Where do i get ASICs/FPGAs in Singapore?

[an outright nihilist]

Hello. New guy to the forum. Have been mining for a few weeks now and I realized (long ago) that my MacBook Pro 2012 is too damned slow for mining, but I cared about that less than I cared about doing my work. Now that I have some free time, I want to get an ASIC or FPGA for mining hardcore. I can easily build a mining rig, but the electricity it absorbs would be too much compared to an ASIC or FPGA. Anyway, the people I am living with won't allow me to keep something on for more than 4 hours.

I have no credit card and my PayPal irritatingly doesn't want to accept UOB input, so I am stuck with local cash, which I have extra to invest in BTC mining. I've been looking all over Singapore for one but to no avail. Anyone knows where I can get one?

[Rampion]

Hello. New guy to the forum. Have been mining for a few weeks now and I realized (long ago) that my MacBook Pro 2012 is too damned slow for mining, but I cared about that less than I cared about doing my work. Now that I have some free time, I want to get an ASIC or FPGA for mining hardcore. I can easily build a mining rig, but the electricity it absorbs would be too much compared to an ASIC or FPGA. Anyway, the people I am living with won't allow me to keep something on for more than 4 hours.

I have no credit card and my PayPal irritatingly doesn't want to accept UOB input, so I am stuck with local cash, which I have extra to invest in BTC mining. I've been looking all over Singapore for one but to no avail. Anyone knows where I can get one?

No point in getting a miner to run it only 4 hours a day. That's a waste and a very bad investment. Just buy BTC with that money.

[boaboqha]

Hello. New guy to the forum. Have been mining for a few weeks now and I realized (long ago) that my MacBook Pro 2012 is too damned slow for mining, but I cared about that less than I cared about doing my work. Now that I have some free time, I want to get an ASIC or FPGA for mining hardcore. I can easily build a mining rig, but the electricity it absorbs would be too much compared to an ASIC or FPGA. Anyway, the people I am living with won't allow me to keep something on for more than 4 hours.

I have no credit card and my PayPal irritatingly doesn't want to accept UOB input, so I am stuck with local cash, which I have extra to invest in BTC mining. I've been looking all over Singapore for one but to no avail. Anyone knows where I can get one?

No point in getting a miner to run it only 4 hours a day. That's a waste and a very bad investment. Just buy BTC with that money.

There are also a lot of BTC mining calculators online, just google it

[an outright nihilist]

Great... First thing I need is someone to discourage an enterprising little miner...

[Trillium]

Convert your cash to bitcoins and then visit the Group Buys subforum. Sorry I can't recommend any services for buying BTC in your country. Try localbitcoins?

[Rampion]

Great... First thing I need is someone to discourage an enterprising little miner...

I'm not discouraging, I'm telling you the cold hard truth. Mining is only marginally profitable, and for that you have to run your miner 24/7. Running it only 4 hours a day is a complete waste, for the fiat you will spend in the miner you can buy in the market much more coins than your miner will ever generate.

Its a friendly advice.

[an outright nihilist]

Interesting... In one hour, my Mac can share 21 times in 1 hour when it takes Windows 8 on the exact same Mac 5 hours to share 59 times.
This shows how efficient Mac's Unix programming is at processing data.

With some calculations, I can say that Mac has a 25-30:70 chance of sharing successfully compared to Windows' 10:90.

Since I have a MacBook Pro, I cannot add in a graphics card so I have to get an ASIC or FGPA.

I may not have mentioned this before (my error): I can use the free WiFi in school (which goes at an impressive 50MB/s) and the free electricity provided. I am in school most of the time and not earning anything during my spare time. I can utilize it to earn BTC and from there, money.

I am under 18, 17 this year, so MtGox doesn't allow me to trade. However, Bips.me can exchange my BTC for cash and deposit it into my PayPal. This is another reason why I want need to get an ASIC or FGPA.

[an outright nihilist]

Okay, I finally found an Avnet dealer in my area. Now, I have to ask: What should I get that wouldn't kill my wallet?

I have a budget of $200 USD. Will the Spartan-3 starter kit work or do I have to get something else?

[an outright nihilist]

Okay, I have a few choices that fit my budget, but I am not sure as to what to get.

First, the Avnet Spartan-6 LX9 MicroBoard. Cheapest of all choices and smallest. Most likely the "lousiest" too, but I'd still get it.
http://www.xilinx.com/products/boards-and-kits/AES-S6MB-LX9.htm

Next, the Xilinx Spartan-6 LX16 FPGA Evaluation Kit. It tips a little over my budget, but I can convince my parents to get me the money.
http://www.xilinx.com/products/boards-and-kits/AES-S6EV-LX16-G.htm

Finally, the Spartan-3AN Starter Kit. Comes close to tipping my budget, but it still falls within it. I figure that this would be the best for me, since I am going to start on my circuit engineering course in 3 months time.
http://www.xilinx.com/products/boards-and-kits/HW-SPAR3AN-SK-UNI-G.htm

What I basically want is speed, efficiency and cost-effectiveness. For now, I don't need to earn $50 per month or something. It's just a sideline "job" where I can earn a little extra for free (leaching off my school, to put it badly).

