USB 300MH/S ASICMiner Value Question

[Khertan]

Using the usb code isn't difficult ... but don't expect 5Mhz
At 50Mhz you will drain more than the 500mA of an usb port.

Loop are rolled : 6 hashers, so do your math :

At 50Mhz : 6 / 128 * 50 = 2.34MH/s

128 parce 64 round de sha * 2

[turtle83]

Using the usb code isn't difficult ... but don't expect 5Mhz
At 50Mhz you will drain more than the 500mA of an usb port.

Loop are rolled : 6 hashers, so do your math :

At 50Mhz : 6 / 128 * 50 = 2.34MH/s

128 parce 64 round de sha * 2

the 5 MH/s figure i just pulled out of thin air to illustrate even if ur over optimistic, this is still a shitty deal.

[erk]

You need only one computer to run one or several Block Erupters, think about it.

So you are including the cost of having a computer running? Everyone mining has to leave the computer running. Why factor that into the cost if the point is to compare the value of mining options?

The reason I ask is that, from what I've seen using calculators that factor in rising difficulty, these things don't break even whether you factor in the cost of a PC to power them or not.

If your miner makes less than a dollar a day and you computer uses more than a dollar a day in electricity what then.

Smart people count the power cost of the PC to run their mining.

[Schrankwand]

You need only one computer to run one or several Block Erupters, think about it.

So you are including the cost of having a computer running? Everyone mining has to leave the computer running. Why factor that into the cost if the point is to compare the value of mining options?

The reason I ask is that, from what I've seen using calculators that factor in rising difficulty, these things don't break even whether you factor in the cost of a PC to power them or not.

If your miner makes less than a dollar a day and you computer uses more than a dollar a day in electricity what then.

Smart people count the power cost of the PC to run their mining.

Smart people consider whether or not their computer is running anyway

For me it would make no difference, but the deal is shitty already without that factored in. That is why you can use a Raspberry pi to power FPGAs and similar boards: It doesn't matter, because the RPI doesnt use much power!

[erk]

For me it would make no difference, but the deal is shitty already without that factored in. That is why you can use a Raspberry pi to power FPGAs and similar boards: It doesn't matter, because the RPI doesnt use much power!

Then add the cost of the Raspberry Pi on top of the 2.6BTC before you work out the ROI

[nubbins]

Then add the cost of the Raspberry Pi on top of the 2.6BTC before you work out the ROI

the pi, at least, can be used for many, many other things. everyone should have one

[erk]

Then add the cost of the Raspberry Pi on top of the 2.6BTC before you work out the ROI

the pi, at least, can be used for many, many other things. everyone should have one

The Pi is better value than the Block Erupter

[Schrankwand]

For me it would make no difference, but the deal is shitty already without that factored in. That is why you can use a Raspberry pi to power FPGAs and similar boards: It doesn't matter, because the RPI doesnt use much power!

Then add the cost of the Raspberry Pi on top of the 2.6BTC before you work out the ROI

Yup, 30 bucks. I honestly don't think the Block Eruptor USB are that awesome...

I though about building devices like these, too. With BFL chips

[razorfishsl]

The code is already written : https://github.com/kramble/DE0-Nano-BitCoin-Miner/tree/master/Xilinx_LX9_hashers_6

Has anyone actually tried that code on the http://www.em.avnet.com/en-us/design/drc/Pages/Xilinx-Spartan-6-FPGA-LX9-MicroBoard.aspx ? It would be interesting to know if it works. But DON'T go buying one for mining. Pathetic 5 MHash/second is mining dust. Just worthless.

[Edit] (Answering myself) No it won't work as it uses RS232 port comms. Someone would have to add the xilinx usb code from fpgaminer's github.

there are a few pins spare....... Just tag on a serial port... 5 minute job....

[J35st3r]

there are a few pins spare....... Just tag on a serial port... 5 minute job....

Yah, but be careful with voltage levels. Connecting to a full voltage RS232 is going to fry the fpga instantly. You'll need level translation (even for a 5V TTL  port). The serial protocol is customised too (and fixed at 4800 baud to work with a minimalist opto-isolator circuit), so its not just plug and play here. Then again if you're buying an fpga development/educational board you should expect to have to put some effort in

Oh, and to repeat, its only 5MHash/sec, or 2.34MHash/sec or whatever. Just a toy which will mine you some dust only.

[Edit] Clarifcation, by "you" I mean "you dear reader", not "you razorfishl" as you're clearly far more knowledgeable than me!!

[FCTaiChi]

You can see a basic value comparison here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=209750

[tabbek]

so when is someone going to post the howto make these miners..

http://www.em.avnet.com/en-us/design/drc/Pages/Xilinx-Spartan-6-FPGA-LX9-MicroBoard.aspx

looks to be the same..

Probably 2 weeks from the moment someone gets the bright idea to spend next couple of weeks writing code for a device to mine (probably) less than 5 MH/s @ $89

IMHO the 5 MH/s and 2 weeks is me being optimistic.

Edit: Corrected typo. the usb thing is $89 not $8

I floated the idea on the Mojo board forums (uses Spartan-6 XC6SLX9)
http://forum.embeddedmicro.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=68

There's interest, but at the moment, it seems as though the XC6SLX9 just doesnt have enough resources for the full design.
This was referencing https://github.com/progranism/Open-Source-FPGA-Bitcoin-Miner

That being said, some cleanup could be done around the serial comm design code included the OSFBM, and the serial comm for the mojo... but I doubt that alone would be enough to get the design small enough.

