Liquid Synergy Designs Inc. -ASIC mining hardware

[msm595]

If I want the hosted option, will I have to pay for assembly as well? Also, do you assemble and start running it the moment it arrives? If at any point I change my mind can you ship it out after hosting it for a bit? Has anyone used the hosted option yet?

[synapseattack]

Just so I am clear... and I know this has been asked, but I really like the reassurance. If I want 2 fully assembled units I can pay for the 32 chips up front then at a later time pay for the rest assembly and testing later. Correct?

Correct

[hak8or]

Is there a possibility of buying just the components un-assembled? Meaning, just the chips, the PCB, and all the associated capacitors/connectors/resistors, so we do all the soldering ourselves?
Even better, is there an option of just the asic's and the PCB un-assembled so we purchase all the passives and whatnot ourselves and solder it together ourselves??

This may be a possibility. Creating full DIY kits requires a considerable amount of time, and depending on the option chosen for parts sourcing, may not be an option. All requests are being taken into consideration, but ultimately the most cost effective, quickest solution for the majority of the orders will take precedence.  

The best way to do this would be to roll the whole thing yourself.  The circuit will be stable long before the chips arrive.  Get a set of boards made for $25 at iteadstudio, order all the parts from Mouser or Digikey and you have a kit.  Someone might even create a BOM at one of these two so you can order in just a few clicks.  It really isn't worth the hassle of assembling kits, the large online component sellers do a much better job for much less.

I don't think anyone is going to write instructions for assembly but perhaps I'm wrong.  If you can mount the ASICs yourself, the rest is a piece of cake.

*edit* I would do this except I don't want to screw up the mounting of the ASICs.  I'm planning on making some K1s by hand with my extra chips if they aren't used up.

He would still have to deal with the massive logistics with ordering all the components and whatnot from digikey/mouser, but that is why I also asked about the possibility of just buying the chips and PCB from them, since they obviously can get the price per square inch much lower than OSHPark's 5 dollars/sq inch. Also, I love OSHpark as well! Used them for some of my projects, and I have nothing but the best to say about the service as well as the person doing the ordering.

Since that was a maybe, I also want to verify what I have just seen, I can purchase the ASIC's from you guys now, and at a later date if you implement the ability to have just the PCB thrown in, I can add that to my order?

Also, lastly, if I believe this has been answered already but for the life of me I can't find it for some reason. What are the approximate dates for when the IC's would arrive? Before September?

[KS]

IC's: ≃10 weeks after order.

[vs3]

What are the approximate dates for when the IC's would arrive? Before September?

I think what you're looking for is in the very first post:

As per Avalon’s documentation, batches will be shipped 9-10 weeks after purchase. Below are the previous batch order dates:

Batch 1: Order #10177, Purchase date May 1,2013. Expected delivery date early July
Batch 2: Order #10265, Purchase date May 11,2013. Expected delivery date mid July
Batch 3: Order #10325, Purchase date May 22,2013. Expected delivery date mid/late July.
Batch 4: Order #10425, Purchase date May 28,2013. Expected delivery date late July, early Aug.
Batch 5: Order #10553, Purchase date June 5. Expected delivery date early/mid Aug.

[CoinSphere]

Order placed! Fingers crossed that difficulty stays reasonable and no delays happen.

Chip amount: 48
Assembly: Fully assembled
Payment amount: 4.128 BTC
Email sent.

[steamboat]

Fully Assembled Unit:
The fully assembled unit, including all necessary hardware, is $133.5, to be paid in BTC.

Does this price reflect per 16 chip unit?  Or per any amount of chipped unit?

You have to have your own chips or have participated in one of the group buys on this thread. That price is only for assembly with YOUR chips.

On another note Steamboat, I'm assuming that the dollar amount for the assembly (whichever one) service will be based on the Mt. Gox price for the day we send you the BTC?

