Where are we today with ASIC Scrypt Hardware? (And my personal story)

[hdmediaservices]

First -- I'm curious if there are any new Scrypt ASIC machines coming?  Or is everything going into the "so-called" cloud - which feels a little scam-like to me, but I'm not going to judge.  It just takes out the fun for me.

I've also heard of new X11 to X15 mining and Neoscrypt mining machines coming in a year.  But I will never pre-order or pay full price for a rig.


From my observations, it seems that the promised:

• Antminer L1 units are sold out on two pre-orders and no more will be made.  Which leads me to believe that maybe this product will not even deliver on time or at all.
• KNC units are still an expensive hot mess and now they aren't selling anymore?
• The Zeusminer upgrade boards are vaporware.  Non-existant and people are being screwed on refunds or exchanges for "cloud" mining.

So -- is this the end of new hardware?  And eventually the demise of personal Scrypt mining?



My personal setup:

I'm still running my units, on a good pool.  This pool does not trade the coins to BTC -- so I like that.  Adds another variable in the setup.

• (4) A2 Terminator 90Mh/s (average power draw 850w ea)
• (2) Zeusminer Hurricane X6 10Mh/s (average power draw 250w ea)
• (1) Zeusminer Thunder X6 20Mh/s (average power draw 460w)
• (1) Zeusminer Lightning X6 40Mh/s (average power draw 960w)

I don't believe in over-clocking the units as I'm always worried about a fire and some wires get a little warm already.  To me pulling 1Kw out of a 15 amp circuit -- continuously -- it is not safe.  I'm sure an electrician will say otherwise - but I've seen outlets get brown in color.  That can't be a good sign.

Out of all these -- the A2 Terminator machines are by far the most quiet, best performing and are really well built.  I paid $1500 each for them about 2 months ago.  They of course came with built in PSU and controller.  One unit, seems to pull more power than all the others (like 980watts) - so I under clock it.  Also, I've heard that if you run these on a 220v circuit, they use less wattage, but I'm not willing to rewire.

The Zeusminer X6 10Mh/s units perform as expected.  They are abit noisy and generate the typical amount of heat.  I paid $400 for one 3 months ago and $200 for one 1.5 months ago.  I use an existing Gold 850w Corsair PSU with one PCIE connection each.

The Zeusminer X6 20Mh/s unit performs ok - but is super loud and the two PCIE connections to my Gold 850w Corsair PSU get quite hot sometimes, so I usually either cool it off for an hour each day or under-clock it.  I paid $300 for it about 2 months ago and used an existing PSU.

The Zeusminer X6 40Mh/s unit performs terribly for me - it is also super loud and just generates a lot of heat.  I'm lucky to get 35Mh/s with maybe 10% error rate.  Using a Gold 1200w Corsair PSU with four PCIE connections.  I paid $700 for it about 3 months ago and used an existing PSU.  I don't always run this unit because I don't like it - lol.  950 watts for maybe 35Mh/s.  Too much heat and too much power.


So am I making a profit or recovered my costs? 

I admit I'm not the best accountant on figures -- but rough estimate I am probably making .9 to .15 BTC daily.  This can really fluctuate, since I am not always trading in my alt coins for BTC immediately or there are long delays in getting the actual coins (big example with be BTM coin).  I'm not seeing a dramatic drop in what I make each week (especially compared to BTC mining) -- so it is still fun.

Obviously I have not gotten my ROI - which I guess would be close to $8k.  I believe right now I've made about 6 BTC and even at $500 each would only be $3k.  I'll definitely sit on the BTC in hopes it might spike really high, but who knows.  Everyone has a different prediction. 

I eventually expect to reach my ROI -- but it will take some time and hopefully the equipment won't break down prior.


Oh - and yes - electricity!  Where I am - electric is about 11 cents per kw/h.  Not the best - but definitely not the worst.  Half of my electric is not out of pocket and half of it is.  Basically some of my equipment is at home and the rest is at another location.


