Community brainpan - please discuss and debate desirable features for a miner

[QuintLeo]

<snip>
I am definitely in favor of monolithic heatsinks, but I also suggest that double-siding should get better heat transfer to air which should result in quieter fans. However, I'm not a mechanical engineer or heat transfer guy so I don't have the numbers to back that up, it's just an intuition.<snip>

The single problem with mono heatsinks as usually done (on the back of a board) is one of thermal transfer. If a chips is dissipating more than 10-15w then great care has to be taken regarding thermal vias and contact bumps on the board/heat sink interface to make sure enough heat can flow from the chip through the board/vias to the sinks. Even if done properly a naked chip is still going to run a fair bit hotter than one with a topside heat sink which in turn will directly set what the maximum speed/Vcore can be.

Now maybe if the chips can be mounted on one side of the board and all other components in the other to allow a single large heatsink contacting the tops of the chips-- that could work as it takes the boards thermal resistance right out of the picture.

 Trying to heatsink a chip THROUGH the board is just a nightmare of inefficiency. VERY VERY bad idea.

 On the other hand, trying to get multichips to make good contact with a single HS on top of them isn't fun either - but it's a TON more efficient when you can get it to work.

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[sidehack]

That's another reason why I like the idea of heatsinks on both sides. As long as all the chips start out coplanar, the one heatsink will keep them pressed flat and tight to the other. I know some people complained about S5 because the boards could warp due to screw placement and some chips wouldn't make good contact. That's a lot less of a problem with a good sandwich.

[QuintLeo]

Yeah, both side nice SOLID heatsinks would tend to help with making good reliable thermal contact long-term.

 Might be a little more expensive, but heatsinks don't cost all THAT much.



 That reminds me - why do you keep specifying you are locked into the "1 kilowatt power consumption" ballpark on the design?

[in2tactics]

Yeah, both side nice SOLID heatsinks would tend to help with making good reliable thermal contact long-term.

Might be a little more expensive, but heatsinks don't cost all THAT much.

That reminds me - why do you keep specifying you are locked into the "1 kilowatt power consumption" ballpark on the design?

Based on the below quote from the OP

...
possible features for a consumer-grade miner
...

I would say that 1KW is the target because the design is for a consumer-grade miner and 1KW is a sweet spot for those folks operating on 110V PSUs. I could be wrong though and I am sure sidehack will correct me if am.

[sidehack]

It's been mentioned a couple times, but this is not my project. Basically, I have been asked to oversee design and when I say "those attributes are fixed" what I mean is "those attributes are fixed by the person footing the bill". Y'all know I'd rather see something sub-500W, and my own projects will be.

Actually ... the overarching project specific to this thread is more I am helping some people ... it'll be me doing a job for someone else ...
This will not be a GekkoScience product

what's been requested is a 10TH miner, so if the assumption is current-gen chips in the 0.1J/GH neighborhood, then the assumption is 1KW at stock settings.

[in2tactics]

It's been mentioned a couple times, but this is not my project. Basically, I have been asked to oversee design and when I say "those attributes are fixed" what I mean is "those attributes are fixed by the person footing the bill". Y'all know I'd rather see something sub-500W, and my own projects will be.

Actually ... the overarching project specific to this thread is more I am helping some people ... it'll be me doing a job for someone else ...
This will not be a GekkoScience product

what's been requested is a 10TH miner, so if the assumption is current-gen chips in the 0.1J/GH neighborhood, then the assumption is 1KW at stock settings.

Well, I stand corrected. I need to pay more attention to which thread I am posting in because you have a lot of miner related threads.

[sidehack]

This is the only miner design one I've started in a long time. I have sorta laid claim to the Community Miner Development thread, but it's technically kilo17's home turf.

This has been a good one though, for sure.

[Mr. Kashif]

Why does this thread seem to be asleep?

[sidehack]

Maybe everything's been said that needs to be?

[Mr. Kashif]

most of it.

[Unacceptable]

Why does this thread seem to be asleep?

Cause we all got our chips & are already building our miners!!!   

