jrose120
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November 21, 2014, 03:14:52 PM |
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Lol, guys... those dark spots in that picture do not suggest the board is used... far from it. If anything, that looks like someone's dirty finger marks.
Not to mention the guy who circled stuff in red above can't seem to tell the difference between PCB discoloring (which it clearly is not) and lighting variance/poor image quality.
Seriously, you give Alpha too much credit if you think they're mining with a whole ton of assembled vipers right now.
You have obviously never mined Cryptos before. That card is heavily used. Anyone who doesn't think so is a fool.
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s1gs3gv
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November 21, 2014, 04:41:27 PM |
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That card is heavily used.
Agreed. No exim data huh ? Very suspicious.
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Coinic The Hash Hog
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November 21, 2014, 05:16:57 PM |
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Are these guys (Alpha) still in business?
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jrose120
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November 21, 2014, 05:22:33 PM |
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Around this time last year I was running a massive GPU ASIC farm. I had over 100 GPUs at my peak, which was 80Mh/s. I was bringing in about 8k-12k a month, for the first few months at least. I invested around 75K and at the end I was lucky to have recouped 85k, which was 9 months later, some time back in July. If I had played my cards right I could have done much much better, but it is what it is and I learned a lot. I'm not just saying this for no reason. It's an accurate observation from someone who has a lot of hands on experience with PCB boards.
I know without a doubt the pictures of the board that were provided was of a board that has seen significant use. It has already discolored half of the board and it may not even still function. Why don't they flip it over and show us the other side? Because if they do you'll see a big burn mark from where that board took a dump. My guess for why they showed us that board is because the rest are busy hashing away and they don't want to pull one out of production. Greedy bastards.
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Test User
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November 21, 2014, 07:28:05 PM |
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Regarding the board, there's 2 spots for the pcie connectors. Only one of them is populated, the bottom-right. Top right may have been populated, but it's not likely--there's merely some solder on 1 of the traces, with 2 of them having just a smidge. The 3 areas with burn/fingerprint marks appear to be test points, or otherwise not primary power points.
If they're fingerprints, it's a very high coincidence for them to be sitting right over those pads. Instead it's possible that the reflow oven they used didn't put any solder there, and they used an iron at far too high of a temp to do so by hand. Or it's smudges, or it's something else, but those traces don't appear damaged so there'd be no point for the PCB to be burned there.
Further support for the high-temp hand-hack job is in the bottom-right pcie connector, look at the burnt flux. A clean, proper-temperature flow will not exhibit that.
Very doubtful that the board has been used much. It looks like only 1 PCI-E power connector has been installed. The hand soldering is expected, because it is a through hole connector placed on the back of the board - a non-standard configuration. Normally, this type of board will be IR reflowed on the top and wave soldered on the bottom. This can't be done with a back-side connector in place, so the connector will have to be hand-soldered as the last step in assembly. The discoloured areas are signal connectors - the PCB CAD files show that they are miles away from anything power related. Those are probably the coldest spots on the board, being well away from power circuits and from the ASICs. I cannot explain the discolouration. The board is unlikely to be operable (at least at meaningful hash rate) without a large heatsink - there is no evidence of scratching on the heatsink mounting holes, which would be expected if a heatisnk had been installed and removed. There are no traces of heatsink compound left - so if the board had been used, it has been thoroughly solvent cleaned before photographing. Prolonged use at high temperatures also degrades heatsink compound, with a tendency to make it release silicone oil. Anyone who has serviced or rebuilt graphics cards in mining duty would have seen this. This silicone is very difficult to clean off, even with electronics solvents like IPA.
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retro72
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November 21, 2014, 07:31:51 PM |
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I know without a doubt the pictures of the board that were provided was of a board that has seen significant use. It has already discolored half of the board and it may not even still function. Why don't they flip it over and show us the other side? Because if they do you'll see a big burn mark from where that board took a dump. My guess for why they showed us that board is because the rest are busy hashing away and they don't want to pull one out of production. Greedy bastards.