What about heat?  Not much of a problem now since the temperatures outside are dropping and I have windows available, but I still have to monitor it as they are tucked away so I do not hear them.  I use the WeMo Insight Wifi Switches to monitor the units power usage by smartphone.  It is great, in that I can shut them down if I feel it is getting too hot and also it tells me the actual wattage being used.  Being a worrier -- if I go on vacation, I usually turn off my units at home and monitor the others religiously.  I always keep a smoke alarm nearby and fire extinguisher.  I use multiple circuits and of course keep any combustibles away from the equipment.  I can also monitor the units via camera and login to them remotely.


Would I sell my units?   Probably not.  I'm in this for the fun and I've heard horror stories of selling your gear on Ebay.  I guess if someone locally offered me double what I paid -- maybe, but then there goes my little hobby (preventing me from getting real work done).


Anyway - I would love to hear about other people's stories…

[madmartyk]

I just got a A2-Mega 110Mh/s unit.  After 5 minutes the PS blew.  It only had a 1000W PS in it.  I will say Zoom Hash stepped up and ordered a replacement sent directly to me.  I have been running it on my 1200 W PS and it's hashing just fine.  Along with that I have 4 G-Blacks.  My combined hash is just above 200 Mh/s.

I had a Zeusminer Hurricane X6, but sold it.  It was way too loud and way too many HW errors.

I have been avg .06 to .07 per day on Wafflepool.

Heat, the units are a lot cooler now that the Zeus is gone, that beast threw out the heat!!  But with winter here, the basement is nice and warm and all the furnace vents are closed!!

and if rumors are true and hashra really starts shipping 100 Mh/s units for $450, the G-Blacks will go away for a couple of those.

[hdmediaservices]

So is there a difference between the A2 90Mh/s and A2 110Mh/s -- or is it only software and over clocking?  Funny - I see numbers all over the place from 88 to 90 to 100 to 110.

Does your unit have 6 blades - with 432 cores per blade (this is mine) -- or have they added another blade or more chips?  Mine are clocked at 1200 Mhz.

Also, my A2's came with a 1200 watt PSU.

I'm running the InnoSilicon webGUI on mine -- it is definitely nice to the eyes.  I click on the link and it goes to FinalHash.

Is this the best software to use?  Or is there something better? 

I wish I could have each blade hash at a different pool or coin.

[madmartyk]

Mine has 6 blades @ 1200 Mhz.  I use the A2 Terminator software that came with the machine.  You know the software doesn't say how many chips.  But it runs
cgminer 3.9.0 innosilicon-12chip-v0p5

Here is what ZoomHash says, A Total of 6 boards with 10 chips on each board, Total 60 Chips in a miner
http://zoomhash.com/products/110mhs-scrypt-asic-plug-and-play-1000w-a2mega-door-to-door-within-3-5-business-days

[hdmediaservices]

Ah ok - I see the 88Mh/s units have 8 chips per blade instead of 10.

[madmartyk]

I wouldn't mind getting another one, but I'm waiting to see if the prices come down more that the Hashra 100 Mh for $450 is coming soon.

[hdmediaservices]

I'm abit skeptical when it comes to Hashra -- as their products were originally supposed to be released in October. 

So now the date is in December?  And their product is based on 7 modules with 28nm chips.  So there is no new technology I guess.  I wonder how they are getting the power down to 550-600 watts.

I remember seeing their product on Ebay -- selling at $200 with a shipping charge of like $1000.  It definitely spooked me.  LOL

Another interesting thing is that the A2 Terminator 88Mh/s unit is listed at 700 watts -- yet mine consume more like 850 watts.  I believe the 700 watt rating is if you run the unit at 220 volts instead of 120 volts.

This might be the same thing with Hashra.

[vegasguy]

The Zeusminer X6 20Mh/s unit performs ok - but is super loud and the two PCIE connections to my Gold 850w Corsair PSU get quite hot sometimes, so I usually either cool it off for an hour each day or under-clock it.  I paid $300 for it about 2 months ago and used an existing PSU.

I personally own 9 of the Thunder X6 , and had the same issue with the searing hot PCI-E connectors. I tried everything. The solution was to take off the pci-e adapter and get a power supply that plugs in direct to the psu such as the EVGA gold 750. You do NOT need this adapter, and I feel it gets so hot its unsafe. Its the crappy thin wires on the adapters that gets so hot. With these adapters removed I can clock these at 260 mhz with about 5-7% hw rate and 24mhz all day long, and the pci-e wires on the power supply doesnt even get a little warm.