[Gahs]

1.) An integrated controller will conserve space.
2.) A generic bus would be nice
3.) Hashboards having sub-controllers
4.) If there is a way to control clock speed so as to reduce the noise level; you'd sell out fast
5.) If there is a way to reduce heat output; you'd be in constant demand.

[sidehack]

That's pretty much what I came to as well. Additionally, notes 4 and 5 (assuming "heat" is derived more from adjusting core voltage than clock) are mandatory requirements.

[HagssFIN]

I don't know if this info is useful at all, but I found BM1387 chips listed at Bitmain.
They won't appear in your shopping cart though if you try to add them 
https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=00020160824025047591cu3134LW063E

[HerbPean]

I don't know if this info is useful at all, but I found BM1387 chips listed at Bitmain.
They won't appear in your shopping cart though if you try to add them 
https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=00020160824025047591cu3134LW063E

11$ each

[HagssFIN]

There is plenty of other items listed as well here https://www.bitmaintech.com/bitcoin.htm

[isoneguy]

From my personal opinion...the most important design specs for small scale mining devices are as follows:

1. quiet (large scale mines can easily use loud data center equipment)
2. portable (heavy devices that cost 200$ to ship lose value quickly)
3. chain-able using easily replaceable and common connectors (usb or cat5/6 like the silverfish)
4. cheap non miner components (i don't want to replace a 50$ proprietary part to use a 20$ miner)
5. easily controlled, either a built in controller or a raspi/pc controller option
6. WiFi option (either built in or optional on the controller)
7. stack-able (connect small modules together to make a bigger robot)
8. decently made (I don't want it falling apart before it gives me a chance to use it)
9. easily powered using an existing powering method (usb, 6pin pci, or 12v barrel plugs)
10. variable clock speed/voltage
11. future proof blade design/re-useable case (it would be nice to be able to upgrade the blade with more efficient chips in the future. This way you don't have to discard 20% of the cost of the miner after the end of life period.)
12. worked on by gekkoscience
13. other awesome un-contemplated features.

[Dank14]

I quite agree that a miner should be quiet and portable, should not occupy too much space but most importantly is the price of a new miner... it is possible to make budget miners for those on a tight budget?

[Eagleone]

Hi all,

Call me crazy but I want a KNOB, is that too much to ask?
Control buck converter, core clock, and fan speeds on 6+ miners with a thermal override so as to avaoid hard shutdowns like the s7

Rackmountable, I want to start colocating these things so a clean rack apearance is a must (6U or W.E. works)

- string of miners off a PI would be a must
- wifi is cool
- 5 or 10 pcie sockets, 1200 watts maximum so we can use the little HP guys you sell, maybe 750 so that 2 could hook up to an ant miner psu.

My machines live in liscence grow ops in Detroit and The Bay

Detroit is 3 cents For primary hook ups and we have TONS of space
 
Trueco2oil.com that's me and we don't steal anything

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Hi all,

Call me crazy but I want a KNOB, is that too much to ask?
Control buck converter, core clock, and fan speeds on 6+ miners with a thermal override so as to avaoid hard shutdowns like the s7

Rackmountable, I want to start colocating these things so a clean rack apearance is a must (6U or W.E. works)

- string of miners off a PI would be a must
- wifi is cool
- 5 or 10 pcie sockets, 1200 watts maximum so we can use the little HP guys you sell, maybe 750 so that 2 could hook up to an ant miner psu.

My machines live in liscence grow ops in Detroit and The Bay

Detroit is 3 cents For primary hook ups and we have TONS of space
 
Trueco2oil.com that's me and we don't steal anything

3-cents eh? Hmm. I have 7 semi-retired s7's using Sidehack under-volt/clock mod that pull 930w each and I'm Detroit area. Care to host them? Calc says @ 3 cents they would be good for $1.65 per-day each after deduct for power cost. For that matter, if they can go to a good home...

Trueco2.com - Wonder if Chronic Releaf here carries you? Last few oils I got are from Illuminati Extracts (also CO2 process).