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Author Topic: Cairnsmore1 - Quad XC6SLX150 Board  (Read 286362 times)
yohan (OP)
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May 03, 2012, 12:20:44 PM
 #101

There is a new CAD image now on http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/cairnsmore/cairnsmore1.html. This is the finalised prototype which has gone to manufacture. We are more or less on schedule and the first prototypes, assuming no problems in PCB manufacture (problems do occur regularly in PCB manufacture) will go on our assembly line next week. If that all goes exactly to plan then we will show some pictures of a real board either at the end of next week or the beginning of the week after.

Those of that have ordered you will get an update in the next 2-3 weeks when we have a better idea on when parts are going to arrive with us and also depending on how we are going to load our line for coming weeks.

It's our intention to try and give everyone that is on the order list (as is today) at least 1 unit on the early end of the schedule and gather as much feedback on performance as we can for as broad a range of customers as is possible. This will offer a level of assurance to purchasers of multiple units to see what they are getting before they have to pay for their entire orders.

Yohan

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Every time a block is mined, a certain amount of BTC (called the subsidy) is created out of thin air and given to the miner. The subsidy halves every four years and will reach 0 in about 130 years.
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spiccioli
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May 03, 2012, 12:34:21 PM
 #102

yohan,

awsome!

I really like the presence of temperature sensors and the use of a pci-e connector to power the board which makes using a normal rig PSU a snap!

spiccioli.
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May 03, 2012, 12:36:54 PM
 #103

What are the final dimensions of the board at this point?

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May 03, 2012, 01:34:38 PM
 #104

It is 181.403mm x 126.492mm plus or minus a little tolerance.

Note the dual sets of heatsink holes on the latest CAD image. We have a fairly good northbridge type heatsink ordered for the front that will user the bigger pair. Optionally you can have a smaller standard one on the back if you like. We are hoping to offer some addition options for heatsinks e.g. like copper options and maybe a water coolers. We will also be looking at some other techniques as well that might work well but that's for us to experiment with here first.

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May 03, 2012, 01:49:32 PM
 #105

When you say we could mount heatsinks on the bottom of the board. Would that offer any benefit? (ie: is the board designed to provide a thermal interface on the bottom? which a heatsink could contact well to conduct heat away?)

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May 03, 2012, 01:55:50 PM
 #106

It is 181.403mm x 126.492mm plus or minus a little tolerance.

Note the dual sets of heatsink holes on the latest CAD image. We have a fairly good northbridge type heatsink ordered for the front that will user the bigger pair. Optionally you can have a smaller standard one on the back if you like. We are hoping to offer some addition options for heatsinks e.g. like copper options and maybe a water coolers. We will also be looking at some other techniques as well that might work well but that's for us to experiment with here first.

Yohan

yohan,

I think that submerging them in fluid like this

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/ElectronicsChemicals/Home/Products/ElectronicLiquids/?WT.mc_id=Electronics_Redirect&WT.tsrc=Redirect

could make a good solution. Don't know how much it costs though.

spiccioli.
yohan (OP)
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May 03, 2012, 02:17:47 PM
 #107

It probably won't be cheap and you get into an equation that it's probably cheaper just have more boards and keep it simple. This sort of stuff can make a horrible mess if it leaks or spills.
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May 03, 2012, 02:36:06 PM
 #108

If we could program the flash through the USB connection it would greatly simplify interacting with the devices. I really like the idea of being able to select which bitstream but this wouldn't be as important to me as reprograming via USB. I figure I'd load a bitstream and run it for a few weeks/months without touching the device. Just my opinion though.

+1
Most of the other devices currently on the market support this functionality!
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May 03, 2012, 02:38:37 PM
 #109

What sort of hash rate will the board be able achieve (sorry if this has been asked before)
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May 03, 2012, 02:44:18 PM
 #110

Well out of the gate, since they are stating it will be able to run the Icarus bitstream natively, that would mean this thing is basically 2x icarus when running in that mode. So with the default icarus bitstream that's 760MHash/s but if you use the 200MHz icarus bitstream (if these boards can handle it without impacting the life of the chip, ngzhang didn't run it because he was worried about the chip lifetime on the actual icarus boards). That would bump it up to 800MHash/s per board.

That said they mention the Control chip can manage the clocks. So it's possible the control chip would allow some degree of throttling/overclocking based on temperature, or something like that. Meaning these could in theory (if cooled well) outperform the icarus even with the same bitstream.

Now that said, these guys have a professional FPGA design team on hand. So probably for a quick smooth release they will ship with the icarus firmware, but I would expect they plan to release an "improved" firmware which is designed/tuned specifically for this board in the future. But that's an unknown. Considering others are reporting success upwards of 250+MHash/s per LX150 FPGA, that would mean there is at least some headroom to grow with these chips. So if their team could pull it off there is the *possibility* that these boards could grow to be upwards of 1GHash/s or faster per board in the near future.

