ANTMINER S2 Discussion and Support Thread

[kendog77]

Check out past difficulty increases on this site. We continue to see 10-20% difficulty increases every 11-12 days. The latest difficulty increase of only 11% is the anomaly if you look at past increases.

http://bitcoinwisdom.com/bitcoin/difficulty

So are you saying that if this was November of 2013 one could reasonably assume that the hashrate will double for eternity?

We're nearing the end of the road for large percentage increases if we're not already there. 

Agreed, I was simply stating that it is a mistake to look at the last five difficulty increases of 23%, 19%, 19%, 22%, and 11% and assume that we've leveled out and 10% difficulty increases will now be the norm. It looks like the next difficulty increase will be ~15%.

[precrime3]

Its too far till any accurate predictions can be made, 2 days before retarget is usually when you can start IMO.

[klondike_bar]

Check out past difficulty increases on this site. We continue to see 10-20% difficulty increases every 11-12 days. The latest difficulty increase of only 11% is the anomaly if you look at past increases.

http://bitcoinwisdom.com/bitcoin/difficulty

So are you saying that if this was November of 2013 one could reasonably assume that the hashrate will double for eternity?

We're nearing the end of the road for large percentage increases if we're not already there. 

Agreed, I was simply stating that it is a mistake to look at the last five difficulty increases of 23%, 19%, 19%, 22%, and 11% and assume that we've leveled out and 10% difficulty increases will now be the norm. It looks like the next difficulty increase will be ~15%.

most of my profitability calculations involve assuming a difficulty that slowly settles from 16-20%/jump to 10%/jump over the next 6 months. I think its entirely fair, and maybe even fairly conservative.

[googlemaster1]

Honestly, I bought it hoping when they say "Over 1000 gh/s" and "Before April 1" meant it was going to be 1.3 TH/S and shipped out next week.... but hey! hahah.

[Syke]

most of my profitability calculations involve assuming a difficulty that slowly settles from 16-20%/jump to 10%/jump over the next 6 months. I think its entirely fair, and maybe even fairly conservative.

Sounds about right. Energy costs are becoming significant. That's going to slow down future growth. That is until the next time the exchange rate skyrockets again.

[freebit13]

Guys calm down about the PSU. I've ordered an S2 and will do a setup guide and review - if it burns my flat down then I'll let you know

In all seriousness, I'll obviously check pwoer consumption and PSU spec'ing.

+1.  Stop getting your panties in a knot over vague technical specifications. Bitmain has a prototype right now (that i assume works just fine) so it seems VERY unlikely they would be stupid enough to skimp on the PSU rather then be smart and install a power supply that has some headroom. They are not tech-illiterate, and the S1 proved that handily.

I imagine that Bitmain has arranged some sort of deal with enermax that they will buy PSUs in bulk, within china, and get very good cost, high quality models. Even with the extra shipping weight it probably works out cheaper then letting customers buy one on delivery - and might be partially influenced by the forum threads full of people complaining about their units malfunctioning [because they are trying to use <500W power supplies]

I use server supplies for a lot of my gear, which gives me 1000W for about $30 + an hour of my time (getting the supply, testing it, soldering cables, testing it again, praying its not one with a screaming 2000RPM fan, etc), but I have no issues with a supply being included if the quality and price are right.

Well, it's an imagination on your part as you stated...and that's fine.  But specs are there for a reason.  It's the only thing we can go by.  I don't care if somebody has tested a 1000W PSU with the S2 and successfully run it 24/7.  A 1000W PSU is just that -- a 1000W PSU.  Nothing more, nothing less.  If it were capable of producing higher DC output, then it would be rated more than 1000W and vice versa.  A device that draws around a sustained 900WDC from it (based on 90% PSU efficiency and Bitmain's spec of 1000W at the wall which is most likely underrated just like with the S1s) is too close for comfort for me.

You see, it's a matter of choice which you can't do anything about just like I can't do anything about your choices.  Like I stated earlier, "knock yourself out" if you're comfortable with the stock 1000W S2 PSU.  I couldn't care less.  I just prefer to have at least a 1200W PSU for it for good reasons.  That's all.