Has there been a massive spike in the network hash since Alpha got their chips? Alpha aren't acting like a company that has mined thousands of $$$ of coin over that last month. They seem to be getting more and more desperate, which leads me to think they are on their last legs and desperately need more cash. I don't think they have enough money to complete development and need the balances paid to move forward. We'll probably see a crappy prototype video some time early next month then Alpha will demand final payment. That's when it will get really interesting. My guess. If Alpha get enough money in final payments they will start mining themselves, ship the minimum amount of customer hardware, then shut up shop and disappear. No ones buying a batch 2 from these clowns and there are much more reliable chip vendors out there than these jokers. Whatever happens DO NOT PAY THE BALANCE. If you want a refund should get a move on and don't think just because you paid in BTC you cannot make a claim. Go to moneyclaim and get a judgement YOU WILL WIN. Make a personal claim against Mubasher as well as Alpha and send the bailiffs round to take his car if you have to. Don't wait until they have disappeared before taking action. I'll repost some important info below: You can file small claims court proceedings online here: https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcomeMoney claim online can be used by people living outside the UK but you will need a UK service address. Many people have had success with this one: http://www.cityaddress.co.uk/index.htmlYou can contact the UK Citizen's Advice Bureau direct on 08454 040506 or fill out the form on their website. They will pass your complaint on to UK trading standards. If they receive enough complaints they may start a criminal investigation into Alpha. The form can be found here: https://ssl.datamotion.com/form.aspx?co=3438&frm=citacomplainform&to=flare.fromformsThere is also actionfraud. But I doubt they do anything at this stage. It might be worth logging a complaint though. http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/Feel free to drop me a PM if you need any help or advice with your claim
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vesperwillow
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November 21, 2014, 07:58:41 PM |
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Very doubtful that the board has been used much. Part of the speculation issue for this one board is we don't know when the photo was taken. It could've been a test board, it could've been taken before use, maybe it was a bum board, etc. It looks like only 1 PCI-E power connector has been installed. The hand soldering is expected, because it is a through hole connector placed on the back of the board - a non-standard configuration. Normally, this type of board will be IR reflowed on the top and wave soldered on the bottom. This can't be done with a back-side connector in place, so the connector will have to be hand-soldered as the last step in assembly. And that's why I was thinking they may have used too high of a temp on their hand technique, or held it for too long. The flux is burnt to a crisp and the area around the pads looks "warmed too much", but the traces aren't raised or bubbled which would indicate over-current. The discoloured areas are signal connectors - the PCB CAD files show that they are miles away from anything power related. Those are probably the coldest spots on the board, being well away from power circuits and from the ASICs. I cannot explain the discolouration. Totally concur, that's why I believed it to be a situation of bad hand soldering, or something may have been sitting on that spot. The board is unlikely to be operable (at least at meaningful hash rate) without a large heatsink - there is no evidence of scratching on the heatsink mounting holes, which would be expected if a heatisnk had been installed and removed. There are no traces of heatsink compound left - so if the board had been used, it has been thoroughly solvent cleaned before photographing. Prolonged use at high temperatures also degrades heatsink compound, with a tendency to make it release silicone oil. Anyone who has serviced or rebuilt graphics cards in mining duty would have seen this. This silicone is very difficult to clean off, even with electronics solvents like IPA.
99.9% Rubbing alcohol gets it off in about 2 firm "polishing" swipes with thick automotive-grade paper wipes, when I've had to do it. It also has the tendency to remove the writing on top of many chips. In the photo closeup, several chips seem to have lost their writing as well, entirely, and some partially. Could be indicative of the cleaning, or simply lighting effect. My other thought is, it also depends on the heatsink compound. I forget the name of the stuff I use, but it's not your normal stuff, and works better than the well-rated computer stuff. It has no byproduct after prolonged use. Also, it's possible during testing that they merely sat the heatsink on top of the chips, as you can do with KNC gear. All speculative. Folks shouldn't be so focused on this one board though, whose true history we have no idea about. Fact is, it all sucks.
