Mining newbie: BFL Monarch Pre-Order or KNC Mercury?

[colemab]

KNC Mercury: $1,995.00 (plus ATX PSU and shipping) 100GH Standalone unit running linux - expected by late Oct 2013
https://www.kncminer.com/products/mercury

vs.

BFL Monarch: $4,680 (plus shipping)  600 GH/s PCI-E card - expected by late Dec 2013
http://www.butterflylabs.com/monarch/

BFL would allow for more than one card per computer and take up less power and space.

So go with KNC (unproven) or BFL (proven to be late at best)

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[vulgartrendkill]

TBH you would be more likely to receive product faster if you went with Bitfury or KNC.

Do yourself a favour and steer clear of BFL though.

have a look at bitfury plus drillbit systems.  Quite a good deal

[colemab]

vulgartrendkill,

Thanks for your reply. do you have a link to the bit fury drill bit system for sale?  How about any specs?

I was concerned about the payment methods that BFL accepts on the new unit (i.e. no cards or paypal).  It just seems too good to be true - thus the interest in KNC.  Do you have any info on them?

Thanks

[greyhawk]

BFL would allow for more than one card per computer

Sure, if you want to engulf said computer in a fireball and reduce it to a heap of ashes.

[K1773R]

KNC Mercury: $1,995.00 (plus ATX PSU and shipping) 100GH Standalone unit running linux - expected by late Oct 2013
https://www.kncminer.com/products/mercury

vs.

BFL Monarch: $4,680 (plus shipping)  600 GH/s PCI-E card - expected by late Dec 2013
http://www.butterflylabs.com/monarch/

BFL would allow for more than one card per computer and take up less power and space.

So go with KNC (unproven) or BFL (proven to be late at best)

make it summer 2014 at best and you should be closer to reality

[derico5]

Sitting in the same boat and brainstorming which hardware is the best way for my pocket. Saw a few videos and I think KNC is safe and nice and they can be delivered at october. Problem with BFL is the delivery. Sure, they say december. But I think it will be more like next year, maybe first or second quarter or so But this PCI card is realy nice... Damn i want that.

Did you checked Hashfasts BabyJets? They also coming in october. 350w for 400G, but price is 5600$.

[colemab]

Baby Jet has similar payment methods (i.e. no charge backs) as BFL:
https://hashfast.com/shop/babyjet/

Given that everyone is calming to ship 28nm chips in the last quarter of the year and everyone has had delays, I won't pay via a method that won't let me get my money back.

[vulgartrendkill]

The BFL monarch only exists in the minds at BFL at the moment. No working prototype shown etc.

The system I was talking about is part of a group buy and is here:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=266235.0


Hope this helps!

[colemab]

The BFL monarch only exists in the minds at BFL at the moment. No working prototype shown etc.

The system I was talking about is part of a group buy and is here:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=266235.0


Hope this helps!

Yes, this is very helpful. I am reading that thread now.  Thanks!

[Stinky_Pete]

Depends how much you want to spend. Drillbit looks good for the cheaper end of the spectrum.

There are some good deals on hosted group buys, if you don't want the hassle of looking after your own hardware.

[wasubii]

I wouldn't touch BFL again with a 20ft pole - I placed an order with them over a year ago and i am still waiting for delivery. I expect my 60GH/s miner to be useless by the time it finally arrives. And that is despite paying only $1300 for it.

When you buy a preorder from any one of these companies you are essentially trusting the management skills and organisation of the people at the helm. The only thing BFL have proven is that they are incompetent to the highest degree - with $10m of preoprders they manage to run out of simple components, cases, capacitors etc which are readily and freely available in the market.

I have a KnC Jupiter due for October - if it arrives before Christmas i will be a happy man and KnC would have beaten the pants off BFL.

As was said above, the Monach only exists in their minds. I am sure they think it will be a piece of cake to manufacture and i am sure they will be beset with a multitude of problems that otherwise wouldnt have existed had they stuck with a standalone form factor.

Just my two satoshis

[bcollan]

As a mining noob myself, I  learned the hard way about the ASIC powered difficulty increase. Since I started  with GPU mining in May, I've seen a four-fold increase in hash power at my pool and a corresponding increase in difficulty  making ROI all but impossible on my mining hardware (2 7950 GPUs, 35 block erupters and 2 BFL Jallapenos not yet received).

I am now into group buys as this represents the current best GH/s/$ values. The latest one I joined was drillbit system which provides 7GH/s/$100 for October delivery. Personally, I wouldn't touch any October buys returning less than 5GH/s/$100, and I don't care to even speculate on December. Just remember for ROI time = money.

[vulgartrendkill]

Unfortunately, I think unless you have a warehouse full of hashing gear and free power ROI is almost impossible.

And of course by buying your ASIC\mining rig of choice you are just adding to the problem!!! D`oh!

Having said that getting some new gadgets to mess around with is fun, right?

[firsttimeuser]

As a mining noob myself, I  learned the hard way about the ASIC powered difficulty increase. Since I started  with GPU mining in May, I've seen a four-fold increase in hash power at my pool and a corresponding increase in difficulty  making ROI all but impossible on my mining hardware (2 7950 GPUs, 35 block erupters and 2 BFL Jallapenos not yet received).

I am now into group buys as this represents the current best GH/s/$ values. The latest one I joined was drillbit system which provides 7GH/s/$100 for October delivery. Personally, I wouldn't touch any October buys returning less than 5GH/s/$100, and I don't care to even speculate on December. Just remember for ROI time = money.

how about: 1.55BTC for 10GH/s (aiming for overclock at 12.5 GH/s) + 2.75% Hosting/Management Fees [CLOSED]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=274055.0

[Girzzzz]

Just to make sure if someone is still in doubt. NEVER BUY FROM BFL.
UPDATE: as well as from AVALON
summaring: NO MORE PRE-ORDERS PEOPLE
I would buy even from BFL with instant delivery. Fuck no with pre-order.
KNC is still unknown thing.

[bx8389]

Use money to buy bitcoins and wait the dust ( difficulty ) to settle. After ASIC I don't foresee any new technology on this filed.
Probably after some months only the good one companies will survive and prices will adapt to reality

[bcollan]

As a mining noob myself, I  learned the hard way about the ASIC powered difficulty increase. Since I started  with GPU mining in May, I've seen a four-fold increase in hash power at my pool and a corresponding increase in difficulty  making ROI all but impossible on my mining hardware (2 7950 GPUs, 35 block erupters and 2 BFL Jallapenos not yet received).

I am now into group buys as this represents the current best GH/s/$ values. The latest one I joined was drillbit system which provides 7GH/s/$100 for October delivery. Personally, I wouldn't touch any October buys returning less than 5GH/s/$100, and I don't care to even speculate on December. Just remember for ROI time = money.

how about: 1.55BTC for 10GH/s (aiming for overclock at 12.5 GH/s) + 2.75% Hosting/Management Fees [CLOSED]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=274055.0

That deal was almost the same as drillbit's, but with vaporware ASICs instead of existing/tested Bitfurys.  The odds of them getting a working unit hashing by Nov 1 are not good IMO.