Antminer S1 Upgrade Kit

[Bitcoin++]

Specifications:

Hash Rate: 453 GH/s±5% with great OC potential

Power Consumption: 355 Watt at the wall

Power Efficiency: 0.78 J/GH on wall

The price is 0.46 BTC.

It's a cool kit but VERY EXPENSIVE. I did some calculations at Bitcoin Wisdom and it will most likely make a tiny, tiny profit of 0.1 BTC or so.
And this is without taking into consideration that the S1 anyway would generate more than that if I leave it running underclocked and undervolted.

Will YOU buy the S1 Upgrade Kit? If so, what is your reasoning?

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[tom99]

Specifications:

Hash Rate: 453 GH/s±5% with great OC potential

Power Consumption: 355 Watt at the wall

Power Efficiency: 0.78 J/GH on wall

The price is 0.46 BTC.

It's a cool kit but VERY EXPENSIVE. I did some calculations at Bitcoin Wisdom and it will most likely make a tiny, tiny profit of 0.1 BTC or so.
And this is without taking into consideration that the S1 anyway would generate more than that if I leave it running underclocked and undervolted.

Will YOU buy the S1 Upgrade Kit? If so, what is your reasoning?

  bad news you need to buy 2 of them that other problem for someone only had 1,3,5 S1.

[MasterRadix]

Specifications:

Hash Rate: 453 GH/s±5% with great OC potential

Power Consumption: 355 Watt at the wall

Power Efficiency: 0.78 J/GH on wall

The price is 0.46 BTC.

It's a cool kit but VERY EXPENSIVE. I did some calculations at Bitcoin Wisdom and it will most likely make a tiny, tiny profit of 0.1 BTC or so.
And this is without taking into consideration that the S1 anyway would generate more than that if I leave it running underclocked and undervolted.

Will YOU buy the S1 Upgrade Kit? If so, what is your reasoning?

  bad news you need to buy 2 of them that other problem for someone only had 1,3,5 S1.

3 and more is no problem. Just AT LEAST 2

[fire000]

The another thing I find odd the 2nd fan NOT in the kit

[dquancey]

Brilliant from Bitmain.

I'm not sure on the ROI of this but Bitmain have always tried to "look after" their existing customers and this upgrade kit will help a few out with their old S1's.

[RogMiner]

I think this is a great upgrade kit and have ordered 2 already, my S1's will have a new lease of life and my hash rate will go up, I just wish they would be available sooner.

I tend not to look at the ROI charts as mining is a very speculative venture and no one knows whet Bitcoins will be worth in the future. I am just content that I am supporting the network and that in the future I may see some rewards for this.

My initial investment in mining hardware for in FIAT currency, but all upgrades are in Bitcoin so I have effectively written off my initial FIAT investment and will keep churning Bitcoin for hardware until I build up a substantial reserve of bitcoins.

I will only know if this strategy is good in a few years time, but I am confident that eventually my investment will come good. Anyone looking for a fast buck from mining will be disappointed, today mining is a long term and speculative investment.

As an aside, it is also great fun to watch your miners racking up Bitcoins, certainly this is worth something in entertainment value alone.

[midyatspor]

I am very happy with my miners from Bitmain but I think this upgrade kit is way too expensive, you could sell your S1 and just buy S3, the difference in price is .12BTC which is about $60, not worth the hassle of doing the upgrade but if you have a broken S1 or non-functional S1 then perhaps it's worth it.

my 2 cents.

[aboron]

I'm going for it from a hacking perspective.  After upgrading I want to look into Frankenstein-ing the old boards into some kind of an undervolted custom configuration and try to squeeze a tiny bit more from them.

[Bitcoin++]

I am very happy with my miners from Bitmain but I think this upgrade kit is way too expensive, you could sell your S1 and just buy S3, the difference in price is .12BTC which is about $60, not worth the hassle of doing the upgrade but if you have a broken S1 or non-functional S1 then perhaps it's worth it.

my 2 cents.

Agree. And remember; if you buy an S3 you can still use your old S1. It will still run profitably for a while, especially if underclocked.

[btckold24]

for us less tech savvy people like myself the price is way to high for me. I would hate to mess up the upgrade and ruin my s1 along with almost half a btc.