Or as the time gets closer are you going to just call it 1BTC or 1.1 BTC (or whatever)?

The K16 is currently the only complete unit offered. The price reflects the cost for a K16 unit fully assembled.

How the payment will be structured is still being resolved.

Looking at the pricing it seems the only testing optional will be with the fully assembled miner.  I find this odd because most manufacturers will test a PCB assembly before fitting all the heatsinks etc to reduce the cost of rework.  They'll also use a jig to test.  I guess the issue here is that this board is hard to test without a heatsink?  Perhaps two levels of testing can be offered, a sanity test (power, trace continuity etc but no mining) and a bake in test?   Perhaps we can write some code to just mine one share and shutdown the clocks, this could be ok without a heatsink?

Every assembly option includes a fully functioning, mechanically tested, PCB. The testing protocols for the firmware have not yet been created. Ideally it would consist of plugging the board in, running the firmware check, and running a cycle and checking the output.

If I want the hosted option, will I have to pay for assembly as well? Also, do you assemble and start running it the moment it arrives? If at any point I change my mind can you ship it out after hosting it for a bit? Has anyone used the hosted option yet?

If you would like us to hold the parts for you, that can be arranged. If you would like us to assemble the parts for you, that service is offered as well. Each order is processed in a first in, first out queue. Orders at the beginning of the queue will be processed first. The unit is the property of the customer, and may be requested at any time.

Is there a possibility of buying just the components un-assembled? Meaning, just the chips, the PCB, and all the associated capacitors/connectors/resistors, so we do all the soldering ourselves?
Even better, is there an option of just the asic's and the PCB un-assembled so we purchase all the passives and whatnot ourselves and solder it together ourselves??

This may be a possibility. Creating full DIY kits requires a considerable amount of time, and depending on the option chosen for parts sourcing, may not be an option. All requests are being taken into consideration, but ultimately the most cost effective, quickest solution for the majority of the orders will take precedence. 

The best way to do this would be to roll the whole thing yourself.  The circuit will be stable long before the chips arrive.  Get a set of boards made for $25 at iteadstudio, order all the parts from Mouser or Digikey and you have a kit.  Someone might even create a BOM at one of these two so you can order in just a few clicks.  It really isn't worth the hassle of assembling kits, the large online component sellers do a much better job for much less.

I don't think anyone is going to write instructions for assembly but perhaps I'm wrong.  If you can mount the ASICs yourself, the rest is a piece of cake.

*edit* I would do this except I don't want to screw up the mounting of the ASICs.  I'm planning on making some K1s by hand with my extra chips if they aren't used up.

He would still have to deal with the massive logistics with ordering all the components and whatnot from digikey/mouser, but that is why I also asked about the possibility of just buying the chips and PCB from them, since they obviously can get the price per square inch much lower than OSHPark's 5 dollars/sq inch. Also, I love OSHpark as well! Used them for some of my projects, and I have nothing but the best to say about the service as well as the person doing the ordering.

Since that was a maybe, I also want to verify what I have just seen, I can purchase the ASIC's from you guys now, and at a later date if you implement the ability to have just the PCB thrown in, I can add that to my order?

Also, lastly, if I believe this has been answered already but for the life of me I can't find it for some reason. What are the approximate dates for when the IC's would arrive? Before September?

Component sourcing from Digikey and Mouser has already been completed. When purchasing wholesale parts, they do not come in kits. They come prepackaged and ready for assembly on a line. To create kits, each of the 300+ parts would need to be manually added to each. Additionally, the parts would be shipped directly to the assembly house, which may or may not be open to hosting the kitting process. Bare PCBs may be a more viable solution, with the BOM available for purchase from a third party such as Digikey or Mouser.

[volosator]

In for 98 chips, email sent.

[L3on]

I'm waiting for this post to update again before I order. I would really like to know how many are left in batch 5.

[FuzzyThunder]

Joined the forums just so I could get in on this.

