1 BTC bounty --- What is the best FPGA unit to buy?

[matthewh3]

This board is the cheapest in its class for hashing power, electrical efficiency and warranty the nearest competitor is two of the new x6500 FPGA boards and this works out cheaper.

Two X6500's (without heatsink) would be 800MH/s@34.4W and $1130USD.

These have heatsinks.

These boards you are peddling are most certainly not the "cheapest in its class". You may want to get your facts straight.

Why which board is cheaper?

edit: if you mean the BFL-Single that only has a six month warranty (this has a minimum of twelve months[maybe two years{I have to clear that up}]) and the BFL-Single operates at twice the wattage.  As I said two of the new x6500 is its nearest competitor and this board works out cheaper.

BFL's Single, at current rates and ignoring the reward drop, will take me 9.3 months to pay off at $0.11kWh. Your board, at current rates and ignoring the reward drop would take me 16 months to pay off. So, either box will be out of warranty by the time they pay themselves off. More importantly, for a few bucks more I could get a pair of BFL Singles.

Also, the jump between GPU to general FPGA efficiency is massive. After that we are squabbling over a few bucks a month which at this point are a tiny fraction of the device's overall cost. It takes 98 months for the BFL Single to consume its original price in electricity. For comparison it takes 10 months for a 5830 to consume its original price in electricity. Until you start talking another jump like that then the differences in power between FPGAs are inconsequential for some of us.

The warranty may be two years not sure tho I know its at least twelve months.

BFL warranty of only six months made me nervous plus I got feed up of waiting for it and purchased this board which is shipping by this Wednesday and batch #2 that I'm taking pre-orders for within three weeks.

[matthewh3]

This board is the cheapest in its class for hashing power, electrical efficiency and warranty the nearest competitor is two of the new x6500 FPGA boards and this works out cheaper.

Two X6500's (without heatsink) would be 800MH/s@34.4W and $1130USD.

These have heatsinks.

These boards you are peddling are most certainly not the "cheapest in its class". You may want to get your facts straight.

Why which board is cheaper?

edit: if you mean the BFL-Single that only has a six month warranty (this has a minimum of twelve months[maybe two years{I have to clear that up}]) and the BFL-Single operates at twice the wattage.  As I said two of the new x6500 is its nearest competitor and this board works out cheaper.

BFL's Single, at current rates and ignoring the reward drop, will take me 9.3 months to pay off at $0.11kWh. Your board, at current rates and ignoring the reward drop would take me 16 months to pay off. So, either box will be out of warranty by the time they pay themselves off. More importantly, for a few bucks more I could get a pair of BFL Singles.

Also, the jump between GPU to general FPGA efficiency is massive. After that we are squabbling over a few bucks a month which at this point are a tiny fraction of the device's overall cost. It takes 98 months for the BFL Single to consume its original price in electricity. For comparison it takes 10 months for a 5830 to consume its original price in electricity. Until you start talking another jump like that then the differences in power between FPGAs are inconsequential for some of us.

The warranty may be two years not sure tho I know its at least twelve months.

You've said that about a dozen times now. We get it. It may be two years. BFL may also ship in 4 to 6 weeks.

There still shipping Decembers orders I got feed up of waiting after six weeks they said another four to six weeks so cancelled my order.

[jamesg]

There still shipping Decembers orders I got feed up of waiting after six weeks they said another four to six weeks so cancelled my order.

Your impatience means you may never break even on your investment. Feels good, doesn't it.

[matthewh3]

There still shipping Decembers orders I got feed up of waiting after six weeks they said another four to six weeks so cancelled my order.

Your impatience means you may never break even on your investment. Feels good, doesn't it.

Your just trolling now 

[jamesg]

There still shipping Decembers orders I got feed up of waiting after six weeks they said another four to six weeks so cancelled my order.

Your impatience means you may never break even on your investment. Feels good, doesn't it.

Your just trolling now 

Sorry if you think I am trolling. Let me say this another way.

Your idea of a "good investment" is in fact one of the worst ones proposed on this thread. It seems that you are trying to make a quick buck off of false information.

Basically, I'm calling you out on the notion that this new FPGA is somehow magically better because it has a longer warranty.

[matthewh3]

There still shipping Decembers orders I got feed up of waiting after six weeks they said another four to six weeks so cancelled my order.

Your impatience means you may never break even on your investment. Feels good, doesn't it.

Your just trolling now 

 It seems that you are trying to make a quick buck off of false information.

Basically, I'm calling you out on the notion that this new FPGA is somehow magically better because it has a longer warranty.

What 1BTC commission pfft and its cheaper than its nearest competitor two of the new x6500 boards.

[matthewh3]

There still shipping Decembers orders I got feed up of waiting after six weeks they said another four to six weeks so cancelled my order.

Your impatience means you may never break even on your investment. Feels good, doesn't it.

Your just trolling now 

Sorry if you think I am trolling. Let me say this another way.

Your idea of a "good investment" is in fact one of the worst ones proposed on this thread. It seems that you are trying to make a quick buck off of false information.

Basically, I'm calling you out on the notion that this new FPGA is somehow magically better because it has a longer warranty.

Then why is my GLBSE listed mining company RSM which the boards are for predicting the highest dividend for share price of any of the mining company's listed on the exchange.

[Gomeler]

There still shipping Decembers orders I got feed up of waiting after six weeks they said another four to six weeks so cancelled my order.

Your impatience means you may never break even on your investment. Feels good, doesn't it.

Your just trolling now 

 It seems that you are trying to make a quick buck off of false information.