... I'd love for someone to prove me wrong though and get a working miner on it  

Edit : lol hadn't looked at https://github.com/kramble/DE0-Nano-BitCoin-Miner/tree/master/Xilinx_LX9_hashers_6 yet...

[razorfishsl]

there are a few pins spare....... Just tag on a serial port... 5 minute job....

Yah, but be careful with voltage levels. Connecting to a full voltage RS232 is going to fry the fpga instantly. You'll need level translation (even for a 5V TTL  port). The serial protocol is customised too (and fixed at 4800 baud to work with a minimalist opto-isolator circuit), so its not just plug and play here. Then again if you're buying an fpga development/educational board you should expect to have to put some effort in

Oh, and to repeat, its only 5MHash/sec, or 2.34MHash/sec or whatever. Just a toy which will mine you some dust only.

[Edit] Clarifcation, by "you" I mean "you dear reader", not "you razorfishl" as you're clearly far more knowledgeable than me!!

I would hope that anyone with such a board has a least the commonsense to realize that FPGA generally don't fair well  if you shove 5v up the tootsie ;-)
Personally I aim for Virtex5  Virtex6 of Spartan6 , but in about 2 more difficulty changes, they will also have the same ROI as the 300MH/S usb whit-less wonder bait.

The sad thing is that in the distant past...... even the XC6SLX9 would have provided a decent income.

[kramble]

I floated the idea on the Mojo board forums (uses Spartan-6 XC6SLX9)
http://forum.embeddedmicro.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=68
...
Edit : lol hadn't looked at https://github.com/kramble/DE0-Nano-BitCoin-Miner/tree/master/Xilinx_LX9_hashers_6 yet...

OK, I've created an account on the Mojo board to give some support on this as its rather OT here. Discussion on bitcointalk probably belongs on https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=9047.0

Mark

[LTCMINER2013]

I think that they are an investment.

BTC cant stay at ~100$ forever if its going to be "successful".
With only 21 million coins, market liquidity won't be possible with only $2.1billion money stock.

The good thing is that Bitcoins ROI time is shorter than traditional investment methods.
Its still a gamble, and with all big rewards, comes big risks - just as it has been like at every step of Bitcoins existence.

[erk]

I think that they are an investment.

BTC cant stay at ~100$ forever if its going to be "successful".
With only 21 million coins, market liquidity won't be possible with only $2.1billion money stock.

The good thing is that Bitcoins ROI time is shorter than traditional investment methods.
Its still a gamble, and with all big rewards, comes big risks - just as it has been like at every step of Bitcoins existence.

The problem is that BTC price is not rising in relation to difficulty increases as it should be.

The US gov has gone out of it's way to make it harder to get $USD into BTC exchanges, and there are periodic rapid BTC sell offs driving the price back down, when it should be rising.

[CanadianGuy]

I think that they are an investment.

BTC cant stay at ~100$ forever if its going to be "successful".
With only 21 million coins, market liquidity won't be possible with only $2.1billion money stock.

The good thing is that Bitcoins ROI time is shorter than traditional investment methods.
Its still a gamble, and with all big rewards, comes big risks - just as it has been like at every step of Bitcoins existence.

The problem is that BTC price is not rising in relation to difficulty increases as it should be.

The US gov has gone out of it's way to make it harder to get $USD into BTC exchanges, and there are periodic rapid BTC sell offs driving the price back down, when it should be rising.

[erk]

I think that they are an investment.

BTC cant stay at ~100$ forever if its going to be "successful".
With only 21 million coins, market liquidity won't be possible with only $2.1billion money stock.

The good thing is that Bitcoins ROI time is shorter than traditional investment methods.
Its still a gamble, and with all big rewards, comes big risks - just as it has been like at every step of Bitcoins existence.

The problem is that BTC price is not rising in relation to difficulty increases as it should be.

The US gov has gone out of it's way to make it harder to get $USD into BTC exchanges, and there are periodic rapid BTC sell offs driving the price back down, when it should be rising.

I keep seeing this myth coming up.  Amount of BTC mined doesn't go UP.  The difficulty adjusts itself accordingly so that we get an ideal confirmation time of 10 minutes, so the amount of BTC being mined is a CONSTANT, it's simply distributed in progressively slower amounts as more miners join the game.  More pigs, SAME TROUGH, SAME SUPPLY.  it simply takes more time to create the same amount of btc now.  That is why the final creation of 21,000,000 coins has an exact date to it, otherwise it would be unpredictable.

WTF are you talking about? I am talking about the BTC price and you go off on a tangent about the rate of coin mining.

[Schrankwand]

The problem is that BTC price is not rising in relation to difficulty increases as it should be.

It shouldn't be linearly rising. This is going to be a very complex process including many other factors. You will see it rising with the next financial crashes, considering it is a safer bet than some other notions. Like it has happened before.

Every crash left it  higher and higher. And financial crashes always come. That is a given.

[LTCMINER2013]

The problem is that BTC price is not rising in relation to difficulty increases as it should be.

It shouldn't be linearly rising. This is going to be a very complex process including many other factors. You will see it rising with the next financial crashes, considering it is a safer bet than some other notions. Like it has happened before.

Every crash left it  higher and higher. And financial crashes always come. That is a given.

Ye that's exactly my point also. its going to go up if its going to be successful so any questions about value of equipment are only relative to how long you are willing to invest in BTC for.  The risk is the complete collapse of it. Also people who have the equipment to sell want to make their profits now because they feel like their previous risks should have paid off by now are unsure of the future like everyone else is.