DRILLBIT SYSTEM Miners - Avalon range available - Now $104.99!

[vulgartrendkill]

I was freaking out because a power supply was the last thing I was worried about.  When I learned it was going to use 5v power only I started tearing through my piles of old power supplies and nothing was up to snuff.  I finally found an old 400 watt unit at the bottom of the pile that actually supports 30 amps on the 5v rails.  heh..

so will my PSU-1000w ocz be ok or do I need a converter or something?  Can I just plug in the atx connector and one usb cable and off I go?

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[chadtn]

I was freaking out because a power supply was the last thing I was worried about.  When I learned it was going to use 5v power only I started tearing through my piles of old power supplies and nothing was up to snuff.  I finally found an old 400 watt unit at the bottom of the pile that actually supports 30 amps on the 5v rails.  heh..

so will my PSU-1000w ocz be ok or do I need a converter or something?  Can I just plug in the atx connector and one usb cable and off I go?

It depends on how many boards you are trying to power and what you are clocking them at.  It comes down to how many amps the power supply is capable of handling on the 5 volt rails.  Don't assume that high wattage means it will be able to power a whole bunch of boards.  My Seasonic 660 watt and Seasonic 1250 watt units both were only rated for 25 amps while the 160 watt Dell power supply I had planned on using supported 20 amps.  Most will have the +5v amperage rating listed on the case.

Everyone correct me if I am wrong, but from what I have read so far you want a MINIMUM of 4 amps for EACH Drillbit board you plan on running at their "rated" speeds.  That means if you have a full four board miniplane that you need a MINIMUM of 16 amp capacity on the 5v rails.  What has me a little worried is that running the doublescroll with eight boards would need at least 32 amps and I haven't run across many power supplies so far that will support that.  If you plan to overclock the boards you will need more power.  I was wanting at least 5 amps per board and a little extra cushion on top of that.  5 amps would mean at least 20 amps for each four board miniplane.  We will have a much better understanding of the power requirements before the final product ships.  It really takes testing working boards in the real world to see how much power is actually required.

I was relieved to find a 400 watt power supply sitting in my pile of old parts that can put out 30 amps to power my four boards.  Up until that point my plan was to try some of the DC-DC converters off of E-bay to pull power from the 12v rails and step it down to 5v.  That is probably what people who have a lot of boards to power should do.

Chad

[vulgartrendkill]

I was freaking out because a power supply was the last thing I was worried about.  When I learned it was going to use 5v power only I started tearing through my piles of old power supplies and nothing was up to snuff.  I finally found an old 400 watt unit at the bottom of the pile that actually supports 30 amps on the 5v rails.  heh..

so will my PSU-1000w ocz be ok or do I need a converter or something?  Can I just plug in the atx connector and one usb cable and off I go?

It depends on how many boards you are trying to power and what you are clocking them at.  It comes down to how many amps the power supply is capable of handling on the 5 volt rails.  Don't assume that high wattage means it will be able to power a whole bunch of boards.  My Seasonic 660 watt and Seasonic 1250 watt units both were only rated for 25 amps while the 160 watt Dell power supply I had planned on using supported 20 amps.  Most will have the +5v amperage rating listed on the case.

Everyone correct me if I am wrong, but from what I have read so far you want a MINIMUM of 4 amps for EACH Drillbit board you plan on running at their "rated" speeds.  That means if you have a full four board miniplane that you need a MINIMUM of 16 amp capacity on the 5v rails.  What has me a little worried is that running the doublescroll with eight boards would need at least 32 amps and I haven't run across many power supplies so far that will support that.  If you plan to overclock the boards you will need more power.  I was wanting at least 5 amps per board and a little extra cushion on top of that.  5 amps would mean at least 20 amps for each four board miniplane.  We will have a much better understanding of the power requirements before the final product ships.  It really takes testing working boards in the real world to see how much power is actually required.

I was relieved to find a 400 watt power supply sitting in my pile of old parts that can put out 30 amps to power my four boards.  Up until that point my plan was to try some of the DC-DC converters off of E-bay to pull power from the 12v rails and step it down to 5v.  That is probably what people who have a lot of boards to power should do.

Chad

Thanks Chad,  my psu is rated for 83Amps and only has one rail.  I think I should be ok (I have 2 blades and 4 arctic cooling f12s running on that atm) so thats bout 240w I believe.  Would I still need a step down from 12v to 5v?

[erk]

Thanks Chad,  my psu is rated for 83Amps and only has one rail.  I think I should be ok (I have 2 blades and 4 arctic cooling f12s running on that atm) so thats bout 240w I believe.  Would I still need a step down from 12v to 5v?

It kind of frightens me when people ask things like that. No, you will be using the 5volts from your power supply, leave the 12volts alone.

