CoinTerra Update: Engineering and Production status

[cointerra]

http://cointerra.com/update-engineering-production-status/

DATELINE 1/24/2014

Today we wanted to communicate our plans as we move from pre-production into production. As soon as the FCC/CE/UL certification process is completed we will be able to commence shipping the very first production TerraMiners and incrementally ramp up to volume capacity over the coming days.

On the hardware front, we have implemented circuit board modifications which have improved the efficiency of the power conversion circuitry from the time of our initial board bringup and we have revised the firmware on the BeagleBone Black controller card to take advantage of this.

Having achieved a good level of stability and based on feedback from our customers, we have decided to push the button to release our first production TerraMiners IV’s.

Our production lines are assembling units and we have submitted for certification simultaneously. The production units that we have assembled and tested so far are running at between 1.63TH/s and 1.72TH/s with power draw at the wall between 1900W and 2100W – typically 20% higher than our anticipated target of 1650W but still sufficient to operate in a typical US home (110V) plugged into two outlets on separate 15A circuits, or in a typical European home (230V) on a single circuit.

The first-batch of TerraMiner IV units shipping to customers

Is easily the most powerful high-performance Bitcoin miner available today. It smashes the 1TH/s barrier by a huge margin
Is the lowest cost per gigahash of any Bitcoin mining rig on the market
Achieves the highest density of Bitcoin hashing power in its compact 4U enclosure
We will continue tweaking the firmware and any updates will be posted to the CoinTerra website.

Additionally, we have begun a board redesign which will enter production when fully tested and approved. It is anticipated that the board revision will offer further hardware optimizations and power efficiencies and based on the initial simulations it will permit us to hit our initial performance target of 2TH/s.

We expect to post the next update as soon as we’ve received certification early next week and begin delivery.

[btcnoodle]

Thanks Cointerra! Could you please comment on the status of the cointerra II? Will you also be shipping those with the early Jan batch or will the board design issues hold them up? I'm really hoping it doesn't mean I get 800 gh instead of 1th.

[joshv06]

Gee.. I wish HashFast would have moved along this quickly..

[Syke]

The production units that we have assembled and tested so far are running at between 1.63TH/s and 1.72TH/s with power draw at the wall between 1900W and 2100W – typically 20% higher than our anticipated target of 1650W

20%??? What happened to:

The chip will consume less than 300w, for a performance of 504 Gh/s.

Sounds like you missed the power target by quite a bit more than 20%.

[aerobatic]

The production units that we have assembled and tested so far are running at between 1.63TH/s and 1.72TH/s with power draw at the wall between 1900W and 2100W – typically 20% higher than our anticipated target of 1650W

20%??? What happened to:

The chip will consume less than 300w, for a performance of 504 Gh/s.

Sounds like you missed the power target by quite a bit more than 20%.

they didnt say what their asics draw.  they said what the system draws at the wall.. which includes a built in controller, plenty of fans, a liquid cooling system (pumps).  and they confirmed that their power conversion circuitry is what theyre redesigning for the new version...

anyway... what any asic company says (based on simulation) before they get their chips back, and what they say (when its fully tested and includes all the real-world losses) after their chips are in a system always seem to be different.. and i cant think of anyone who delivered a system with the same power draw as their specs.   can you?

[Inaba]

Congratulations to the CoinTerra team! I know how exciting it is to send your new baby out the door for the first time! Good work guys (and gals if there are any!).

[volosator]

20% missed power target. 2 circuits instead of 1. You can still probably get away with using 20A circuit @ average US home.

I remember reading the post here when you guys announced the chip for a first time. Glad I didn't fall for that. Same goes to hashfast.

[bobsag3]

20% missed power target. 2 circuits instead of 1. You can still probably get away with using 20A circuit @ average US home.

I remember reading the post here when you guys announced the chip for a first time. Glad I didn't fall for that. Same goes to hashfast.

Nope. trying to pull 2000w from a single US 120v is a terrible idea.

[aerobatic]

20% missed power target. 2 circuits instead of 1. You can still probably get away with using 20A circuit @ average US home.

I remember reading the post here when you guys announced the chip for a first time. Glad I didn't fall for that. Same goes to hashfast.

short memory? it has two power supplies and it has always been a requirement to plug them into separate household circuits if you live in the usa because most households are on 15 amp circuits by default.  those that have got 20 amp circuits may be ok.. and in fact, most homes have a 240 volt supply for the oven or dryer, so you could plug it in there if you preferred (one circuit).... to deliver the same power that us europeans have got (from every socket)

[Delmonger]

http://cointerra.com/update-engineering-production-status/

DATELINE 1/24/2014

Today we wanted to communicate our plans as we move from pre-production into production. As soon as the FCC/CE/UL certification process is completed we will be able to commence shipping the very first production TerraMiners and incrementally ramp up to volume capacity over the coming days.

On the hardware front, we have implemented circuit board modifications which have improved the efficiency of the power conversion circuitry from the time of our initial board bringup and we have revised the firmware on the BeagleBone Black controller card to take advantage of this.

Having achieved a good level of stability and based on feedback from our customers, we have decided to push the button to release our first production TerraMiners IV’s.