Basically, I'm calling you out on the notion that this new FPGA is somehow magically better because it has a longer warranty.

What 1BTC commission pfft and its cheaper than its nearest competitor two of the new x6500 boards.

I think you are compromised on this due to personal interests in said device. Its competitors are FPGAs and GPUs and at this point it has longer pay-off times than most GPUs and some FPGAs. I suppose in the end the critical matter is whether you view bitcoin mining as a hobby or as a business. As a hobby, less than prudent financial decisions are acceptable.

[matthewh3]

The board should take 16 months to pay off at today difficulty and exchange rates leaving eight months within warranty of guaranteed profit.  The BFL-Single would take over eight months to pay off but with only six months warranty.  Do the maths

[Gomeler]

The board should take 16 months to pay off at today difficulty and exchange rates leaving eight months within warranty of guaranteed profit.  The BFL-Single would take over eight months to pay off but with only six months warranty.  Do the maths

So, now it is no longer a maybe but a fact that this unicorn board has a two year warranty? I'm done arguing with you as clearly your board is the superior choice.

[jamesg]

Do the maths

It is obvious that you math skills are far superior to mine. You win.

[matthewh3]

The board should take 16 months to pay off at today difficulty and exchange rates leaving eight months within warranty of guaranteed profit.  The BFL-Single would take over eight months to pay off but with only six months warranty.  Do the maths

So, now it is no longer a maybe but a fact that this unicorn board has a two year warranty? I'm done arguing with you as clearly your board is the superior choice.

I'm not arguing only defending my position and choice.  I dislike this forum for all its trolling thats one of the reasons bitcoin.org no longer links to the forum.

[matthewh3]

Do the maths

It is obvious that you math skills are far superior to mine. You win.

Studied Fourier Transforms and Matrix manipulation at Uni. 

[matthewh3]

Do the maths

It is obvious that you math skills are far superior to mine. You win.

Trolling again 

[Raize]

The board should take 16 months to pay off at today difficulty and exchange rates leaving eight months within warranty of guaranteed profit.  The BFL-Single would take over eight months to pay off but with only six months warranty.  Do the maths

Bitforce single:
830 megahash/second
80 watt
Heatsink + Fan
Comes with everything included: USB cable, Power adapter
Price: $599 + $34 shipping = $633

Icarus miner: (discontinued)
380 megahash/second
20 watt
Heatsink + Fan
Comes with everything included: USB cable, Power adapter
Price: $569 + $25 shipping = $594

x6500:
400 megahash/second
17.2 watt
No Heatsink/No Fan
Comes with no Power adapter or USB cable
Price: $550 + $7.90 mandatory insurance + $5.50 shipping + $17.95 AC Adapter + $8.95 USB cable + ($20 Two Zalman FPGA heatsinks + $4.54 shipping) + ($2.49 90mm case fan + $6.29 shipping) = $623.62

Sources:
http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-ZM-NBF47-Northbridge-Flower-Heatsink/dp/B000ZSBVK0
http://www.amazon.com/90mm-Case-3-Pin-Connector-Black/dp/B004OFXXX8/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1333676747&sr=1-2

Did I do my "maths" right?

[copumpkin]

Blah blah blah, blah blah. Blah!

Did I do my "maths" right?

I can't comment on the math (it's too hard for me) but some English-speaking countries do pluralize the word to "maths"

Note however that watts / second is a unit of energy acceleration, which sounds terrifying!

[triplehelix]

i don't think the premium justifies only the warranty, but i don't think its fair to discount an extended warranty completley.  we have no idea how long bfl's will last, or what percentage will fail sooner than average due to manufacturing and/or design.

[bitlane]

Why which board is cheaper?

edit: if you mean the BFL-Single that only has a six month warranty (this has a minimum of twelve months[maybe two years{I have to clear that up}]) and the BFL-Single operates at twice the wattage.  As I said two of the new x6500 is its nearest competitor and this board works out cheaper.

Are you trying to say that 40w usage over 80w is a competitive advantage that is worth paying almost double for, it's not.

Let's do some simple math.....

.08kW * 745 hours * .11kWh == $6.55 / mo

.04kW * 745 hours * .11kWh == $3.27 / mo

So, according to your claims, it is worth paying an extra $530 to save $3.28 a month. It would take you over 13 YEARS to make back this extra money you are spending on the board. It only has a 1 year warranty.........

Matthew, maybe you should try doing some of this math before you claim this magical board of yours is a better value than the BFL single.

All BS aside, BFL are doing nothing more than stimulating further market growth and development by giving everyone else a chance to catch up to their performance/$ thanks to their sub-standard delivery schedule.

If they are smart enough to design their product, why are they not smart enough to realize that an immediate/ready to ship stock of 100+ Singles would likely sell out in a few days IF they made them available SOON......

[Shadow383]

Do the maths

It is obvious that you math skills are far superior to mine. You win.

Studied Fourier Transforms and Matrix manipulation at Uni. 

You mean in High school right?
Right?...

[cablepair]

I have no opinion on either side of this argument.

But one fact is 100% clear  to me.

Butterfly Labs Business Plan:

Sell Units for what Appears to be an amazing Price

Put a 4-5 week Shipping Time on Said Unit

Extend that 4-6 week shipping time to 6-12 week  Shipping time and Mine with Said Unit during the Duration of the Wait Period

Now Said Unit Provides Amazing Profits (and what appears to be an amazing low price to buyer)

____________________

cash in



I am awaiting for BFL singles myself and Like and Appreciate their Company myself

but to say they are not mining on these units as part of their business / profitability plan

is just plain denial