Has the hash rate stalled due to hardware availability?

[WNS]

If you look at http://bitcoin.sipa.be/speed-lin-2k.png it seems that hash rate has just set itself into a straight line.

Usually when we see a massive price jump vs USD we also see a jump in hash rate a short time after, and then a jump in difficulty to compensate.

Have we reached the wall in hash rate growth due to availability of cost effective hardware?

[V2-V3]

no more 5 series cards available... and waiting on 6 series price drop or a good 7 series card

[The Koolio]

I think i brought all the last 5870's in the UK :p

[ThatCoolCat]

This is good news for people like me who can't afford good hardware 

[fcmatt]

no more 5 series cards available... and waiting on 6 series price drop or a good 7 series card

this. i was shopping all over the last few days using my spreadsheet to determine what was the
best bang for the buck and I ended up going with 6950s. The ATI 7xxx series is rumored to be out
in the 2nd quarter but I highly doubt that. I would bet the 4th quarter myself. Maybe 2012? But
once again this is I reading online rumor mills. The 5xxx series is just tapped out unless you want
to buy used here and there and paying up the nose for it too based on ebay prices I saw. How does
one feel about buying a 5830 for more then 150-200 dollars? Pretty lousy when they were 109 just a few
days ago and then gone.

the 6950s, I bought two reference boards, will make fine gaming cards down the road if mining does
not work out for me. Or if mining does seem to work out I can easily add 3 more to my MB running
linux by adding some extenders and a PSU. Plus having a card that if fully tweak-able seems to be a
real advantage right now.

So with 7xxx so far away it seems... 6xxx in their prime... and 5xxx being phased out... i highly doubt
we will see the good 6xxx cards go on a big sale until the 7 series is out and people who have to have
the newest and shiniest get their fill. Until then why would stores mark them down? They are probably
happy seeing stocks dwindle down at current prices.

So to answer your question.. i think you are spot on when it comes to all the good bang for your buck
ATI cards are gone and people cringe at the thought that one has to spend so much money per MH.
800 M/h per second cost me around 1000 dollars this week but I also wanted to make sure the majority
of the parts were usable for a 31337 gaming machine.

[The Koolio]

tbh people complain of shortages, it took me about 3 hours yesterday too find 4 places where I could buy 20 5870's each. They all sold for £150 as well. All it takes is good use of google shopping, amazon and a few forums. Remember if you see someone on ebay or amazon with one or two and they are a proper shop, give them a call they'll prob be able to get you more... thats what i did

[fcmatt]

tbh people complain of shortages, it took me about 3 hours yesterday too find 4 places where I could buy 20 5870's each. They all sold for £150 as well. All it takes is good use of google shopping, amazon and a few forums. Remember if you see someone on ebay or amazon with one or two and they are a proper shop, give them a call they'll prob be able to get you more... thats what i did

You know things are odd in the USA when newegg does not have a single 5870 for sale.

And when a person tries to use google shopping, for example, to find that card they quickly
come to realize that any lower price is out of stock and the ones that are in stock are full
retail. Or it is from some store that the website looks odd and one wonders if you would ever
see your cards or money again.

Plus at 250 US dollars == £150.. for a few bucks more you can get 6950s. So even 6xxx series are getting
bought.

[The Koolio]

true, i just like the 5870's, they are what im used to, and o/c these in my eyes brings a few more mhash than a 6990 or 5970 would. All down to the eyes of the beholder

[trueimage]

What are 5850 and 5870 worth used?

[minerX]

true, i just like the 5870's, they are what im used to, and o/c these in my eyes brings a few more mhash than a 6990 or 5970 would. All down to the eyes of the beholder

Er... You are pretty mistaken if you think a 5870 can beat a 6990, 6950, 6970.

[trueimage]

true, i just like the 5870's, they are what im used to, and o/c these in my eyes brings a few more mhash than a 6990 or 5970 would. All down to the eyes of the beholder

Er... You are pretty mistaken if you think a 5870 can beat a 6990, 6950, 6970.

