That being said, going with a 2880W PSU which can power 5x S5's with 80+ platinum starts to look a whole lot more attractive both efficiency and economically-wise than the S4+ when you run the numbers.  You are definitely paying for convenience with this type of package, just like the S2 & S4 before it.

[philipma1957]

Thank you for the mention Phillip, but the breakout board is J4bberwock's, I'm only helping him with North American sales and can't take any of the credit for his hard work.

Any PSU going from 120V to 240V will gain 1-2% in efficiency at any rating, there is just no reason for miners not to do it if they have the ability to.  240V also allows most server PSU's to run at higher wattage, and is required for the 2000W & up PSU's.

That being said, going with a 2880W PSU which can power 5x S5's with 80+ platinum starts to look a whole lot more attractive both efficiency and economically-wise than the S4+ when you run the numbers.  You are definitely paying for convenience with this type of package, just like the S2 & S4 before it.

I have to agree that 5x 1150 = 5750gh  for the  s-5's

and 2 x 2600 = 5200gh for the s-4+    the s-5 setup is the winner.

  but the solid cases are nice  and if you have the 2880 watt psu along with 2 s4+ units in an out building it could be worthwhile to do.

For sure this s4+ is not for most of us.

[klondike_bar]

for what it is - its at least an available industrial racking unit. noone wants to install 100 S5 units when they can just do less than half as many of these, and not worry about extrenal PSUs (which requires careful stacking or shelves)

The price isnt ideal, but theres no other offerings that make sense for a larger buyer. The best value comparison would be the SP30 (can run between 3.5TH/1.8kW & 4.5TH/2.6kW). Its 2U racksize, with a pair or NAMEBRAND swappable 1200W PSUs. Pretty fair comparison, if not a better product based on stats.

They go for $1350-1600 USD *shipped* used right now.

[edonkey]

With its high voltage requirements, noise, and cost for lower quantities, clearly this model is geared toward farms (as well as clearing out Bitmain inventory, of course). But if I was setting up a farm, I'd have concerns.

The S4+ requires a minimum of 205 volt power. Lot's of US data centers offer 208 volt power. Is a 3 volt delta enough to reliably run these at 208?

This is a string design, which means no clocking options right? I get that the string design is cheaper and that farm deployers are less interested in tuning. But I'd still be concerned about resale once these are effectively used up and down clocking is not an option. Maybe farm operators just throw older miners away after they cross the profit line?

I have access to a data center with enough space and power budget to deploy one of these. But factor in the price for small quantities and this is a non-starter for me.

I'll stick with my SP20 (which has already ROI'd) until the next more efficient hardware comes out. It's kind of nice to be counting up profits rather than counting down the days to ROI anyway

I think a lot of small scale miners are in the same boat. The first company to come out with something really new that has a chance of an ROI will sweep up everyone who's currently in a holding pattern. Hopefully mining manufacturers see this as an opportunity and will not just focus future efforts on the farm market.

[Evan]

@bitmain

Can you tell me about the Capacitors on this?  I am looking at cheating and moving your product to a full immersion mineral oil bath.

The only issues I've ever had with Mineral oil cooling is when cheap Capacitors are used, and they plastic swells and bursts from the mineral oil.

[dogie]

@bitmain

Can you tell me about the Capacitors on this?  I am looking at cheating and moving your product to a full immersion mineral oil bath.

The only issues I've ever had with Mineral oil cooling is when cheap Capacitors are used, and they plastic swells and bursts from the mineral oil.

I'll have some 6K pictures either today or tomorrow of internals.

[Evan]

@bitmain

Can you tell me about the Capacitors on this?  I am looking at cheating and moving your product to a full immersion mineral oil bath.

The only issues I've ever had with Mineral oil cooling is when cheap Capacitors are used, and they plastic swells and bursts from the mineral oil.

I'll have some 6K pictures either today or tomorrow of internals.

Thank you!

[GigaBit]

Not sure how to feel about this one.
No LCD, no beepers, not North American home friendly, grossly overpriced.
Definitely not going to make friends on this one but yet again, no 3U miner is good for home mining to begin with.
Mainly because people do no properly ventilate nor cool them which is what makes them loud as hell.
Those things in the winter are as silent as a purring kitty or a cool S3.
I have one S4 and it is not running full blast, it's properly ventilated.

Looks more like a data-center ready unit...
Yay for them but with the price of Bitcoin the way it is, not such a wise investment.
Oh well, like in anything, one man's trash is another man's treasure.
Now I regret selling my S3's... those things are marvelous.
I also regret not buying more C1's.

[dogie]

@bitmain

Can you tell me about the Capacitors on this?  I am looking at cheating and moving your product to a full immersion mineral oil bath.

The only issues I've ever had with Mineral oil cooling is when cheap Capacitors are used, and they plastic swells and bursts from the mineral oil.

I'll have some 6K pictures either today or tomorrow of internals.

Thank you!

About 1/3rd of the pictures are processed No caps anywhere on the hashing board and none that I could see on the controller either. Cables on the non PCI-E version of the PSU are very long so this should be good to dunk.

Only just got my unit started on the testing rack so a full review will be some time, but surprised with the noise. I thought the 40mm PSU fan was going to be an issue but its inaudible over the main fans. That means noise levels appear identical to the S4 above 25C, and slightly louder above as it runs hotter.

[Meech]

I like conspiracy theories but not when it messes with your financial choices.  It's not hard to believe the push for new miner specs to only be run from a farm setting.  With the added cost of shipping makes it real good for Bitmain to have your miner with them.  Just thinking out loud.  I for one don't support large farms.  Capitalism at it's best!