Any newbies going for Avalon chips?

[quiksilver911]

Hi,

I've been mining for a while, and reading this forum for ages, but haven't really contributed.

I signed up because I'm really interested to take part in one of the group buys of Avalon chips. There seems to be a lot of interest in this, and hopefully a lot of opportunity too.

Any other newbies interested in this? If yes, how many chips are you looking to get? I'm not sure whether to go for a small count and just get a few gigahashes, or trying and go all in, although that would not be terahashes or anything!

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[turqmr2]

I have considered it, but I don't feel comfortable making the gamble. Of course, when all of these proposed boards are out, everything will cost ten times more and my GPU experiments will be worthless.

[ColonelCrypto]

I'm interested in buying ASIC chips but I'm turned off by the logistics of having to trust a stranger with my BTC (escrow service etc..), the time it will take to design a system and the time it will take to assemble a system. Even though I'm sure it would be a lot of fun.

I think open source ASIC is the most healthy advancement for the bitcoin mining infrastructure. More decentralized.

[quiksilver911]

I agree with the whole process from purchasing in a groupbuy to finally getting a mining device being quite risky. And it is a turn off compared to how straightforward it was to get into GPU mining via Amazon, NewEgg, etc. There's also the risk that those ASIC miners will have little resale value once their shelf life has expired, or if bitcoin crashes, unlike the GPUs.

I agree with the point on it being a gamble, but all of bitcoin is still a bit of a gamble. Investors in ASICMiner and Avalon batch #1 units were all essentially making a gamble. They succeeded, but there were many other gambles (many are documented on this forum) that failed, too.

I think I will make a small investment in Avalon chips anyway, but at the moment I need more confidence in the board development process. I almost zero expertise in electronics, and I would need a board building service that can build boards that are 1) high quality 2) built and shipped fast, and 3) price competitive.

Meanwhile, I found it interesting to see this post (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=164742.msg1723826#msg1723826) which shows the Avalon boards as used in their own devices. It's the first time I've seen this.

[jamesblack]

it would be great to have one ... To ask for the first technological leap ....

[dementyev]

Are any of these ASIC miners actually out yet or is it all just empty promises and review models sent out to media outlets to pump they hype?

[Orianna]

Hi,

I've been mining for a while, and reading this forum for ages, but haven't really contributed.

I signed up because I'm really interested to take part in one of the group buys of Avalon chips. There seems to be a lot of interest in this, and hopefully a lot of opportunity too.

Any other newbies interested in this? If yes, how many chips are you looking to get? I'm not sure whether to go for a small count and just get a few gigahashes, or trying and go all in, although that would not be terahashes or anything!

Yes, very interested.  Looking to get into 64 chips based on the Klondike build.  Looks promising but the group buy is a very odd process to me.  I've never seen anything like it online.  You just blindly trust someone will take your coin and mail you chips?  It kinda feels like lemmings to the sea . . .

But what other way is there to purchase Avalon chips you know? I personally can not afford 10k worth alone?

[Dabs]

Hi. I am here to assure you that if you order through my Group Buy, you will get your chips if you want it delivered straight to you. I can also send them to a developer or assembler of your choice but my responsibility stops at that point.

There is no other way to order chips that you can have a reasonable level of confidence. There are a few websites that offer small quantities of Avalon chips, but they are more expensive than the group buys and you don't know who's behind those websites.

There are at least 3 different Group Buys now, spread across the United States, Europe and Asia. The chips themselves are coming from China.

[Group Buy] Avalon ASIC Chips, Philippines (Dabs)

[razlex]

I was looking at this earlier today, and was VERY tempted... the extent of my electronics experience is jtag'ing a couple xbox360's... but i knew 0 going into that, and came away with a great experience where i learned a lot and had loads of fun doing it... i'm trying to decided if ordering some chips could be my next step, or if i'd be in way over my head...