P.S. I need help with coding if I can get hold of either one of these, so can anyone recommend me some help?

[Trillium]

FPGA's have largely been replaced by ASIC devices in terms of performance and efficiency. Unfortunately FPGA's can't be used for scrpyt mining (eg litecoins and other altcoins) so they are now no longer 'popular'.

Given your $200 budget, you can really only purchase ASICMiner Block Erupter USB devices which are ~330 MH/s, use about 2.5 watts from USB, and cost about 1 BTC or less. See the group buy subforum if you wanted to get some. I can recommend CanaryInTheMine's group buys.

[an outright nihilist]

FPGA's have largely been replaced by ASIC devices in terms of performance and efficiency. Unfortunately FPGA's can't be used for scrpyt mining (eg litecoins and other altcoins) so they are now no longer 'popular'.

Given your $200 budget, you can really only purchase ASICMiner Block Erupter USB devices which are ~330 MH/s, use about 2.5 watts from USB, and cost about 1 BTC or less. See the group buy subforum if you wanted to get some. I can recommend CanaryInTheMine's group buys.

1) I do know about the Block Erupter. It was my first choice, in fact.
2) As said, I cannot buy stuff online because I have no credit card, unless bank transfers are accepted. That I can do.
3) As of now, I have little interest on Litecoins, although I may turn to that as an alternative in the future, but for now, I am sticking with Bitcoins only.
4) I am still classified as a "Newbie". How am I supposed to chat on something else other than the Newbies' section?

[Trillium]

There are services where you can deposit cash at a bank (or bank transfer) and you are sent BTC. You don't need a credit card.

You are now a Jr member and can post on other sub forums.

[Kouye]

Interesting... In one hour, my Mac can share 21 times in 1 hour when it takes Windows 8 on the exact same Mac 5 hours to share 59 times.
This shows how efficient Mac's Unix programming is at processing data.
[...]
Since I have a MacBook Pro, I cannot add in a graphics card so I have to get an ASIC or FGPA. 

Funniest post of the day. Thanks.

[an outright nihilist]

There are services where you can deposit cash at a bank (or bank transfer) and you are sent BTC. You don't need a credit card.

You are now a Jr member and can post on other sub forums.

Great... I just realized that bips.me allows me to buy BTC from them. Thanks for the help anyway.

I didn't note the Group Buy sub forum the first time I looked over the forum. Thanks for that too.

Finally, I may have gotten a slight budget expansion, since my relatives are on holiday to my country and they give me cash (as per my request) instead of gifts. Now, another question. Which company is more reliable? Butterfly Labs or BitFountain (the creators of the Block Erupters). From what I read off the Butterfly Labs website, they are selling their 5GH/S miner at 274 USD while the people in the group buy forum are selling Erupters at 180-200 USD. The vast chasm between the Erupter's hash rate and that of the Butterfly Labs one is rather great. Too great, that it gives me doubts as to whether the Butterfly Labs one is even reliable.

[coinsortium]

My advice would join a GB selling KNC jupiter or Bitfurys.

KNC Jupiter is the best GH/s/$ return right now

One doing really well is https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=242878.msg2577450#msg2577450

Then you would be mining with one of the most competitive mining technologies available 24/7

[an outright nihilist]

My advice would join a GB selling KNC jupiter or Bitfurys.

KNC Jupiter is the best GH/s/$ return right now

One doing really well is https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=242878.msg2577450#msg2577450

Then you would be mining with one of the most competitive mining technologies available 24/7

Holy SoB. That is expensive. I have that much cash, but if I ever wanted to mine 24/7, I would have built a mining rig already.

Still, it's cheaper than the official price by KNC...

[coinsortium]

My advice would join a GB selling KNC jupiter or Bitfurys.

KNC Jupiter is the best GH/s/$ return right now

One doing really well is https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=242878.msg2577450#msg2577450

Then you would be mining with one of the most competitive mining technologies available 24/7

Holy SoB. That is expensive. I have that much cash, but if I ever wanted to mine 24/7, I would have built a mining rig already.

Still, it's cheaper than the official price by KNC...

Expensive is a relative term. 1 share now buys 13.3 GH/s or 1 BTC buys 4.4 GH/s . Not sure where you can find or build a better GH/s/$ return than that?

[ninjaboon]

My advice would join a GB selling KNC jupiter or Bitfurys.

KNC Jupiter is the best GH/s/$ return right now

One doing really well is https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=242878.msg2577450#msg2577450

Then you would be mining with one of the most competitive mining technologies available 24/7

Holy SoB. That is expensive. I have that much cash, but if I ever wanted to mine 24/7, I would have built a mining rig already.

Still, it's cheaper than the official price by KNC...

here's some pointers:
1. get in touch with Derek from http://sgminingconsortium.wordpress.com/
2. I'm selling a BFL 5 Gh/s jalapeno (in-hand today Friday or next Monday. The postman is slow. PM me for the price.