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s1gs3gv
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November 21, 2014, 11:00:36 PM |
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Mohammed 'The Bashful' Akram stubbed his cigarette out on it after taking a call from the Manchester PayPal fraud squad
~LOL~
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s1gs3gv
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November 21, 2014, 11:01:42 PM |
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I was bringing in about 8k-12k a month, for the first few months at least.
Those were the days !
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s1gs3gv
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November 21, 2014, 11:03:51 PM Last edit: November 21, 2014, 11:16:59 PM by s1gs3gv |
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If Alpha get enough money in final payments they will start mining themselves, ship the minimum amount of customer hardware, then shut up shop and disappear.
Consigliori, they have already disappeared. And rest assured, they are not mining with the hardware. I'd be surprised if the hardware even works, if it exists at all. ThIs iS a fAcT
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jrose120
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November 22, 2014, 04:46:14 AM |
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Well we can be sure of two things at least:
If that board is a fake it's meant to get more money rolling in, or to stave off the flood of lawsuits.
If that board is real then a whole bunch more of them are hashing away until the difficulty make them worthless to you.
Rest assured, these are also the facts. If they ship you anything, it will be after they've squeezed every last drop of profit from it.
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jrose120
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November 22, 2014, 04:53:32 AM Last edit: November 22, 2014, 05:11:29 AM by jrose120 |
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I was bringing in about 8k-12k a month, for the first few months at least.
Those were the days ! Yes they were. I swear on my life, according to a few days about this time last year each rig I had running was bringing in $100 a day in profits, after power consumption. Each rig ran at 3.8Mh/s and had 6 Sapphire 7950's running off a single MB but used two Power Supplies. One 1000W PSU and one 850W PSU and they pulled down about 1400W at 120V, per rig. The rigs cost about $2,000 to build and would ROI in about a month. My only mistake was continuing to reinvest the profits to more and more mining rigs. I should have stopped growing and started focusing on liquidating a month or more earlier than I did. Cost me a lot of my profits. Anyone who is mining cryptos knows they are gambling. It used to be a sure bet, but not so much anymore. I personally am completely out of the mining business and am just watching from the sidelines.
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phzi
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November 22, 2014, 05:24:02 AM |
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If they're fingerprints, it's a very high coincidence for them to be sitting right over those pads. Instead it's possible that the reflow oven they used didn't put any solder there, and they used an iron at far too high of a temp to do so by hand. Or it's smudges, or it's something else, but those traces don't appear damaged so there'd be no point for the PCB to be burned there. This is frankly, a decent analysis. Much more appropriate then "used board", which is quite frankly, ridiculous. I am all for remembering and recognizing everything Alpha-Technologies has done wrong and illegally, and let us not forget all their broken promises (contractual obligations..?..).. But please, let's be objective and not point out obvious bullshit about PCB discoloring like complete fools talking about things they do not know.
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jrose120
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November 22, 2014, 05:59:57 AM |
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If they're fingerprints, it's a very high coincidence for them to be sitting right over those pads. Instead it's possible that the reflow oven they used didn't put any solder there, and they used an iron at far too high of a temp to do so by hand. Or it's smudges, or it's something else, but those traces don't appear damaged so there'd be no point for the PCB to be burned there. This is frankly, a decent analysis. Much more appropriate then "used board", which is quite frankly, ridiculous. I am all for remembering and recognizing everything Alpha-Technologies has done wrong and illegally, and let us not forget all their broken promises (contractual obligations..?..).. But please, let's be objective and not point out obvious bullshit about PCB discoloring like complete fools talking about things they do not know. I stand by my own opinions regarding the boards having seen significant use. I've had hundreds of GPUs pass through my hands and PCB boards don't look like that when they are new. Believe what you like. Obviously it's only my opinion, just as you have yours.