My 6950 with unlocked shaders at stock get 340 ish

[The Koolio]

true, i just like the 5870's, they are what im used to, and o/c these in my eyes brings a few more mhash than a 6990 or 5970 would. All down to the eyes of the beholder

Er... You are pretty mistaken if you think a 5870 can beat a 6990, 6950, 6970.

Well errr actually im not. 2 x 5870 = 880 mhash @ £300/$500 my current 5870 makes 440 np, thats why i ordered 20 more

the rest cant even manage 840 comfortably without paying over £500-600... and thats IF you can find em.

[fcmatt]

true, i just like the 5870's, they are what im used to, and o/c these in my eyes brings a few more mhash than a 6990 or 5970 would. All down to the eyes of the beholder

Er... You are pretty mistaken if you think a 5870 can beat a 6990, 6950, 6970.

i was thinking the same thing. the odd card out which seems impossible to find is the 5970.
That can do 700+.

Otherwise the 5870 is comparable to the 6950 if you can find the 5870 for much less... and
this all depends on finding a card that is fully tweak-able it seems. (reference boards for example).

[The Koolio]

true, i just like the 5870's, they are what im used to, and o/c these in my eyes brings a few more mhash than a 6990 or 5970 would. All down to the eyes of the beholder

Er... You are pretty mistaken if you think a 5870 can beat a 6990, 6950, 6970.

i was thinking the same thing. the odd card out which seems impossible to find is the 5970.
That can do 700+.

Otherwise the 5870 is comparable to the 6950 if you can find the 5870 for much less... and
this all depends on finding a card that is fully tweak-able it seems. (reference boards for example).

yeah i read about the refference boards, but amd gpu clock tool has worked wonders for my friends machines. Fair nuff Im running a hand picked model but my friends still manage 425-430 @980/185

[Swishercutter]

no more 5 series cards available... and waiting on 6 series price drop or a good 7 series card

this. i was shopping all over the last few days using my spreadsheet to determine what was the
best bang for the buck and I ended up going with 6950s. The ATI 7xxx series is rumored to be out
in the 2nd quarter but I highly doubt that. I would bet the 4th quarter myself. Maybe 2012? But
once again this is I reading online rumor mills. The 5xxx series is just tapped out unless you want
to buy used here and there and paying up the nose for it too based on ebay prices I saw. How does
one feel about buying a 5830 for more then 150-200 dollars? Pretty lousy when they were 109 just a few
days ago and then gone.

the 6950s, I bought two reference boards, will make fine gaming cards down the road if mining does
not work out for me. Or if mining does seem to work out I can easily add 3 more to my MB running
linux by adding some extenders and a PSU. Plus having a card that if fully tweak-able seems to be a
real advantage right now.

So with 7xxx so far away it seems... 6xxx in their prime... and 5xxx being phased out... i highly doubt
we will see the good 6xxx cards go on a big sale until the 7 series is out and people who have to have
the newest and shiniest get their fill. Until then why would stores mark them down? They are probably
happy seeing stocks dwindle down at current prices.

So to answer your question.. i think you are spot on when it comes to all the good bang for your buck
ATI cards are gone and people cringe at the thought that one has to spend so much money per MH.
800 M/h per second cost me around 1000 dollars this week but I also wanted to make sure the majority
of the parts were usable for a 31337 gaming machine.

I also just purchased 2 6950's when the 5830's ran out.  The 6870's by my calculations were more mh/$ but the difference is significantly less than the difference between the 5830's.  This is what I came up with (prices may vary) this is based on gpu cost only:

5830=$.389/mh
6870=$.583/mh
6950=$.648/mh

That was based on the averages I saw either in the wiki or in the case of the 5830's it was based on what we achieved in overclock and our price.  Although, the fact that running 5830 based machine you need more machines to get the same total mh/s (cpu's/mobo/psu/ram sticks) to get the same as one machine with higher level cards.  So that offsets initial cost differences a bit.