FYI: your original post was also and assumption... that Bitmain will use an ATX power supply in their unit... which I highly doubt... Enermax also produces server power supplies. Everyone here is making assumptions based on what information has been supplied and personally my assumption is that Bitmain made a mistake when inputting the info in the post, because they know the power calculations as well as anyone else on here, I'm pretty sure of that.

Also, believing that Bitmain will provide a machine to the correct spec that won't overload the psu is not bordering on fanaticism, it's just a simple observation based on my past experience. Fanaticism is usually based on irrational beliefs and I don't think I was being irrational.

All we can do now is wait for a reply from Bitmain, but I've placed an order in batch 2 anyway 

[klondike_bar]

Honestly, I bought it hoping when they say "Over 1000 gh/s" and "Before April 1" meant it was going to be 1.3 TH/S and shipped out next week.... but hey! hahah.

Im near the front of the <APR10 batch, so im crossing my fingers that it might ship around the 7th

I feel like there could be some solid overclocking potential. If all the chips are simply underclocked, there may be a way to add a 600W PSU and bump the system up to 1200-1300GH

The S1 overclocking was limited by the chip design (somewhat by voltage too, but mostly design). The S2 is limited by the included power components and a HUGE stock underclocking.

[jelin1984]

How will be the customs value 2500 usd??.

[Biffa]

How will be the customs value 2500 usd??.

You already know the answer 

[jelin1984]

happy xmas

[MrTeal]

Honestly, I bought it hoping when they say "Over 1000 gh/s" and "Before April 1" meant it was going to be 1.3 TH/S and shipped out next week.... but hey! hahah.

Im near the front of the <APR10 batch, so im crossing my fingers that it might ship around the 7th

I feel like there could be some solid overclocking potential. If all the chips are simply underclocked, there may be a way to add a 600W PSU and bump the system up to 1200-1300GH

The S1 overclocking was limited by the chip design (somewhat by voltage too, but mostly design). The S2 is limited by the included power components and a HUGE stock underclocking.

Well, it's going to depend on the design. The S1 at 400MHz is pushing those TI regulators past their spec limits already; even if the chip could take more power, the board would likely puke at you. Going from the chip specs posted by Bitmain, there's probably not a whole lots of headroom left since they're running at 2.8GH/s stock and 3.1GH/s overclocked @ 400MHz

	Vlotage(V)		Hash Rate(GH/s)		Total power(W)		J/GH
	0.75		1.60		1.07		0.68
	0.85		2.00		1.69		0.85
	1.00		2.50		2.82		1.13
	1.10		2.80		3.70		1.32

To get to 1J/GH they're going to need a lot more chips running slower, so we know the chips will have a lot of room for overclocking. The question is can the heatsink and DC/DC keep up? We'll find out in a couple weeks, I guess.

[freebit13]

Hahah if put that sorry will be big mistake

Must sent as repair PC unit with value 100 dollars only

Write them and email FFS!

[bobsag3]

I can at least confirm 100% that the S2 proto and retail units will have ATX supplies, unless they have changed that in the last week.

[bilabonic]

Guys calm down about the PSU. I've ordered an S2 and will do a setup guide and review - if it burns my flat down then I'll let you know

In all seriousness, I'll obviously check power consumption and PSU spec'ing.

How did you manage with customs ? I know Juan from 112 does not ship direct UK.

[smooth]

The S1 overclocking was limited by the chip design (somewhat by voltage too, but mostly design). The S2 is limited by the included power components and a HUGE stock underclocking.

Only if you can also increase the voltage. To get to 1J/GH at the wall they are almost certainly undervolting; to get it going back at the higher clock rates you may have to change the voltage on the board. How hard that will be to do remains to be seen.

[visdude]

Guys calm down about the PSU. I've ordered an S2 and will do a setup guide and review - if it burns my flat down then I'll let you know

In all seriousness, I'll obviously check pwoer consumption and PSU spec'ing.

