[Review] Spondoolies SP20 review - A Green miner with a Loud fan

[wpgdeez]

Looks like a lot of cost cutting has been done to maximize profit.

I wish. Not true.

So why use crappy thermal paste and old inefficient heat sinks?

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[wh00per]

Looks like a lot of cost cutting has been done to maximize profit.

Not exactly .. I can see this a lot in most industrial setups, where you do not need all the bells and whistles for the consumer market. This thing is supposed to run somewhere outside of the living spaces.

[wpgdeez]

Looks like a lot of cost cutting has been done to maximize profit.

Not exactly .. I can see this a lot in most industrial setups, where you do not need all the bells and whistles for the consumer market.

They market it as a 1.7 thash home miner not industrial.

[TheNabeel]

Nice pictures , Noice is the only reason i dont buy sp20 , if someone successfully hacked the fan noice please do share

[Biffa]

Looks like a lot of cost cutting has been done to maximize profit.

Not exactly .. I can see this a lot in most industrial setups, where you do not need all the bells and whistles for the consumer market.

They market it as a 1.7 thash home miner not industrial.

The "home" doesn't necessarily mean the bedroom or den.

[Guy Corem]

Looks like a lot of cost cutting has been done to maximize profit.

I wish. Not true.

So why use crappy thermal paste and old inefficient heat sinks?

Both "facts" are untrue. Sure more expensive cooling stuff available. The solution we choose is adequate. It's certainly not cheap or crappy.
You can pour liquid nitrogen on this ASICs and probably get to over 2 THs, but the build cost will be over 0.6 $/GHs
Should we do it ?

[wh00per]

Looks like a lot of cost cutting has been done to maximize profit.

I wish. Not true.

So why use crappy thermal paste and old inefficient heat sinks?

Both "facts" are untrue. Sure more expensive cooling stuff available. The solution we choose is adequate. It's certainly not cheap or crappy.
You can pour liquid nitrogen on this ASICs and probably get to over 2 THs, but the build cost will be over 0.6 $/GHs
Should we do it ?

Let him do it! BOC and AirLiquide can deliver Liquid Nitrogen to his house for cryogenic tests. The temperatures will be a little low though .. Canada is full of surprises during winter

[Biodom]

Looks like a lot of cost cutting has been done to maximize profit.

I wish. Not true.

So why use crappy thermal paste and old inefficient heat sinks?

Both "facts" are untrue. Sure more expensive cooling stuff available. The solution we choose is adequate. It's certainly not cheap or crappy.
You can pour liquid nitrogen on this ASICs and probably get to over 2 THs, but the build cost will be over 0.6 $/GHs
Should we do it ?

Announcing "Frosénn"-a new 2TH (and more!) miner from SPT  

[johnyj]

Looks like a lot of cost cutting has been done to maximize profit.

I wish. Not true.

Agreed, the components are all of very high quality, very well designed and balanced, even the web page feels it is done by a professional design and integration team, just like branded: Carrier grade

Noise is not a big issue in mining farms. Especially when you are facing tough hashing war and your machine might be trashed after one year of operation

The size of Rockerbox chip is the same as GPU, and it is 28nm! Modern GPU typically employ a large heatpiped heat sink with lots of fins for silent operation, but that is aiming for at least 5 years life expectancy. When there are 4 such GPUs on one single board, no simple cooling solution except lots of air flow can dissipate those heat

[Syke]

The size of Rockerbox chip is the same as GPU, and it is 28nm! Modern GPU typically employ a large heatpiped heat sink with lots of fins for silent operation, but that is aiming for at least 5 years life expectancy. When there are 4 such GPUs on one single board, no simple cooling solution except lots of air flow can dissipate those heat

It's more the layout that's the problem. The airflow passes over 1 chip and goes +40c, then it passes over the other chip and goes another +40c. The second chip is baked by the first chip.

[johnyj]

To test different fans this is what I did:

That's a nice idea!   You can even install a fan speed regulator outside the case

Have you tried GT1850 with the SP20 set to 0.6v?

Yes, they just don't push enough air.

I've tried the GT1850 and up to the 4250

Ok. I think the previous king of cfm/noise ratio delta AFB1212VHE can be applied for under clocked SP20, but the noise could not be much lower. I have a feeling that the noise is coming from the resonance of the box, the fan itself should not sound that much

[johnyj]

The size of Rockerbox chip is the same as GPU, and it is 28nm! Modern GPU typically employ a large heatpiped heat sink with lots of fins for silent operation, but that is aiming for at least 5 years life expectancy. When there are 4 such GPUs on one single board, no simple cooling solution except lots of air flow can dissipate those heat

It's more the layout that's the problem. The airflow passes over 1 chip and goes +40c, then it passes over the other chip and goes another +40c. The second chip is baked by the first chip.