Vegas

[hdmediaservices]

The Zeusminer X6 20Mh/s unit performs ok - but is super loud and the two PCIE connections to my Gold 850w Corsair PSU get quite hot sometimes, so I usually either cool it off for an hour each day or under-clock it.  I paid $300 for it about 2 months ago and used an existing PSU.

I personally own 9 of the Thunder X6 , and had the same issue with the searing hot PCI-E connectors. I tried everything. The solution was to take off the pci-e adapter and get a power supply that plugs in direct to the psu such as the EVGA gold 750. You do NOT need this adapter, and I feel it gets so hot its unsafe. Its the crappy thin wires on the adapters that gets so hot. With these adapters removed I can clock these at 260 mhz with about 5-7% hw rate and 24mhz all day long, and the pci-e wires on the power supply doesnt even get a little warm.

Vegas

Thanks for the great tip.  Yes - the hot to the touch adapter feels very unsafe -- so I've been afraid to clock it past 200Mhz (and run it 24/7).  I have an EVGA PSU and will try what you said.  Do the cables plug directly into the boards?  Or do you have to strip and solder them on?

What speeds are you getting at 260Mhz?

I wish there was a fix for the X6 Lightning (claimed to be 40Mh/s).  950 watts for less than 35Mh/s (if I'm lucky) seems like some type of flaw.  I've tried everything with this unit -- including their special Raspberry Pi image -- and it gives so many hardware errors. 

I wonder if you can just run it with just two of the PCIE connectors (instead of all 4)?  I did try just two of the power connectors, but then one of the fans would not turn on, so I didn't go any further.  I guess I would have to hardwire power to that particular fan, as I'm sure it would overheat if all three fans were not running.

Speaking of fans -- anyone replace any of these loud fans with something quieter?

[vegasguy]

No soldering required, the pci-e connectors plug directly into the power supply from the blades. NOT all power supplys can do this. I tried 5 different high end power supplies before finding the EVGA 750 that could plug direct.  I get 24-25mhs  @ 260 clock with single digit hw errors. 5-9% usually, and no rejects, and never a shut offf, ever.

Let me be more specific: The power supply I use is the EVGA 750 supernova nex G. Purchased from Newegg. What makes the direct plug in possible is by removing the pci-e modular cables on the EVGA, youll find that the pci-e female connectors on that power supply fit perfect with the zeus thunder X6. When I tried the same thing with 4 or 5 other psus the female modular connector on the psus would not fit. Hope this helps. So youll remove the pci-e cables from the power supply, and remove the adapter from the blade. Take the power cable from the blade and connect it direct into the pci-e connector on the EVGA. I plugged my cables in diagonal or "kitty corner' from each other, NOT on the same side as their were 4 pci-e connectors on the evga. Not that it would be bad to plug the cables on the same side, but I seem to remember that I had a few shut off issues due to power draw. This was resolved by plugging them the way I described. Good luck.

Vegas

[hdmediaservices]

Oh ok - I misunderstood.  My unit does connect directly into my EVGA power supply -- I don't use any special adapters.  But still when doing this - the connectors get a little hot to the touch after a while and the wires themselves are a little warm.  I do also have them diagonally attached -- to put as much space between each connector.

That is my concern.

I have seen a post somewhere talking about using four PCIE connectors, instead of two -- but that does require a little work.  If done right - I guess it would cut the load per cable in 1/2 -- making it more in spec and much safer.

[vegasguy]

Setup the way I explained earlier you can get them running over 24mh/s each with single digit hw errors and <1% regects, and no heat issues running 24/7. I get 220mhs out of 9.. 40mhs more than zues claim. Rock solid running for weeks. Still not sure why you have hot wires. I have 9 of them overlocked to the max and the wires are not even warm, and I have not cut anything. If the wires are hot on the asic side, it means the gauge is too small, replace with much thicker wire, but again, I didnt make any hardware mods, I just removed that crappy adapter and pluged the asic wires direct into psu. FYI, clock speed is 255.

[hdmediaservices]

I have a feeling that the wires on my unit are of a higher gauge, as they do get warm.  Do you know what gauge your wire might be?  16AWG?  Watt meter shows that the unit is pulling about 440 watts @ 200mhz clocking.  The wire length from the boards to the supply seem to be about 12".