Our production lines are assembling units and we have submitted for certification simultaneously. The production units that we have assembled and tested so far are running at between 1.63TH/s and 1.72TH/s with power draw at the wall between 1900W and 2100W – typically 20% higher than our anticipated target of 1650W but still sufficient to operate in a typical US home (110V) plugged into two outlets on separate 15A circuits, or in a typical European home (230V) on a single circuit.

The first-batch of TerraMiner IV units shipping to customers

Is easily the most powerful high-performance Bitcoin miner available today. It smashes the 1TH/s barrier by a huge margin
Is the lowest cost per gigahash of any Bitcoin mining rig on the market
Achieves the highest density of Bitcoin hashing power in its compact 4U enclosure
We will continue tweaking the firmware and any updates will be posted to the CoinTerra website.

Additionally, we have begun a board redesign which will enter production when fully tested and approved. It is anticipated that the board revision will offer further hardware optimizations and power efficiencies and based on the initial simulations it will permit us to hit our initial performance target of 2TH/s.

We expect to post the next update as soon as we’ve received certification early next week and begin delivery.

How are the buyers compensated for the approx 15% loss in hash rate?

[miahallen]

The production units that we have assembled and tested so far are running at between 1.63TH/s and 1.72TH/s with power draw at the wall between 1900W and 2100W – typically 20% higher than our anticipated target of 1650W

20%??? What happened to:

The chip will consume less than 300w, for a performance of 504 Gh/s.

Sounds like you missed the power target by quite a bit more than 20%.

they didnt say what their asics draw.  they said what the system draws at the wall.. which includes a built in controller, plenty of fans, a liquid cooling system (pumps).  and they confirmed that their power conversion circuitry is what theyre redesigning for the new version...

anyway... what any asic company says (based on simulation) before they get their chips back, and what they say (when its fully tested and includes all the real-world losses) after their chips are in a system always seem to be different.. and i cant think of anyone who delivered a system with the same power draw as their specs.   can you?

WOW, my legitimate concerns have been confirmed now, and you have been proved to be on the wrong side of this debate...yet you continue to defend CT despite their clear failures.  Are you a shill?  Or just defending a position you've over-invested yourself in emotionally?

[Cheshyr]

The way I understand it, they're shipping underperforming product because they needed more time, but their customers expressed a desire to have sooner rather than later despite the underperformance.  As an engineer myself, that's a hell of a lot of pride to swallow for the sake of the customers.  Hats off to the Cointerra team, and congrats on shipping your first product.

[LittleD]

Congratulations to the CoinTerra team! I know how exciting it is to send your new baby out the door for the first time! Good work guys (and gals if there are any!).

don't believe nothing this guys says, this guy is a liar!!! INABA where you at on ur marach?

[LittleD]

The way I understand it, they're shipping underperforming product because they needed more time, but their customers expressed a desire to have sooner rather than later despite the underperformance.  As an engineer myself, that's a hell of a lot of pride to swallow for the sake of the customers.  Hats off to the Cointerra team, and congrats on shipping your first product.

what are they going to do to reimburse for the lack of GH/s

[Cheshyr]

The way I understand it, they're shipping underperforming product because they needed more time, but their customers expressed a desire to have sooner rather than later despite the underperformance.  As an engineer myself, that's a hell of a lot of pride to swallow for the sake of the customers.  Hats off to the Cointerra team, and congrats on shipping your first product.

what are they going to do to reimburse for the lack of GH/s

O.o  They're already doing it.  I'll use http://mining.thegenesisblock.com/ to compare.  

If they shipped the expected 2000GHs now, started mining in Feb '14, and took the default assumptions on the website, you'd be looking at a lifetime cumulative return of $9190.  I know, this is a completely fictional number, but we have to start somewhere.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/ac1fbf2676

Sadly, reality happened.  They are shipping 1800GHs now, so you can start mining in Feb '14.  Lifetime cumulative return of $7510.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/9090810af2

You're down about $1700, but you're still very profitable.

The other options is to ship a (probably) fully functional 2000GHs unit (probably) next month, and you can start hashing Mar '14.  Using the same assumptions as above, you'd see a lifetime cumulative return of $2000. http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/de9c8dad44

Cointerra is doing right by their customers by acknowledging reality, and shipping the product when it is most profitable to the customer.

[Carlton Banks]

The way I understand it, they're shipping underperforming product because they needed more time, but their customers expressed a desire to have sooner rather than later despite the underperformance.  As an engineer myself, that's a hell of a lot of pride to swallow for the sake of the customers.  Hats off to the Cointerra team, and congrats on shipping your first product.

+1

I think Cointerra have done fairly well. Their development and production delays have amounted to a ~1 month delay, and some performance loss for the batch 1 customers. Batch 1 was only ever the least risky option in the early ASICminer and Avalon days.

To put it in perspective, HashFast customers got 3 month delays, and their first board design couldn't be used for a viable product. BFL were just a total joke, they didn't deliver a viable product 6 months late. There's been some problem with all manufacturers offerings, whether it's late delivery, high prices, flaky units or over promised specs (not to forget outright project failure). This is probably the best compromise so far, and I was initially a Cointerra sceptic.