[vulgartrendkill]

Thanks Chad,  my psu is rated for 83Amps and only has one rail.  I think I should be ok (I have 2 blades and 4 arctic cooling f12s running on that atm) so thats bout 240w I believe.  Would I still need a step down from 12v to 5v?

It kind of frightens me when people ask things like that. No, you will be using the 5volts from your power supply, leave the 12volts alone.

Thanks for the answer. Not sure why it frightens you so much.  I'm just used to plugging things in and throwing the switch, not 5v rails v 12v rails etc. Just asking a simple question so I dont blow the boards or burn down my house!

Thanks. 

[southerngentuk]

Thanks for the answer. Not sure why it frightens you so much.  I'm just used to plugging things in and throwing the switch, not 5v rails v 12v rails etc. Just asking a simple question so I dont blow the boards or burn down my house!

Thanks. 

So long as your 5v rail has sufficient current (amps) this is plug and play, no need to worry further. The 12V will be present on the plug but going nowhere on the pcb.

If your 5v rail is not sufficient you could step down your 12v rails as they tend to be rated much higher.

I personally would not exceed 80% of the rail. I would actually go for 45% max and 2 psu's, this splits your load and provides an opportunity to double up in the even of a failure so you keep mining at 100% whilst waiting for a replacement.

[vulgartrendkill]

Thanks for the answer. Not sure why it frightens you so much.  I'm just used to plugging things in and throwing the switch, not 5v rails v 12v rails etc. Just asking a simple question so I dont blow the boards or burn down my house!

Thanks. 

So long as your 5v rail has sufficient current (amps) this is plug and play, no need to worry further. The 12V will be present on the plug but going nowhere on the pcb.

If your 5v rail is not sufficient you could step down your 12v rails as they tend to be rated much higher.

I personally would not exceed 80% of the rail. I would actually go for 45% max and 2 psu's, this splits your load and provides an opportunity to double up in the even of a failure so you keep mining at 100% whilst waiting for a replacement.

Thanks,  My psu only has a single rail. does this complicate things?

[chadtn]

Thanks Chad,  my psu is rated for 83Amps and only has one rail.  I think I should be ok (I have 2 blades and 4 arctic cooling f12s running on that atm) so thats bout 240w I believe.  Would I still need a step down from 12v to 5v?

Your best bet is to look on the case of the power supply and see what it lists for +5v.  More than likely it will be rated for 25 amps.  I believe the Asicminer blades run off of 12 volts, so you shouldn't have a conflict there, but double check to make sure.  How many boards are you going to need power for?

Chad

[Its About Sharing]

I just checked quite a few of the PS's rated in the 450 - 550w range.
Almost all of them have the 5v part rated at 20-25 amps and supplying 100 watts max. This is just cutting it too close. (At least until we get the overclocking measurements from Barntech hashing.)
I don't have the knowledge here that I wish I had but we have a couple of weeks still to order a PS and Barntech still has to do hashing tests - that is where our information is going to come from. I want to overclock and I'm pretty sure due to the difficulty increasing so much, most of us here do as well.

The bad thing is that the higher wattage PS's really lose efficiency when only running 100 watts. They drop down 5%-10% and the price goes up 15% or so.
I wonder if that link Barntech posted is actually the best power supply to use?
How efficient is it?
It takes 120v or 240v and steps it down to 5v and up to 40 amps. http://www.ebay.com/itm/270863166827?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 (I don't think this one steps it down from 12v to 5v, but I'm sure there is one to do that. But why not just get one of these and the correct connector?) Then get something to power a 12v fan? Anyone? As long as the voltage is regulated tightly, we should be ok for overclocking I believe.)

Are we using the ATX plugs on these boards? (Think I saw that). Are ATX connectors for both 12v and 5v? I thought they were for powering computers at 12v? (Sorry, not knowledgable here).
Can we just get the correct plug in and put in on the PS Barntech posted above?

Thanks,
IAS

[southerngentuk]

Can we just get the correct plug in and put in on the PS Barntech posted above?

Thanks,
IAS

Absolutely, just cut off a few plugs from old IT gear, a little heat shrink and solder up a loom. Use good quality cable though.

Slide heat shrink over cable, solder cable, slide heatshrink over the join, heat the shrink. plug her in and mine.. 

[vulgartrendkill]

Thanks Chad,  my psu is rated for 83Amps and only has one rail.  I think I should be ok (I have 2 blades and 4 arctic cooling f12s running on that atm) so thats bout 240w I believe.  Would I still need a step down from 12v to 5v?

Your best bet is to look on the case of the power supply and see what it lists for +5v.  More than likely it will be rated for 25 amps.  I believe the Asicminer blades run off of 12 volts, so you shouldn't have a conflict there, but double check to make sure.  How many boards are you going to need power for?

Chad

I'm getting 4 cards and a miniplane and just to say, from OCZ website the units rating is Output Current +5V - 30 A.
So this should be sufficient?

Thanks again.