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phzi
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November 22, 2014, 06:51:27 AM |
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If they're fingerprints, it's a very high coincidence for them to be sitting right over those pads. Instead it's possible that the reflow oven they used didn't put any solder there, and they used an iron at far too high of a temp to do so by hand. Or it's smudges, or it's something else, but those traces don't appear damaged so there'd be no point for the PCB to be burned there. This is frankly, a decent analysis. Much more appropriate then "used board", which is quite frankly, ridiculous. I am all for remembering and recognizing everything Alpha-Technologies has done wrong and illegally, and let us not forget all their broken promises (contractual obligations..?..).. But please, let's be objective and not point out obvious bullshit about PCB discoloring like complete fools talking about things they do not know. I stand by my own opinions regarding the boards having seen significant use. I've had hundreds of GPUs pass through my hands and PCB boards don't look like that when they are new. Believe what you like. Obviously it's only my opinion, just as you have yours. GPUs are not a comparison here... You're comparing the boards of giants (AMD/Asus) to ants (Dextrel/Alpha-Technologies/The Akrams). My opinion is better then yours, at least in this case - period - sorry. Again, I think the Akram father and sons should never be forgotten as the fraudsters they are... but, that is not a picture of a "heavily used board"...
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Zeta0S
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November 22, 2014, 07:40:27 AM |
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I was bringing in about 8k-12k a month, for the first few months at least.
Those were the days ! Yes they were. I swear on my life, according to a few days about this time last year each rig I had running was bringing in $100 a day in profits, after power consumption. Each rig ran at 3.8Mh/s and had 6 Sapphire 7950's running off a single MB but used two Power Supplies. One 1000W PSU and one 850W PSU and they pulled down about 1400W at 120V, per rig. The rigs cost about $2,000 to build and would ROI in about a month. My only mistake was continuing to reinvest the profits to more and more mining rigs. I should have stopped growing and started focusing on liquidating a month or more earlier than I did. Cost me a lot of my profits. Anyone who is mining cryptos knows they are gambling. It used to be a sure bet, but not so much anymore. I personally am completely out of the mining business and am just watching from the sidelines. ![](https://ip.bitcointalk.org/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.louiseoneillauthor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F06%2Fcrying-baby.jpg&t=665&c=D88Bl7yR9DNKKQ)
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s1gs3gv
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November 22, 2014, 02:53:26 PM |
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My opinion is better then yours, at least in this case
No it isn't Again, I think the Akram father and sons should never be forgotten as the fraudsters they are... but, that is not a picture of a "heavily used board"...
That is not a picture of an unused board either. That is definitely epoxy discoloration from a burn of some sort. Anybody who has burned a GPU board from OC'ing will recognize it as such. Why is it burned in that spot ? Who knows ... Why did they post a picture of a board with a burn ? Probably because its the only board they had. Why is the exif data missing ? Probably because if they know that if it was present people could put 2 and 2 together and come to a conclusion that was uncomfortable for Alpha-T. ~L)L~
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jrose120
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November 22, 2014, 03:10:42 PM |
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I was bringing in about 8k-12k a month, for the first few months at least.
Those were the days ! Yes they were. I swear on my life, according to a few days about this time last year each rig I had running was bringing in $100 a day in profits, after power consumption. Each rig ran at 3.8Mh/s and had 6 Sapphire 7950's running off a single MB but used two Power Supplies. One 1000W PSU and one 850W PSU and they pulled down about 1400W at 120V, per rig. The rigs cost about $2,000 to build and would ROI in about a month. My only mistake was continuing to reinvest the profits to more and more mining rigs. I should have stopped growing and started focusing on liquidating a month or more earlier than I did. Cost me a lot of my profits. Anyone who is mining cryptos knows they are gambling. It used to be a sure bet, but not so much anymore. I personally am completely out of the mining business and am just watching from the sidelines. ![](https://ip.bitcointalk.org/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.louiseoneillauthor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F06%2Fcrying-baby.jpg&t=665&c=D88Bl7yR9DNKKQ) Yes sir, that's a great image of how my competition felt.
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jrose120
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November 22, 2014, 03:11:51 PM |
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That board is used, anyone who says otherwise is misleading everyone.
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Mick666
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November 22, 2014, 03:18:34 PM |
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I have just telephoned to Action Fraud they have taken my report and immediately passed on to the police ![Grin](https://bitcointalk.org/Smileys/default/grin.gif)
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