Announcing GekkoScience's new USB stick miner, the aptly-named NewPac

[sidehack]

So, I've been working in secret the last few months on a new stickminer to replace the venerable old 2Pac.

It's not as good as I would like - certainly less fancy, but we have to remember that the GekkoScience design philosophy is "Simple, Durable, Reliable".



This new stick, the NewPac (so named because it's quite obviously just a newer version of the 2Pac, which was itself just a two-chip Compac) features a pair of Bitmain BM1387 chips and a stock clock setting of 100MHz for 23GH. The chips are pretty bad at thermal runaway which means 100-125MHz is a practical top-end for passive cooling, though with moderate airflow they'll run 200MHz (45GH) at under 5W on stock voltage.

I have seen these sticks pushed to 90GH, which makes them roughly hashrate-equivalent to my Terminus R808 pod miner but from about one fifth the power draw. It's theoretically possible to overclock to 130GH but this will require a strong hub and possibly custom cooling. I have not tested past 90GH. Every stick is tested at 45GH before shipping.

VH's new Gekko cgminer driver is able to detect and recover from the same kind of issues which would have caused a "ZOMBIE" condition on the 2Pac, meaning increased reliability and less attention to maintain long-term operation. The stick is dimensionally identical to the 2Pac, so any custom hardware designed for one will work for the other. And of course it's got BLINKY LIGHTS!

For the time being, I have no plans to run direct sales. I have more projects on my plate for the next six months than I have time for (including bigger and better non-industrial miners), so we'll be operating entirely with resellers - specifically CrazyGuy (https://asicpuppy.com/magentoPuppy/) and 419 Mining (https://www.419mining.com/) to start.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Looking good there!

[HagssFIN]

Looking great and robust, as always.

[minefarmbuy]

Dope. 

[vh]

Started a new thread for NewPac technical discussion and support:  
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5053833.0

The code base is the same, and compatible with all version of GekkoScience stick miners.

Here are some readings off of my portapow monitor for efficiency*.  

*fan uses power but not included

[CrazyGuy]

Available for purchase via ASICPuppy.com
New orders shipping this week!

[philipma1957]

They look nice.


Good luck selling them.

I guess I need one or two just cause I have a compac and some two pacs.

[taserz]

Aww yeah more usb mining porn.

[philipma1957]

I ordered 2 of them.  Should arrive soon.

I will post a review when i get them.

[House Xylander]

I know it may too soon but have you (Sidehack) or VH had a chance to see if the "overt asicboost" can be utilized?


Also CrazyGuy, I Can not get an account registered on Asicpuppy for some reason as you have the only NewPacs available on your website.

[T3ch92]

Would love to buy some

But I can not get an account registered on Asicpuppy for some reason... Or add to cart.

CrazyGuy, can you help? And do you ship to Skandinavia/Europe?

[dingle]

damn it.. ill have to get 8. or 10... looks like i know what my bonus is going for now

[CrazyGuy]

Hey guys, I've resolved the shopping cart issues a couple of you were having. Please contact me directly if you are still having issues. Newpacs still in stock

ASICPUPPY.COM

[philipma1957]

Tracking was given to me for my purchase of two

[House Xylander]

Was able to complete my registration and my first order.

Thank you CrazyGuy


Sidehack, what hubs are you using in the pictures above?

They look like the 7-port Plugables (casing stripped) that NotFuzzyWarm recommended but you have 4 NewPacs in them. Which If i recall the Plugable was only able to power 3 2Pacs because of power distribution being joined at 1-2, 3-4, 5-7 ports.

Just wanting to see what hubs I need or if I can reuse what I have onhand.

[olseh]

Just ordered from CrazyGuy! Awesome work and can't wait to get mine... something new to tinker with!

[sidehack]

They are the Plugables. I still have my trusty 49ers from Eyeboot but I was having trouble running several sticks at high speeds (I test at 200MHz though stock is 100) so I built new test setups with smaller hubs and better USB busses than the ancient computers I was using. Now each machine is running 12 sticks; I tested 16 but had trouble, though it could have been a faulty hub.

Two sticks per hub are running off one regulator, but they're also running only 5W each so power is not overwhelmed. You might have trouble depending on how much you overclock. If the hub's good for 60W that's 20W per regulator, so 10W per stick in pairs. If that holds, you should still see around 400MHz (90G) before it gives out assuming you have adequate cooling.

On Thursday I finally received a sample order of hub chips that were purchased in September, so hopefully I can get back to my own hub project. For now though, those Plugables are working pretty well.

[T3ch92]

Just ordered one:)
Thank you CrazyGuy

[419mining]

Hey Guys, sorry for the delay's. We had to get our testing/documentation in order. ours are now posted.

https://www.419mining.com/shop/miners/gekkoscience-newpac-dual-bm1387-usb-stickminer/

[Samnangsek]

Hey guys, I've resolved the shopping cart issues a couple of you were having. Please contact me directly if you are still having issues. Newpacs still in stock

ASICPUPPY.COM

i ordered 1 stick via btc since 27/10/20818 and it still in Processing right now.