I'm not certain the gauge of my wire - I guess I'll need to do some comparing.

I am using the Zeusminer software for the Raspberry Pi B+.  Perhaps the software is flawed.  I definitely have not tried a PC running BFGMiner 4.3.1. 

What is your command line?

Curious also -- what is your room temperature?  And did you change the fans' direction?  Is your PSU inside or outside the unit?  Mine is outside.

Thanks for all of the advice!

[vegasguy]

I have a feeling that the wires on my unit are of a higher gauge, as they do get warm.  Do you know what gauge your wire might be?  16AWG?  Watt meter shows that the unit is pulling about 440 watts @ 200mhz clocking.  The wire length from the boards to the supply seem to be about 12".

I'm not certain the gauge of my wire - I guess I'll need to do some comparing.

I am using the Zeusminer software for the Raspberry Pi B+.  Perhaps the software is flawed.  I definitely have not tried a PC running BFGMiner 4.3.1. 

What is your command line?

Curious also -- what is your room temperature?  And did you change the fans' direction?  Is your PSU inside or outside the unit?  Mine is outside.

Thanks for all of the advice!

Youll be probably interested to know im starting to sell off my miners as Im moving to cloud mining. Miners are complete with everything and can run @ 24 MHS 24/7 without any heat issues. Comes COMPLETE with EVGA 750w psu.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281511368173?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

[toptek]

First -- I'm curious if there are any new Scrypt ASIC machines coming?  Or is everything going into the "so-called" cloud - which feels a little scam-like to me, but I'm not going to judge.  It just takes out the fun for me.

I've also heard of new X11 to X15 mining and Neoscrypt mining machines coming in a year.  But I will never pre-order or pay full price for a rig.


From my observations, it seems that the promised:

• Antminer L1 units are sold out on two pre-orders and no more will be made.  Which leads me to believe that maybe this product will not even deliver on time or at all.
• KNC units are still an expensive hot mess and now they aren't selling anymore?
• The Zeusminer upgrade boards are vaporware.  Non-existant and people are being screwed on refunds or exchanges for "cloud" mining.

So -- is this the end of new hardware?  And eventually the demise of personal Scrypt mining?



My personal setup:

I'm still running my units, on a good pool.  This pool does not trade the coins to BTC -- so I like that.  Adds another variable in the setup.

• (4) A2 Terminator 90Mh/s (average power draw 850w ea)
• (2) Zeusminer Hurricane X6 10Mh/s (average power draw 250w ea)
• (1) Zeusminer Thunder X6 20Mh/s (average power draw 460w)
• (1) Zeusminer Lightning X6 40Mh/s (average power draw 960w)

I don't believe in over-clocking the units as I'm always worried about a fire and some wires get a little warm already.  To me pulling 1Kw out of a 15 amp circuit -- continuously -- it is not safe.  I'm sure an electrician will say otherwise - but I've seen outlets get brown in color.  That can't be a good sign.

Out of all these -- the A2 Terminator machines are by far the most quiet, best performing and are really well built.  I paid $1500 each for them about 2 months ago.  They of course came with built in PSU and controller.  One unit, seems to pull more power than all the others (like 980watts) - so I under clock it.  Also, I've heard that if you run these on a 220v circuit, they use less wattage, but I'm not willing to rewire.

The Zeusminer X6 10Mh/s units perform as expected.  They are abit noisy and generate the typical amount of heat.  I paid $400 for one 3 months ago and $200 for one 1.5 months ago.  I use an existing Gold 850w Corsair PSU with one PCIE connection each.

The Zeusminer X6 20Mh/s unit performs ok - but is super loud and the two PCIE connections to my Gold 850w Corsair PSU get quite hot sometimes, so I usually either cool it off for an hour each day or under-clock it.  I paid $300 for it about 2 months ago and used an existing PSU.

The Zeusminer X6 40Mh/s unit performs terribly for me - it is also super loud and just generates a lot of heat.  I'm lucky to get 35Mh/s with maybe 10% error rate.  Using a Gold 1200w Corsair PSU with four PCIE connections.  I paid $700 for it about 3 months ago and used an existing PSU.  I don't always run this unit because I don't like it - lol.  950 watts for maybe 35Mh/s.  Too much heat and too much power.


