"Avalon" ASIC, announcement & pre-order. pre-order over. project started.

[malevolent]

but, as far as i know, it there such a low salary in EU now? 700USD a month? 

Yes, and there are countries in EU with even lower salaries.

For example in Bulgaria the avg monthly wage is around 300 Euro and the minimum (by law) is 100 Euro. This is what people get after taxes. It is similar in Romania which is also in the EU.
On the other hand in western Europe the minimum wage is around 1200€ but then again those countries will have a much higher gross government debt to GDP.

[theasian09]

I really dont get why people are bothering to post that they wont pre-order without paypal or CC.  Bitcoin is inherently guarantee-less.  If you have a problem with that why are you here?

I havent been on the forums very long but from my time here ive seen that the OP is very active, provides great support for his product and was as open as possible, providing regular updates.  If I had the $ id pre-order in a heartbeat.

[nedbert9]

I really dont get why people are bothering to post that they wont pre-order without paypal or CC.  Bitcoin is inherently guarantee-less.  If you have a problem with that why are you here?

I havent been on the forums very long but from my time here ive seen that the OP is very active, provides great support for his product and was as open as possible, providing regular updates.  If I had the $ id pre-order in a heartbeat.

Full disclosure:  I do not currently own or have any pre order business with nzghang.


He's one of the examples of a having a good, appropriately transparent relationship with the mining community.

You will notice that the popular conspiracists of the Bitcoin forum don't loiter here just because of the high amount of quality communication with the community as it relates to his projects.

If you look at his work with FPGA's you'll see that his technical competence is on the level with some of the best contributions to the Bitcoin community.

I hope we all realize that there are only a few thousand miners.  We are indeed as small, niche community.  In reality, together, this small community can make or break specialty mining hardware vendors.  So, make your purchase decision carefully when looking at all of the options.


It's unfortunate that we'll have to wait a few months to see Avalon. 

[disclaimer201]

Didn't know about the credit card chargeback time, if this is the case I'd feel a bit safer to send funds. Maybe I will make use of the offer for 2k bucks when the Asics actually exist.

On a related note please take a look at this thread on BFL's CEO being a convicted felon. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=110805.0

Doesn't make me feel better about sending money to anyone, even to someone with a good reputation. Once upon a time Mr. Tong Zhou also had a wonderful reputation in this community, and even paid back people in full for the first "hack" on Bitcoinica. I know I'm paranoid, but the amount of fraud in Bitcoin related businesses is sickening, you will have to admit.

[Syke]

ngzhang is a good guy. But the trouble with these 100% funded pre-orders is the potential for total loss, whether on purpose (scam) or not (accidental). I would consider paying a small downpayment, but I'm not paying for a non-existent product.

[Bogart]

We are taking orders for the “initial batch run”. They will be only 300 units available for pre-order. again, the price is $1,299 per unit.

I have heard people say [in other threads] that it takes millions to make an ASIC.

Is $389,700 really going to be sufficient to fund everything that will need to be funded to do this?

[kano]

We are taking orders for the “initial batch run”. They will be only 300 units available for pre-order. again, the price is $1,299 per unit.

I have heard people say [in other threads] that it takes millions to make an ASIC.

Is $389,700 really going to be sufficient to fund everything that will need to be funded to do this?

Don't believe everything you read ...

[Bogart]

I wonder if you could answer some more questions about the project,

I have been reading the wikipedia article about ASICs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application-specific_integrated_circuit

Q: I assume you will be using the Standard-cell Design described in the article.  Is this correct?

after a long time, we finally finished our research and emulation. now it's time to go.

Q: How many of the 7 steps described in the Standard-cell Design section of the article are you saying have been completed?  All of them?

Q: I am also assuming that you plan to use a Multi Project Wafer, as described near the end of the article, where your project shares a mask with a bunch of other small projects.  Is this correct?

1, an introduction & pre-order website for out-China customers will online around 9.23. multiple payment methods are acceptable.

Q: Will the finished products ship from China?

2, this Project will handle by a highly experienced team, they have 10+ years of ASIC development experience, include all design process. also, they are very trustworthy, their leader is one of my teachers.