+1.  Stop getting your panties in a knot over vague technical specifications. Bitmain has a prototype right now (that i assume works just fine) so it seems VERY unlikely they would be stupid enough to skimp on the PSU rather then be smart and install a power supply that has some headroom. They are not tech-illiterate, and the S1 proved that handily.

I imagine that Bitmain has arranged some sort of deal with enermax that they will buy PSUs in bulk, within china, and get very good cost, high quality models. Even with the extra shipping weight it probably works out cheaper then letting customers buy one on delivery - and might be partially influenced by the forum threads full of people complaining about their units malfunctioning [because they are trying to use <500W power supplies]

I use server supplies for a lot of my gear, which gives me 1000W for about $30 + an hour of my time (getting the supply, testing it, soldering cables, testing it again, praying its not one with a screaming 2000RPM fan, etc), but I have no issues with a supply being included if the quality and price are right.

Well, it's an imagination on your part as you stated...and that's fine.  But specs are there for a reason.  It's the only thing we can go by.  I don't care if somebody has tested a 1000W PSU with the S2 and successfully run it 24/7.  A 1000W PSU is just that -- a 1000W PSU.  Nothing more, nothing less.  If it were capable of producing higher DC output, then it would be rated more than 1000W and vice versa.  A device that draws around a sustained 900WDC from it (based on 90% PSU efficiency and Bitmain's spec of 1000W at the wall which is most likely underrated just like with the S1s) is too close for comfort for me.

You see, it's a matter of choice which you can't do anything about just like I can't do anything about your choices.  Like I stated earlier, "knock yourself out" if you're comfortable with the stock 1000W S2 PSU.  I couldn't care less.  I just prefer to have at least a 1200W PSU for it for good reasons.  That's all.

FYI: your original post was also and assumption... that Bitmain will use an ATX power supply in their unit... which I highly doubt... Enermax also produces server power supplies. Everyone here is making assumptions based on what information has been supplied and personally my assumption is that Bitmain made a mistake when inputting the info in the post, because they know the power calculations as well as anyone else on here, I'm pretty sure of that.

Also, believing that Bitmain will provide a machine to the correct spec that won't overload the psu is not bordering on fanaticism, it's just a simple observation based on my past experience. Fanaticism is usually based on irrational beliefs and I don't think I was being irrational.

All we can do now is wait for a reply from Bitmain, but I've placed an order in batch 2 anyway  

What assumption?  You're beating a dead horse.  A 1000W PSU is a 1000W PSU whether it be ATX or schmiTX or whatever.  Besides, I didn't just pull the S2 specification straight out of my sphincter.  Just in case you haven't caught up yet, Bitmain has officially released the S2 spec on their site and I went by that.  You keep assuming that Bitmain is going to put in a better PSU but there's no evidence to that effect; it's still the same 1000W Enermax 80 Plus Gold to date.  I will believe it when they say so and officially publish such a revision.  Until then, I go by the relatively puny 1000-Watter.

AntMiner S2 SPEC:

l  Hash rate: more than 1,000GH/s
l  Power consumption: 1,000W from the wall
l  Power efficiency: 1Watt/GH/s
l  PSU: 1000W produced by Enermax, 80PLUS gold
l  4U Rack
l  PSU inside
l  Plug and Mining
l  Stable and quietly

[googlemaster1]

I want a Bitmain Tshirt .  HOW TO GET?!

[btc_jumpnrl]

I want a Bitmain Tshirt .  HOW TO GET?!

For the price, they should just ship us one with our orders.

[googlemaster1]

I want a Bitmain Tshirt .  HOW TO GET?!

For the price, they should just ship us one with our orders.

Damn right!  Or two!  One for the ladies .  I'll take a large, please!

[klondike_bar]

I want a Bitmain Tshirt .  HOW TO GET?!

For the price, they should just ship us one with our orders.

That would be an amazing promotional value for only a few bucks each.

that said, it would probably end up with goodwill or some guys insane bitcoin memorabilia collection