ZTEX USB-FPGA Modules 1.15x and 1.15y: 215 and 860 MH/s FPGA Boards

[CA Coins]

Sorry I am typing on my phone, but I have a total of 60 running off one computer. I kept the core i7 2600k but I am tempted to run it off my netbook just to try. I think it will run fine with an atom. The heat is not an issue at all. The whole system is pulling under 700 watts at the wall, and the boards are ~30C with the stock heatsink.

[ztex]

ztex have you looked at Artix-7.  What do you think is possible with 350K LUTs?  I know without access to the actual chip it is hard to say but looking at the specs & whitepapers does anything stand out?

About 600 to 900 MH/s.

According to my latest information the production version is scheduled for end of 2012 or begin of 2013. The smaller ones should come first. From my experience with Xilinx announcements I would not expect FPGA boards before mid of 2013.

[rupy]

ztex have you looked at Artix-7.  What do you think is possible with 350K LUTs?  I know without access to the actual chip it is hard to say but looking at the specs & whitepapers does anything stand out?

About 600 to 900 MH/s.

According to my latest information the production version is scheduled for end of 2012 or begin of 2013. The smaller ones should come first. From my experience with Xilinx announcements I would not expect FPGA boards before mid of 2013.

What would you expect the price of a ZTEX Artix-7 chip would be?

600 - 900 is a big range, what makes you uncertain?

[spiccioli]

ztex,

I'd like to ask you a question about your bulk pricing, in particular, if I buy, for example, 25 units, do I pay them 229 EUR each (so the total is 229 * 25), or do I pay the first four 309, then the next four 284 and so on?

thanks.

spiccioli

[ztex]

What would you expect the price of a ZTEX Artix-7 chip would be?

About 1.5 to 2.5 times the LX150 price.

In general (for a specific application this may look different) Artix 7 FPGA's should deleiver 1.3 to 2 times more performance per price than Spartan 6 FPGA's.

[ztex]

I'd like to ask you a question about your bulk pricing, in particular, if I buy, for example, 25 units, do I pay them 229 EUR each (so the total is 229 * 25), or do I pay the first four 309, then the next four 284 and so on?

The total net price of a 25 unit order is 25*229 EUR.

[nelisky]

(cross posting from the cgminer thread)

A small status update: the cgminer support for ztex boards now compiles and runs on linux, osx and windows. There are still features missing and the hash rate reporting is pretty broken but the boards hash at their expected speed. Check it out: https://github.com/nelisky/cgminer/tree/ztex

Let me know of any problems / suggestions.

[PulsedMedia]

I just noticed Z-Tex offers 2years warranty, while BFL is 6months, and Icarus probably case by case.
So i would think the MTBF is to be calculated around 4-5 years then?

So i did some number crunching and all of sudden Z-Tex actually looks promising when bought at lots of 10 (or more), if lifetime can be expected to be at least 4yrs on average.

Am i correct that it achieves now 225Mhash/s with high confidence? Or what should i expect as the average rate?

Using the fastest bitstream, under proper conditions, does the 2 year warranty extend to businesses as well?

Package contents include heatsink, usb cable, and heatsink?

[TheSeven]

I just noticed Z-Tex offers 2years warranty, while BFL is 6months, and Icarus probably case by case.
So i would think the MTBF is to be calculated around 4-5 years then?

So i did some number crunching and all of sudden Z-Tex actually looks promising when bought at lots of 10 (or more), if lifetime can be expected to be at least 4yrs on average.

Am i correct that it achieves now 225Mhash/s with high confidence? Or what should i expect as the average rate?

Using the fastest bitstream, under proper conditions, does the 2 year warranty extend to businesses as well?

Package contents include heatsink, usb cable, and heatsink?

The only component besides the FPGA that I can imagine failing is the power supply. All but BFL currently use the same FPGA type (just with a slightly different package), so which board you're using shouldn't really matter for that. Keeping it cool is probably the most important factor to extend its lifespan, and ztex's dynamic overclocking might not exactly help with that.
As far as I can tell, the only board where it is really easy to replace failed voltage regulators is the X6500, which has them on separate PCBs, which are soldered to the main one by just a few pins. The voltage regulator modules used are nothing special, should be available at digikey.

