Let's talk about the Antminer S2

[kthejung]

AntMiner S2 SPEC:
 
Hash rate: more than 1,000GH/s
Power consumption: 1,000W from the wall
Power efficiency: 1Watt/GH/s
PSU: 1000W produced by Enermax, 80PLUS gold

Pretty nice specs...  I currently have 6 Antminer S1's and they consume 2,160W for 1.08 T/H so 1,000W for 1+ T/H is pretty impressive.  I hope that also means that the heat production will be cut down as well since the mining room is quite noisy and warm; and it's not even summer yet.  Bitmain does it again and surprises with a product that outdoes its competition.  I'm so glad that I did not pre-order the June batch of Cointerra's machine; I would have highly regretted it.  I think I will by one Antminer S2 once I mine enough coins to bring my total hash rate to 2 T/H.

[BeepBeep2]

I think even at the current selling price, as long as it delivers good on its claims and diff rise stays ~20-25% per increase, it has a good chance to ROI.
I mean, it looks like it has a better chance of ROI now than even GPUs and Scrypt mining, which seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth in terms of profitability within the last 3 months.

[kthejung]

I think even at the current selling price, as long as it delivers good on its claims and diff rise stays ~20-25% per increase, it has a good chance to ROI.
I mean, it looks like it has a better chance of ROI now than even GPUs and Scrypt mining, which seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth in terms of profitability within the last 3 months.

I was scared-off of mining earlier this year because I thought that the earlier batches of Cointerra and such were going to create a huge spike in difficulty, but I was proven wrong.  For whatever reason, the mining difficulty seems to rise at a fairly constant rate and I don't think that will change. 

[jimmyl]

Other than lower power.

I see S1 still cheaper Ghs/BTC compared with S2.

[philipma1957]

Other than lower power.

I see S1 still cheaper Ghs/BTC compared with S2.

1000 watts in the summer vs 2000 watts big difference.  as you may not need AC . once you need AC power cost gets brutal.

putting this gear out now was smart on bitmain's part.

[povlhp]

Other than lower power.

I see S1 still cheaper Ghs/BTC compared with S2.

I don't. 1000/180 = 5,56.
Price 5,6-5,7 BTC for the S2 depending on current BTC/USD exchange rate.

So close to same price, half power usage. Think it is a great deal.
But, guess the market for pre-owned S2s is way lower than for S1.

You can resell the S1 for more than current cost. It is in a price range where many might buy. Reselling a used S2 might be way more difficult, at least until the resale price drops < €1000 / £1000 here in Europe = 40% of initial price.

[GenTarkin]

Other than lower power.

I see S1 still cheaper Ghs/BTC compared with S2.

I don't. 1000/180 = 5,56.
Price 5,6-5,7 BTC for the S2 depending on current BTC/USD exchange rate.

So close to same price, half power usage. Think it is a great deal.
But, guess the market for pre-owned S2s is way lower than for S1.

You can resell the S1 for more than current cost. It is in a price range where many might buy. Reselling a used S2 might be way more difficult, at least until the resale price drops < €1000 / £1000 here in Europe = 40% of initial price.

Sure it may be close to the same price .... but S2 you wont get till a good 3/4 of a month from now...

[testerx]

Other than lower power.

I see S1 still cheaper Ghs/BTC compared with S2.

Power is getting to be more and more of a problem as difficulty rises...I just started colocating and our power bill is $1500 a month this month and $3000 next month so this is a serious consideration.
If you live in eastern washington state it's not a big deal but otherwise it's a concern.

[povlhp]

I completely agree on the power costs.
Here in Denmark, power cost is $0.40/kWh.
180 GHS gets you around 0.020 BTC per day. On the S1 that is 0.36Wh * 24h = 8,64 kWh = $3,46/day = 0.005 BTC or thereabout.
That is already 25% of the mined BTC going to power here. If I can get that down to 12.5%, it would be nice. And the miner would be sustainable for a longer time.

Now I have solar power, on my root, I am taxed on that, so using my own power instead of selling gives me a power cost of 0.1$/kWh, but I only have surplus production of a few hundred kWh/year. Can't expand my solar installation without getting hit by new stricter tax rates (where I can't store surplus energy in the powergrid for free, but will have to sell surplus for low price, and buy back at the 0.40).

Power costs is important, especially in Europe. Enjoy cheap power where it is, but at some point, the power costs will be more than the mining output. When the S1 is worthless, I can still earn 5.6 * $3,46 = $19.4/day on an S2. Don't know what will happen to difficulty when older equipment starts hitting the not-profitable line.

[povlhp]

PS about the 3 weeks wait for the Antminer S2, it will cost you some loist profit in the meantime, and you will have 2 difficulty adjustments. But just calculate that into your calculations.

[jimmyl]

PS about the 3 weeks wait for the Antminer S2, it will cost you some loist profit in the meantime, and you will have 2 difficulty adjustments. But just calculate that into your calculations.

Provided it ships on time.

Obviously it's not ready, so scheduled shipment.

[povlhp]

Bitmaintech is known for delivering on or before time.

Lets see around April 1st when batch 1 ships. Now is also the time to buy BTC; and then order when price for BTC is up 10%. You pay in $ exchange rate at the time of order.

[sudoku]

I have one ordered from batch 1. In a couple of weeks I can test it and report. Looking forward to it.