But ultimately until the boards are finished manufacturing. And testing, and have been actually benchmarked, we don't really know anything. It's all speculation based on the released info and specifications at this point.

Does that help?

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May 03, 2012, 02:52:39 PM
 #111

Well out of the gate, since they are stating it will be able to run the Icarus bitstream natively, that would mean this thing is basically 2x icarus when running in that mode. So with the default icarus bitstream that's 760MHash/s but if you use the 200MHz icarus bitstream (if these boards can handle it without impacting the life of the chip, ngzhang didn't run it because he was worried about the chip lifetime on the actual icarus boards). That would bump it up to 800MHash/s per board.

That said they mention the Control chip can manage the clocks. So it's possible the control chip would allow some degree of throttling/overclocking based on temperature, or something like that. Meaning these could in theory (if cooled well) outperform the icarus even with the same bitstream.

Now that said, these guys have a professional FPGA design team on hand. So probably for a quick smooth release they will ship with the icarus firmware, but I would expect they plan to release an "improved" firmware which is designed/tuned specifically for this board in the future. But that's an unknown. Considering others are reporting success upwards of 250+MHash/s per LX150 FPGA, that would mean there is at least some headroom to grow with these chips. So if their team could pull it off there is the *possibility* that these boards could grow to be upwards of 1GHash/s or faster per board in the near future.

But ultimately until the boards are finished manufacturing. And testing, and have been actually benchmarked, we don't really know anything. It's all speculation based on the released info and specifications at this point.

Does that help?


Yes, it does. thanks for the explanation.
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May 03, 2012, 03:17:07 PM
 #112

It's nice that you aren't charging an arm and a leg for small order quantities

spiccioli
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May 03, 2012, 03:31:15 PM
 #113

It probably won't be cheap and you get into an equation that it's probably cheaper just have more boards and keep it simple. This sort of stuff can make a horrible mess if it leaks or spills.

It should not it is a dielectric fluid which evaporates very quickly.

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May 03, 2012, 04:14:12 PM
 #114

It probably won't be cheap and you get into an equation that it's probably cheaper just have more boards and keep it simple. This sort of stuff can make a horrible mess if it leaks or spills.

It should not it is a dielectric fluid which evaporates very quickly.

spiccioli.


The Novac and similar low boiling point dialectrics used for phase change cooling are very expensive.  Something like $700 / gal IIRC.

However !, these phase change coolants are very good at dissipating heat.  If low volume enclosures to house boards could be made a very small amount of these fluids could be used to effectively cool them.

Though, capture and cooling of vapor and redelivery to the enclosures would be a pain.

 
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May 03, 2012, 04:29:28 PM
 #115

It probably won't be cheap and you get into an equation that it's probably cheaper just have more boards and keep it simple. This sort of stuff can make a horrible mess if it leaks or spills.

It should not it is a dielectric fluid which evaporates very quickly.

spiccioli.


The Novac and similar low boiling point dialectrics used for phase change cooling are very expensive.  Something like $700 / gal IIRC.



Ok, back to fans for the foreseeable future Wink

spiccioli
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May 03, 2012, 07:25:08 PM
 #116

Best thing about this board is the PCIe 6 pin power connector and the low price and reputable UK company !

Very tempting ...
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May 04, 2012, 07:33:14 PM
 #117

please use molex connector.

the pcie connector is very limited per psu.
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May 04, 2012, 07:43:09 PM
 #118

please use molex connector.

the pcie connector is very limited per psu.

What?
The "molex" connector (i.e. peripheral device connector) is only good for about 35 watts, if I remember correctly. The PCIe 6-pin connector is good for 150 watts, however.

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May 04, 2012, 07:55:12 PM
 #119

please use molex connector.

the pcie connector is very limited per psu.

What?
The "molex" connector (i.e. peripheral device connector) is only good for about 35 watts, if I remember correctly. The PCIe 6-pin connector is good for 150 watts, however.
we get it, you're an genius.

i will let others to comment, i dont care
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May 04, 2012, 07:56:48 PM
 #120

please use molex connector.

the pcie connector is very limited per psu.

What?
The "molex" connector (i.e. peripheral device connector) is only good for about 35 watts, if I remember correctly. The PCIe 6-pin connector is good for 150 watts, however.

I guess he meant the number of PCIe6 connectors per PSU is limited, i.e. a somewhat standard one has maybe 1-2*PCIe6 but 8*Peripheral. You'd need to split the PCIe to power up to 4 Quads.

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