[Turbor]

...and ztex's dynamic overclocking might not exactly help with that...

Why do you think that ?! It's not that the board changes the frequency every five minutes. You start the board, it changes the frequency and after that it runs for weeks at that speed if your temperature is constant (within 5 degree C). Compared to Icarus the ZTEX modules run cooler. And that with almost 30 MHz difference. Not sure why ?

[rjk]

...and ztex's dynamic overclocking might not exactly help with that...

Why do you think that ?! It's not that the board changes the frequency every five minutes. You start the board, it changes the frequency and after that it runs for weeks at that speed if your temperature is constant (within 5 degree C). Compared to Icarus the ZTEX modules run cooler. And that with almost 30 MHz difference. Not sure why ?

Because ztex uses speed grade -3 chips, and Icarus uses speed grade -2 with industrial thermal ratings.

[Turbor]

...and ztex's dynamic overclocking might not exactly help with that...

Why do you think that ?! It's not that the board changes the frequency every five minutes. You start the board, it changes the frequency and after that it runs for weeks at that speed if your temperature is constant (within 5 degree C). Compared to Icarus the ZTEX modules run cooler. And that with almost 30 MHz difference. Not sure why ?

Because ztex uses speed grade -3 chips, and Icarus uses speed grade -2 with industrial thermal ratings.

That makes sense. Not really the expert

[Dhomochevsky]

Ztex uses speed grade -3 chips, and Icarus uses speed grade -2 with industrial thermal ratings.

Does that mean that the Icarus is more durable in time/at higher temps? Or is it the other way around? Or is the Icarus more durable as long as you keep it under 200 MHz?

[Turbor]

C = Commercial (Tj = 0°C to +85°C), I = Industrial (Tj = –40°C to +100°C). Would be nice to know what exactly makes the difference between a commercial and an industrial rated chip. I guess not much

[neuronics]

Another Atom driven FPGA-miner. One 12V single source - UPS via FET-Switch directly from 12 V accumulator.
Diskless (USB Stick) Ubuntu OS. Works very well, silent & stable.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/66700729/PHOTO/fpga10atom.png

[Turbor]

Cool setup

[TheSeven]

Another Atom driven FPGA-miner. One 12V single source - UPS via FET-Switch directly from 12 V accumulator.
Diskless (USB Stick) Ubuntu OS. Works very well, silent & stable.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/66700729/PHOTO/fpga10atom.png

What kind of UPS is that? UPSes that use 12V batteries usually don't provide all that much charging current, so the current draw of these boards might overload that or at least confuse it.

[neuronics]

Another Atom driven FPGA-miner. One 12V single source - UPS via FET-Switch directly from 12 V accumulator.
Diskless (USB Stick) Ubuntu OS. Works very well, silent & stable.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/66700729/PHOTO/fpga10atom.png

What kind of UPS is that? UPSes that use 12V batteries usually don't provide all that much charging current, so the current draw of these boards might overload that or at least confuse it.

Its drawing from switching power supply or, in case of power failure, from accumulator (directly connected). FET-switch to prevent
return current damaging power supply. Actual current not more than 12 Amps - no problem at all.

[rupy]

Another Atom driven FPGA-miner. One 12V single source - UPS via FET-Switch directly from 12 V accumulator.
Diskless (USB Stick) Ubuntu OS. Works very well, silent & stable.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/66700729/PHOTO/fpga10atom.png

Silent? Hm, I run my D510MO and 5 x 1.15x passively. That's silent! You just hear the chips chirp as they meet hard work.

You can actually hear what the CPU is doing... actually very useful when you have a server and it's getting lots of load; you hear it... specially when you wrote the software, performance tuning by ear!

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Ztex, is there any way you could add a running total for the amount of orders placed in the past 10 weeks? If we knew the number we could colaborate to place a large order to achieve the maximum savings. I'm not sure if having 100+ units ordered at the same time is something you'd like versus having them slightly spaced out. My ability to maximize the amount of units I could order given Y funds could potentially increase and you're probably still making $X / unit regardless of the run due to bulk ordering. Just something to consider.