GekkoScience is now dabbling with 16nm ASICs for new designs

[gt_addict]

Sounds like it's full steam ahead then 👍🏻

That's where I got confused BW-BF....only one consonant wrong but makes it completely different   

[in2tactics]

Nice photos sidehack.

[KeezAZA]

Which group buy would be the best group to order from to get one of these pods to South Africa?

[philipma1957]

Check it out - a 2Pac two-pack!







Note this is not the most up-to-date code, that's in active development on a different machine. I believe some improvement has already been made in new-work timings that pretty much maximize the possible hashrate (WU should be more like 153) so that's good.

I found one small issue with the PCB which has already been corrected on the design files, having to do with the new buck layout. Very small issue. Everything else, all the chained power, node-level IO voltages and signal shifters are all working exactly as expected.

At 100MHz (11GH, equivalent to 200MHz single chip) I'm already seeing ~10% power savings over the original Compac. Pretty sweet.

So I should be sending off for PCBs first of next week. I'll need to restock on some parts before building more of these, but they're all parts I need to buy anyway for the full batch.

sweetness

[Morguk]

Nice one sidehack! Looking forward to the biggie!

[CrazyGuy]

Great work sidehack!

[Eagleone]

One tupac prepaid

Will definitely send 6 x S5 boards in for 2 biggies

[sidehack]

I've ordered a full batch of 2Pac PCBs and will be rolling in parts before long - I need more anyway so I can finish up the prototypes and get them sent out. Tomorrow I'll be sending 2 prototypes and a good test hub to VH so he can refine the code with sticks on hand and be able to watch what the power does on the fly.

I'll be sending prototypes to CrazyGuy and MacEntyre for reseller proofs, and to Philipma1957 for a test and review.

[philipma1957]

I've ordered a full batch of 2Pac PCBs and will be rolling in parts before long - I need more anyway so I can finish up the prototypes and get them sent out. Tomorrow I'll be sending 2 prototypes and a good test hub to VH so he can refine the code with sticks on hand and be able to watch what the power does on the fly.

I'll be sending prototypes to CrazyGuy and MacEntyre for reseller proofs, and to Philipma1957 for a test and review.

Sounds good to me.

I have a 1 pac. And will run it head to head with the 2 pac

[spazzdla]

awwww yesssssssss!!!

[ZACHM]

Glad to see things moving along nicely. 

I assume that the new cgminer that vh is working on will be able to adjust voltage on the 2Pacs and leave the Compacs alone?

[sidehack]

Nope.

[ZACHM]

Ok, so we will need to run two instances of cgminer, one for Compacs and one for 2Pacs?

[sidehack]

Nope. The error is in cgminer controlling 2Pac voltage. This has never been stated.

[ZACHM]

I thought I saw where you had said they were software adjustable voltage.
After re-reading through things said previously I found where you mentioned it, but now I believe you were referring to the pods.
I did find where you specifically stated the stick miners would be manual.
Sorry about that. 

[sidehack]

No BM1384 gear will be software-adjustable, which means both the 2Pac and Biggie. The projects were intended to be a quick-turnaround fundraiser to get some "cheap" (but still better than what's currently available anywhere else in the market sector) gear out and raise money for the more intensive BF16 projects.

All BF16 stuff will definitely implement software-adjustable voltage. Those will have a microcontroller onboard sampling temperature sensors, controlling fan speed, adjusting core string voltage and measuring power use as well as relaying work data to the chips.

The "quickie" 2Pac and pods are designed more simply; in fact, the 2Pac's power system is identical to the original Compac except for voltage range. The same base circuit will be used on the BF16 stick also, except with the manual adjustment pot replaced with a digital. The Biggie's power is also close to what'll be used on the BF16 pod, with the exception of manual adjustment and no instrumentation.

So, long story short - no software voltage adjustment until BF16 gear.

[ZACHM]

Understood. Thank You!

So the 2Pacs should be essentially plug and play into an existing setup using Compacs?
Just swap out the current cgminer-gekko with the new cgminer-vhVersion?

[sidehack]

If everything works as expected, yes that's the plan. The actual interface on Compac, 2Pac and Biggie are pretty much the same so VH's cgminer should be forward-compatible with the Biggie as well, though there may be some tweaks once the Biggie is actually rolled out.

[ZACHM]

I know I'm asking a lot of questions but...

Do you have side by side picture of a Compac and 2Pac?
Or the dimensions of the 2Pac?

Being that it has the same heatsink, it looks like they are the same overall size with the heatsink the same distance from the USB plug? So when a Compac and 2Pac are plugged in next to each other they would look the same? Other than the pcb goes all the way to the top of the heatsink on the 2Pacs.

I'm just trying to plan out my setup to account for the 2Pacs when I get them. 

[sidehack]

The profile is a different size, because 2Pac heatsinks are on the other side. It's a 2-sided build with the ASICs on the backside (like the S5 or Avalon6) so the heatsink is mounted there. Doing that allowed me to keep the PCB/heatsink area the same (same overall height and board width) because I could put all the node-level components topside. The heatsink fins will also be about 2mm taller than the standard Compac heatsink. The green ones pictured are Compac leftovers I redrilled for prototyping, but the 2Pac heatsinks will be slightly different (and, unfortunately, not anodized a sweet color).