Ordered my 16 and I'll order 18 more next week when I get funded.

So pumped. Thanks a ton for organizing this, steamboat.

TXid 0ecf050e84ff4cfce9f305d253ccc4d5fcadae2eb6165f54a81a41404f49ed65 if anyone's curious.

[steamboat]

All purchases received, recorded, replied.

The OP has been updated, and now includes the following:

Hosting requires fully assembled units.

[jasinlee]

All purchases received, recorded, replied.

The OP has been updated, and now includes the following:

Hosting requires fully assembled units.

Wait so your saying I cant just buy 1 chip and use it on my fully assembled unit! DARN YOU LOGIC!

[Aquaficial]

I hope my BTC arrives before this batch sells out. 

[steamboat]

All purchases received, recorded, replied.

The OP has been updated, and now includes the following:

Hosting requires fully assembled units.

Wait so your saying I cant just buy 1 chip and use it on my fully assembled unit! DARN YOU LOGIC!

Actually, you could if you wanted to. The units do however require full assembly in order to be functioning, which allows them to be hosted.

[L3on]

Ordered 16 email sent, thanks!

[mitman]

Will be ordering 16 chips as soon as my bitcoins come in. I except them to have them by Wednesday so hopefully there will still be chips left.

[pointychimp]

Has Bkkcoins provided anything more than drawings for his K16 boards? I'm eager to place an order, but I'm nervous. Also, this thread (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=227103.0) doesn't shine a very good light on Avalon. If steamboat doesn't receive any boards for a given batch #, can we expect a refund or anything like that?

[wawaloo]

I apologize if this has been answered and I have overlooked it in this thread. I would like to know the size of each board which is supposed to be 16 chips? How large are all those when placed all together? I have tried to check online and search forums on how they are size wise but have been able to see one. If anyone has a link to such information it would be very much appreciated.

[pointychimp]

I apologize if this has been answered and I have overlooked it in this thread. I would like to know the size of each board which is supposed to be 16 chips? How large are all those when placed all together? I have tried to check online and search forums on how they are size wise but have been able to see one. If anyone has a link to such information it would be very much appreciated.

I believe it's about 10cm x 10cm. If you get one of the assembly/kit options, they'll be installed on a K16. See https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=190731.0 to track the development of the board.

[Xian01]

 Hrmph. This doesn't sound good :/
 

Here's what we know as of today:

- Batch 1 Avalons still not all delivered, no response from Bitsyncom
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=157856.0

- Batch 1 badly damaged Avalon, Bitsyncom replied to say "that's unfortunate, we will work out a solution to ship this one back and send you another." and then no follow-up or response from Bitsyncom for over 50 days and counting.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=178168.0

- Batch 2 Avalons significantly delayed and still not all delivered, no response from Bitsyncom
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=167726.1200

- Batch 3 Avalons not delivered at all, no updates from Bitsyncom
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=203745.60

- Avalon ASIC chip purchases started over 7 weeks ago and no sample chips in sight, no updates from Bitsyncom despite Avalon website stating "30 sample chips will be provided 4 weeks into ordering per 10,000 chips."
Of all the Avalon ASIC chip group buys, no one has heard a single word from Bitsyncom about the sample chips

- Zefir's Batch 8 Avalon ASIC chip purchase issue has not be resolved or even addressed by Bitsyncom, resulting in ~$93,000 of the community's money being received by Avalon but no confirmation of the order given by their order system. No response from Bitsyncom for over 6 weeks.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=177827.660


At this point, there is no good excuse for the lack of communication on his part, especially considering the amount of money this community has spent to purchase his goods. These aren't technical support issues, either.

For all the sensitivity there is now to potential scams whenever an ASIC company pops up, why isn't Avalon under the same scrutiny? They've shipped a small number of units, but so has BFL. Is there any way to confirm with TSMC that they are actually having chips made?? So many developers are awaiting those samples.