Q: Can you tell us about the team?  How many members are on it, and who does what?

Please forgive the large number of questions, but I would love to see them answered before investing such a large sum in the development of the product.

[Transisto]

Will you accept MtGox codes for payments ?

I've already sold my BTCs in preparation of a big sell off.

19 hours to go  ...

[disclaimer201]

ngzhang is a good guy. But the trouble with these 100% funded pre-orders is the potential for total loss, whether on purpose (scam) or not (accidental). I would consider paying a small downpayment, but I'm not paying for a non-existent product.

+1 A small downpayment of maybe 10% would be acceptable for each unit ordered. I'm almost certain you'd get orders in the hundreds more than if you had people pay in full if you did it this way. You'd also boost your reputation, become hero of the small time miners in establishing healthy business practices again, and could possibly win over many of the BFL customers for giving them a viable alternative.

[Transisto]

ngzhang is a good guy. But the trouble with these 100% funded pre-orders is the potential for total loss, whether on purpose (scam) or not (accidental). I would consider paying a small downpayment, but I'm not paying for a non-existent product.

+1 A small downpayment of maybe 10% would be acceptable for each unit ordered. I'm almost certain you'd get orders in the hundreds more than if you had people pay in full if you did it this way. You'd also boost your reputation, become hero of the small time miners in establishing healthy business practices again, and could possibly win over many of the BFL customers for giving them a viable alternative.

It's 100% refundable.  People charge 20% down on part orders, 25% for restocking fee, 50% on contractor jobs, this also require development from an experienced team, nearly at production cost.

They're 150% of BFL at 1300$, I don't think 1999$ will stand though.

[yxt]

pls accept CC

[Tyger]

@Ngzang, same question do you ship from China? because export costs from China are low.
Secondly buying the chips instead of the board would be an nice option so we can create own hardware too.

[psilan]

ROFL COUNTER

[ngzhang]

I wonder if you could answer some more questions about the project,

I have been reading the wikipedia article about ASICs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application-specific_integrated_circuit

Q: I assume you will be using the Standard-cell Design described in the article.  Is this correct?

A: yes

after a long time, we finally finished our research and emulation. now it's time to go.

Q: How many of the 7 steps described in the Standard-cell Design section of the article are you saying have been completed?  All of them?

will finish all of them before 10.20

Q: I am also assuming that you plan to use a Multi Project Wafer, as described near the end of the article, where your project shares a mask with a bunch of other small projects.  Is this correct?

no. MPW is only a step of this project, for the sample batch. finally we will have a full wafer.

1, an introduction & pre-order website for out-China customers will online around 9.23. multiple payment methods are acceptable.

Q: Will the finished products ship from China?

yes

2, this Project will handle by a highly experienced team, they have 10+ years of ASIC development experience, include all design process. also, they are very trustworthy, their leader is one of my teachers.

Q: Can you tell us about the team?  How many members are on it, and who does what?

sorry, no. this information is strictly confidential. .

Please forgive the large number of questions, but I would love to see them answered before investing such a large sum in the development of the product.

[Bogart]

after a long time, we finally finished our research and emulation. now it's time to go.

Q: How many of the 7 steps described in the Standard-cell Design section of the article are you saying have been completed?  All of them?

will finish all of them before 10.20

How many are done right now?

Q: I am also assuming that you plan to use a Multi Project Wafer, as described near the end of the article, where your project shares a mask with a bunch of other small projects.  Is this correct?

no. MPW is only a step of this project, for the sample batch. finally we will have a full wafer.

I suppose that gives you the chance to make revisions to the mask should something turn out to need revising before producing whole wafers.  That sounds good.

[Sitarow]

Will you accept MtGox codes for payments ?

I've already sold my BTCs in preparation of a big sell off.

19 hours to go  ...

I did something like that at 6.4 getting ready for my SC Preorder.... Look were the price went after that!

[Bitbird]

I'm drifting a GLBSE mining start-up plan based on Avalon ASIC.

[tacotime]

It really says something about the bitcoin community when China has the most transparent hardware companies

[irritant]

is it me, or did the countdown clock just got 7 hours added?