[kuriboh]

I'm going to buy 96 chips to build klondike boards. but like other newbies, I'm not familiar with groupbuys, I'm looking one and nearby. I should probably go with an USA group. (I'm from Mexico)

[bitbuilder]

...Looks promising but the group buy is a very odd process to me.  I've never seen anything like it online.  You just blindly trust someone will take your coin and mail you chips?  It kinda feels like lemmings to the sea . . .

But what other way is there to purchase Avalon chips you know? I personally can not afford 10k worth alone?

I think the majority of people cannot afford $780,000+ for chips. The way Avalon is selling these chips is brilliant, in my opinion. If they sold chips individually, how many people would even know what to do with them? Buy selling them in batches of 10,000, they are indirectly creating alliances among bitcoin miners, who will in turn, create new ASIC products. This goes in line with their philosophy of decentralization.

[coinstopper]

I would love to and i think i could get the team to assemble it all together. I just get the feeling that by the time the chips arrive it will be too late and the difficulty will be too high. You may break even.

[Orianna]

I think the majority of people cannot afford $780,000+ for chips. The way Avalon is selling these chips is brilliant, in my opinion. If they sold chips individually, how many people would even know what to do with them? Buy selling them in batches of 10,000, they are indirectly creating alliances among bitcoin miners, who will in turn, create new ASIC products. This goes in line with their philosophy of decentralization.
[/quote]

Agreed, it is genius and will do wonders in leveling the playing field and fostering innovation.  Although this will still make it cost prohibitive for some, and will definitely detract the risk averse, the few that get in at the ground floor will do well. 

I have to admit that I find it very interesting and somewhat sinister tbh, that BFL is just now shipping their products on the heels of these DIY'ers creating their own asic hardware.  (not cool BFL  )

I would much rather support the DIY community personally.  And hey, if that means that I have to step out of my comfort zone and participate in a group buy then so be it.  Anytime you invest their will always be some level of risk involved.  Never spend what you can't afford to lose . . .

[whitedragon]

I love the idea of a DIY asic...but as others have said it is probably way over my head.  I have lots of hardware experience...but zip when it comes to programming.

[Sawtoothsquid]

Building my own mining rig would be an interesting project, but I could not justify the cost. Not for a project.

[dudi]

i think with this sells the diff of mining will be going to really high level, couse of this.

my opinion is, one year later from now, under a terrahash speed, and low power costs will needed for a profitable mining.
the other problem is, the same with the real money. a little few people has the most of the money. and the mass of the people doesn't have any. thats a problem point of this.

[jundesirehd]

What's the point if everybody is buying? Soon the network hash rate will skyrockets!

[dudi]

avalon talk about minimum 10.000chips  maximumm 200.000 / order!

now lets calculate with 200.000 selled chips
1 chip has 282mh/sec rate
200.000 has 564.00000. thats around 54 Terrahash/sec.

calculate with 1 million chip after a year, thats 270 terrahash/sec.
thats only the avalon chip. butterfly, and any other stuffs not calculated, but i think we can calculate with the double of this rate.

the other point of this, from beginning to 2013marc, systeam hash rate incirased to 0-30Th/s in some years
from  2013 march to 2013 maj it increased to 30-90Th/sec
its around 30Th/month!
i think from now 30 monthly is the basic rate what will be increased. if the chips will be shipped and people start to use them, thats more then 50-60Th grow in a month. so, in the end of 2013 system hash rate minimum is 500Th/sec.

now diff is 11187257 with 90Th/s. in 500th/sec systeam hash rate the diff is around 62029913
if i put this data into a calculator: one 100Gh/s machine can found 0.0773BTC / 24hr. thats 9 dollar, with 120 price.

so, for the 100gh/s machine needs 350 avalon chip. its around 30BTC now.  The cost of buuild from every 64 avalon chip around 150 dollar with klondike design. its 1000 dollar and 30 BTC investition.

with 0,077 BTC / day, 40 BTC will found in 519 days.
and i not calculated the with energy, and the more system hash rate growth. 350 avalon chip eats around 1500W.

so i think this business can profitable who, are the first few people who can build his own machine within a few month.