[chadtn]

Thanks Chad,  my psu is rated for 83Amps and only has one rail.  I think I should be ok (I have 2 blades and 4 arctic cooling f12s running on that atm) so thats bout 240w I believe.  Would I still need a step down from 12v to 5v?

Your best bet is to look on the case of the power supply and see what it lists for +5v.  More than likely it will be rated for 25 amps.  I believe the Asicminer blades run off of 12 volts, so you shouldn't have a conflict there, but double check to make sure.  How many boards are you going to need power for?

Chad

I'm getting 4 cards and a miniplane and just to say, from OCZ website the units rating is Output Current +5V - 30 A.
So this should be sufficient?

Thanks again.

You should be good to go!

Chad

[vulgartrendkill]

Awesome.

I look forward to my 80gh going up on my pool of choice.  Do I use cgminer or can BFG deal with our miners yet? I know there is a branch of bfg that works with bitfury chips, but not sure if the drill bit firmware may allow this.

Luke jr is working on it, but not sure if he will finish on time...

[guyver]

confussion about shipping

i was quoted last week by barntech express shipping $115
now i get an email from jesse quoting express shipping for $170
and standard shipping for $130 



what the hell is going on here

[Its About Sharing]

Can we just get the correct plug in and put in on the PS Barntech posted above?

Thanks,
IAS

Absolutely, just cut off a few plugs from old IT gear, a little heat shrink and solder up a loom. Use good quality cable though.

Slide heat shrink over cable, solder cable, slide heatshrink over the join, heat the shrink. plug her in and mine.. 

Thanks, my neighbor is an ace at electronics. I wonder how complicated it is to wire an ATX cable though? (How many cables are there?)

IAS

[Skriglitz]

Can we just get the correct plug in and put in on the PS Barntech posted above?

Thanks,
IAS

Absolutely, just cut off a few plugs from old IT gear, a little heat shrink and solder up a loom. Use good quality cable though.

Slide heat shrink over cable, solder cable, slide heatshrink over the join, heat the shrink. plug her in and mine.. 

Thanks, my neighbor is an ace at electronics. I wonder how complicated it is to wire an ATX cable though? (How many cables are there?)

IAS

Unless you have the plug and clips for it it can be hard   But here's the pinouts for v1 and v2:

[Its About Sharing]

Can we just get the correct plug in and put in on the PS Barntech posted above?

Thanks,
IAS

Absolutely, just cut off a few plugs from old IT gear, a little heat shrink and solder up a loom. Use good quality cable though.

Slide heat shrink over cable, solder cable, slide heatshrink over the join, heat the shrink. plug her in and mine..  

Thanks, my neighbor is an ace at electronics. I wonder how complicated it is to wire an ATX cable though? (How many cables are there?)

IAS

Unless you have the plug and clips for it it can be hard  But here's the pinouts for v1 and v2:

Thanks so much for that! I'll keep it handy. But I think I better spend the extra money and just get a power supply with the right plug, amps and watts at 5V.
Hopefully Barntech has some numbers in the next week or so regarding Hashing draw and such.

As it is I will spend 30 for that small PS, plus cables, plus another small PS for the fan. It will add up. Hope that helped others.  

Appreciated,
IAS

[terrapinflyer]

will http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kentek-600w-Watt-ATX-Computer-Power-Supply-2-FAN-SATA-PCI-E-Intel-AMD-/281181735623?pt=PCA_UPS&hash=item4177bccac7 do the trick?

[techman05]

Can we just get the correct plug in and put in on the PS Barntech posted above?

Thanks,
IAS

Absolutely, just cut off a few plugs from old IT gear, a little heat shrink and solder up a loom. Use good quality cable though.

Slide heat shrink over cable, solder cable, slide heatshrink over the join, heat the shrink. plug her in and mine.. 

Thanks, my neighbor is an ace at electronics. I wonder how complicated it is to wire an ATX cable though? (How many cables are there?)

IAS

Unless you have the plug and clips for it it can be hard   But here's the pinouts for v1 and v2:

What version can we expect the one on the mini planes to be. I probably have an old 20pin that probably won't do me any good.

[Skriglitz]

Can we just get the correct plug in and put in on the PS Barntech posted above?

Thanks,
IAS

Absolutely, just cut off a few plugs from old IT gear, a little heat shrink and solder up a loom. Use good quality cable though.

Slide heat shrink over cable, solder cable, slide heatshrink over the join, heat the shrink. plug her in and mine.. 

Thanks, my neighbor is an ace at electronics. I wonder how complicated it is to wire an ATX cable though? (How many cables are there?)

IAS

Unless you have the plug and clips for it it can be hard   But here's the pinouts for v1 and v2:

What version can we expect the one on the mini planes to be. I probably have an old 20pin that probably won't do me any good.

From the pics the miniplanes use the V2 24 Pin.  However IF your PSU has enough power on the 5V rails you can use your 20 pin as long as you plug it in correctly