It's still a compromise though, for the people who get this V.1 board, it could make a not so insignificant difference to their profitability. Hopefully those people will be consigned to the December customers, who could be fairly compensated with V.2 board units in March. Hopefully the re-design will be complete by then for that to happen.

[Syke]

If they shipped the expected 2000GHs now, started mining in Feb '14, and took the default assumptions on the website, you'd be looking at a lifetime cumulative return of $9190.  I know, this is a completely fictional number, but we have to start somewhere.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/ac1fbf2676

Sadly, reality happened.  They are shipping 1800GHs now, so you can start mining in Feb '14.  Lifetime cumulative return of $7510.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/9090810af2

You're down about $1700, but you're still very profitable.

Batch 1 might start mining Feb '14. Those cost $15,750 and are thus going to be a huge loss due to the delay. Who knows when Batch 2 will ship.

[Cheshyr]

If they shipped the expected 2000GHs now, started mining in Feb '14, and took the default assumptions on the website, you'd be looking at a lifetime cumulative return of $9190.  I know, this is a completely fictional number, but we have to start somewhere.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/ac1fbf2676

Sadly, reality happened.  They are shipping 1800GHs now, so you can start mining in Feb '14.  Lifetime cumulative return of $7510.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/9090810af2

You're down about $1700, but you're still very profitable.

Batch 1 might start mining Feb '14. Those cost $15,750 and are thus going to be a huge loss due to the delay. Who knows when Batch 2 will ship.

Ouch.  My bad; those are batch 1 units?

$14k, 2TH, 1.6kW... $1190 lifetime cumulative return if started in Feb '14.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/cafe5bf642
$14k, 1.8TH, 1.6kW... -$460 lifetime cumulative return if started in Feb '14.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/30119efaf4
$14k, 2TH, 1.6kW... -$6000 lifetime cumulative return if started in Mar '14.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/e5232335d0

So, point still stands; CoinTerra is minimizing customer losses by shipping early at customer request.  That said, $14k for batch 1...  wow.

[Carlton Banks]

If they shipped the expected 2000GHs now, started mining in Feb '14, and took the default assumptions on the website, you'd be looking at a lifetime cumulative return of $9190.  I know, this is a completely fictional number, but we have to start somewhere.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/ac1fbf2676

Sadly, reality happened.  They are shipping 1800GHs now, so you can start mining in Feb '14.  Lifetime cumulative return of $7510.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/9090810af2

You're down about $1700, but you're still very profitable.

Batch 1 might start mining Feb '14. Those cost $15,750 and are thus going to be a huge loss due to the delay. Who knows when Batch 2 will ship.

Ouch.  My bad; those are batch 1 units?

$14k, 2TH, 1.6kW... $1190 lifetime cumulative return if started in Feb '14.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/cafe5bf642
$14k, 1.8TH, 1.6kW... -$460 lifetime cumulative return if started in Feb '14.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/30119efaf4
$14k, 2TH, 1.6kW... -$6000 lifetime cumulative return if started in Mar '14.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/e5232335d0

So, point still stands; CoinTerra is minimizing customer losses by shipping early at customer request.  That said, $14k for batch 1...  wow.

In fairness, Batch 1 people are being gifted Batch 3 units also. Although that may take until April

[testerx]

If they shipped the expected 2000GHs now, started mining in Feb '14, and took the default assumptions on the website, you'd be looking at a lifetime cumulative return of $9190.  I know, this is a completely fictional number, but we have to start somewhere.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/ac1fbf2676

Sadly, reality happened.  They are shipping 1800GHs now, so you can start mining in Feb '14.  Lifetime cumulative return of $7510.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/9090810af2

You're down about $1700, but you're still very profitable.

Batch 1 might start mining Feb '14. Those cost $15,750 and are thus going to be a huge loss due to the delay. Who knows when Batch 2 will ship.

Ouch.  My bad; those are batch 1 units?

$14k, 2TH, 1.6kW... $1190 lifetime cumulative return if started in Feb '14.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/cafe5bf642
$14k, 1.8TH, 1.6kW... -$460 lifetime cumulative return if started in Feb '14.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/30119efaf4
$14k, 2TH, 1.6kW... -$6000 lifetime cumulative return if started in Mar '14.  http://thegenesisblock.com/mining/a/e5232335d0

So, point still stands; CoinTerra is minimizing customer losses by shipping early at customer request.  That said, $14k for batch 1...  wow.

You really think difficulty would be over 20 billion in May?  Even with hashfast and cointerra shipping that is somewhat unlikely, 10 billion is more realistic in the spring.  If you really think difficulty is 22 billion in May then nobody would be buying KnC units at all.

The problem isn't that these won't ROI, it's that these now require huge power infrastructure, it's not cheap or easy to come up with the kind of power solutions needed to run these and for people who've basically sent all their spare cash to cointerra it's not exactly easy to come up with tons more money to build a setup capable of running crazy 2000 watt sucking rigs.  And if you've already invested in new power lines/PDUs/cabinets/etc it might be a loss.