So am I making a profit or recovered my costs?  

I admit I'm not the best accountant on figures -- but rough estimate I am probably making .9 to .15 BTC daily.  This can really fluctuate, since I am not always trading in my alt coins for BTC immediately or there are long delays in getting the actual coins (big example with be BTM coin).  I'm not seeing a dramatic drop in what I make each week (especially compared to BTC mining) -- so it is still fun.

Obviously I have not gotten my ROI - which I guess would be close to $8k.  I believe right now I've made about 6 BTC and even at $500 each would only be $3k.  I'll definitely sit on the BTC in hopes it might spike really high, but who knows.  Everyone has a different prediction.  

I eventually expect to reach my ROI -- but it will take some time and hopefully the equipment won't break down prior.


Oh - and yes - electricity!  Where I am - electric is about 11 cents per kw/h.  Not the best - but definitely not the worst.  Half of my electric is not out of pocket and half of it is.  Basically some of my equipment is at home and the rest is at another location.


What about heat?  Not much of a problem now since the temperatures outside are dropping and I have windows available, but I still have to monitor it as they are tucked away so I do not hear them.  I use the WeMo Insight Wifi Switches to monitor the units power usage by smartphone.  It is great, in that I can shut them down if I feel it is getting too hot and also it tells me the actual wattage being used.  Being a worrier -- if I go on vacation, I usually turn off my units at home and monitor the others religiously.  I always keep a smoke alarm nearby and fire extinguisher.  I use multiple circuits and of course keep any combustibles away from the equipment.  I can also monitor the units via camera and login to them remotely.


Would I sell my units?  Probably not.  I'm in this for the fun and I've heard horror stories of selling your gear on Ebay.  I guess if someone locally offered me double what I paid -- maybe, but then there goes my little hobby (preventing me from getting real work done).


Anyway - I would love to hear about other people's stories…

Tip: rewire the zeus miner the wires don't get hot . ..  I rewired two thunder x6 from two pci 6 pins to four . i guess the  down side would be the PSU has to have to four pci plugs and all mine do or use two 500 gold psu. it lowered my power at the wall i think  maybe 30 watts each I'm still watching that to make sure.

[toptek]

were  are the L1's I have cash to buy one to day . then one in a about a month time.

[hdmediaservices]

Tip: rewire the zeus miner the wires don't get hot . ..  I rewired two thunder x6 from two pci 6 pins to four . i guess the  down side would be the PSU has to have to four pci plugs and all mine do or use two 500 gold psu. it lowered my power at the wall i think  maybe 30 watts each I'm still watching that to make sure.

Yes - I am definitely going to do that.  My PSU has at least 4 PCI-E connectors.  Meanwhile, I have a small fan pushing air over the wires and connectors to the PSU.  It seems to keep them cooler.

Any tips on converting a Zeusminer Lightning X6 into something that consumes maybe half the wattage?  Could you take this down to 18Mhs, by disconnecting a blade or something?  I just don't feel I get my moneys worth with this unit -- 950+ watts and maybe 36Mhs.

[5ick3uffalo]

my gridseeds are still very profitable, thanks to Cointellect

Posted From bitcointalk.org Android App

[hdmediaservices]

were  are the L1's I have cash to buy one to day . then one in a about a month time.

I think there is something fishy about the L1s.  I dunno - limited to two batches and then no more sales.  Plus - it is December and ANTMINER is silent on progress.

Is "Cloud Mining" killing take home units to hash with?

I'm hoping that Hashra will come through with their Astro unit.  It is selling at $450 from a US distributer and he accepts Paypal! 

HASHRA ASTRO - 100 MH/S - 600 WATTS +- 10% - 28nm CHIP - $450 - FREE SHIPPING

http://shop.lifeforce.info

I've got an order in for two units (and got a discount).  Fingers crossed on these, as I'd really like to by 10 of them.  The seller is on this forum a lot - respected - and can easily be contacted.

[SmartIphone]

What are the daily earnings with a G-blade or with a G-black ? I am very interested to know this.

my gridseeds are still very profitable, thanks to Cointellect

Posted From bitcointalk.org Android App

How many gridseeds do you  have and how much are you earning per day.

Thanks.