Not to mention you gotta wait over a month?

no thanks

[midyatspor]

I am very happy with my miners from Bitmain but I think this upgrade kit is way too expensive, you could sell your S1 and just buy S3, the difference in price is .12BTC which is about $60, not worth the hassle of doing the upgrade but if you have a broken S1 or non-functional S1 then perhaps it's worth it.

my 2 cents.

Agree. And remember; if you buy an S3 you can still use your old S1. It will still run profitably for a while, especially if underclocked.

I also think that if Bitmain sold them cheaper then you could have a scenario where these hardware/software smart miners could assemble an S3 equivalent type miner cheaper so I think the price was set so that it would not hurt the S3 Sales. 

[crazyearner]

I was thinking to buy the upgrade module however after seeing price and not being available to buy untill sep is too far away and wont brake even on equipment. Think am going to go into scrypt mining as seems far ebtter price range and far less watts used for hash power

[chek2fire]

I will buy one only for the fan to upgrade the old s1

[Malibu_Bitcoin]

We've just acquired an old S1, Does anyone want to split the 2 kit minimum with us?

I know, I know. New account here, but I would vouch our company.

[va23boam]

Interesting... But it is a bit expensive. Considering a bit more will buy a new s3 plus u still get to keep the s1 going.. I might wait and hope for a price drop and reconsider

[black3000gt]

I'm waiting for the s2 kit. I hope it sees speeds at least 2 gh

[charles2k]

At this price, it makes no sense.

[Paxter]

The another thing I find odd the 2nd fan NOT in the kit

Yeah i notice that too very odd for an upgrade kit dont know when i reassemble the s1 upgrade what i will do with the old s1 fan probably try to fit it... hope it will work...

[kabopar]

Like most of the people who oc'd the S1, I have a few second fans already.  These 2nd fans can be 'recycled' into the S1-to-S3 upgrade.  While the cost of the upgrade is marginally lower than a full S3, it gives an opportunity to double the hash rate with a significantly better efficiency.

Cheers

[crazyates]

People looking to faze out their S1s have 3 primary options:

1) Sell the S1, and buy new hardware.
Pros: Shiny new hardware! Better power efficiency.
Cons: A used S1 is barely worth anything at all, so you're going to have to invest some more money to get the same hashrate.

2) Undervolt the S1 for efficiency.
Pros: Lower power consumption for better efficiency. Cheapest of all 3 options.
Cons: Somewhat difficult and time consuming. Results in a loss of hashrate by as much as 40%.

3) This new upgrade kit.
Pros: Basically a straightforward, streamlined version of 1), without competing with everyone else and their grandmother trying to sell their used S1s.
Cons: Still pretty expensive. You're basically paying 0.46BTC for an extra 250GH/s and a 50Watt power savings.


Thoughts:
The 0.12BTC price difference between the S1 upgrade kit and a new S3 is about what you can expect to sell a used S1 for, so the investment cost is about the same for #1 an #3 (assuming you're upgrading at a 1-to-1 ratio.

Lets say you've got 10 S1s - 2000Gh @ 4000W. To keep your hashrate the same:
#1 would mean selling the S1s for ~1.2BTC, and buying 4 S3s (with a small additional investment to keep your hashrate close to the same) for 1900gh @ 1550W and ~1.2BTC invested.
#2 would mean  buying 6 more S1s, and undervolting all of them to 125GH/s @ 140W for 2000GH/s @ 2250W and 0.72BTC invested.
#3 would mean selling 6 of the S1s to help pay for the upgrades of the other 4, for a result in 1900GH @ 1550W and ~1.1BTC invested.

Or to keep your farm at the same power level:
#1 would mean selling the S1s for ~1.2BTC, and buying 10 S3s. Hashrate is 4800GH @ 3900W and ~4.6BTC invested.
#2 would mean buying an additional 18 S1s (28 total), and undervolting them all. Hashrate is 3500GH @ 3900W and ~2.16BTC invested.
#3 would mean buying 10 upgrade kits, for 4800GH @ 3900W and ~4.6BTC invested.

BONUS: #2 buying 28 S1s (38 total), and undervolting them. Hahsrate is 4750GH @5300W and ~3.36BTC invested (not including added PSU costs).

I can see scenarios where each option would be best, depending on your power limits, space limits, time, funds, etc.