I remember that the GPU mining efficient king HD 5970 had 2 GPUs, and the cooling element combined two copper core in one assembly



Given the design of SP20's board, such design is not suitable, but at least a heatpipe element can be mounted on each of them, and I think the cost will also be low if mass produced

Maybe, those who prefer lower noise could order upgraded heat pipe heat sink to their SP20, and those heat sink can be reused on future spondoolies products (compatible mounting on future miners)

[Syke]

I remember that the GPU mining efficient king HD 5970 had 2 GPUs, and the cooling element combined two copper core in one assembly

http://i2.rozetka.ua/goods/2159/arctic_cooling_accelero_xtreme_5970_2159447.jpg

That heat pipe setup is nice. The regular 5970 passes the air across both GPUs:

Given the design of SP20's board, such design is not suitable, but at least a heatpipe element can be mounted on each of them, and I think the cost will also be low if mass produced

Maybe, those who prefer lower noise could order upgraded heat pipe heat sink to their SP20, and those heat sink can be reused on future spondoolies products (compatible mounting on future miners)

A heat-piped SP20 would be great.

[klondike_bar]

I remember that the GPU mining efficient king HD 5970 had 2 GPUs, and the cooling element combined two copper core in one assembly

http://i2.rozetka.ua/goods/2159/arctic_cooling_accelero_xtreme_5970_2159447.jpg

That heat pipe setup is nice. The regular 5970 passes the air across both GPUs:

Given the design of SP20's board, such design is not suitable, but at least a heatpipe element can be mounted on each of them, and I think the cost will also be low if mass produced

Maybe, those who prefer lower noise could order upgraded heat pipe heat sink to their SP20, and those heat sink can be reused on future spondoolies products (compatible mounting on future miners)

A heat-piped SP20 would be great.

not worth it - as it is most users are underclocking anyways, so putting in $50 worth of hiher quality heatsinks serves minimal benefit.

[Syke]

not worth it - as it is most users are underclocking anyways, so putting in $50 worth of hiher quality heatsinks serves minimal benefit.

Let's go with $50. I'm pretty sure a better cooler would get at least 100 GH/s better performance. That's $12/mo extra. You make up the difference in cost in 4 months. Better performance, better efficiency, lower noise, longer life. At $50 it's an easy win.

[klondike_bar]

not worth it - as it is most users are underclocking anyways, so putting in $50 worth of hiher quality heatsinks serves minimal benefit.

Let's go with $50. I'm pretty sure a better cooler would get at least 100 GH/s better performance. That's $12/mo extra. You make up the difference in cost in 4 months. Better performance, better efficiency, lower noise, longer life. At $50 it's an easy win.

not really when you consider that pushing it for an extra 100GH will increase the overall power draw by 100W - you make the machine much louder and if unless you pay <$0.10/kwh its only amounts to a few extra dollars of profit. hence why a lot of people are running this 1.7TH/1.1kW device at 1.3TH/0.8kW

[Syke]

not really when you consider that pushing it for an extra 100GH will increase the overall power draw by 100W - you make the machine much louder and if unless you pay <$0.10/kwh its only amounts to a few extra dollars of profit. hence why a lot of people are running this 1.7TH/1.1kW device at 1.3TH/0.8kW

With better cooling you get better efficiency and lower noise. The problem with the SP20 is the unequal cooling of the chips. The second set of chips gets hit with air that's +40c hotter. Cool them with ambient air and you can lower their voltage and increase the efficiency.

[Guy Corem]

not really when you consider that pushing it for an extra 100GH will increase the overall power draw by 100W - you make the machine much louder and if unless you pay <$0.10/kwh its only amounts to a few extra dollars of profit. hence why a lot of people are running this 1.7TH/1.1kW device at 1.3TH/0.8kW

With better cooling you get better efficiency and lower noise. The problem with the SP20 is the unequal cooling of the chips. The second set of chips gets hit with air that's +40c hotter. Cool them with ambient air and you can lower their voltage and increase the efficiency.

The second set of chips get hit with warmer air, but not +40C hotter.

[klondike_bar]

not really when you consider that pushing it for an extra 100GH will increase the overall power draw by 100W - you make the machine much louder and if unless you pay <$0.10/kwh its only amounts to a few extra dollars of profit. hence why a lot of people are running this 1.7TH/1.1kW device at 1.3TH/0.8kW

With better cooling you get better efficiency and lower noise. The problem with the SP20 is the unequal cooling of the chips. The second set of chips gets hit with air that's +40c hotter. Cool them with ambient air and you can lower their voltage and increase the efficiency.

The second set of chips get hit with warmer air, but not +40C hotter.

+1 better cooling would increase efficiency a bit, but not with much effect. A larger heatsink would allow slower-moving fans which would be nice, but IMO theres not much purpose in pushing them to the absolute limit unless you have cheap electricity, and even then the SP20 drives the chips quite high.

(8 chips in SP20 = 1.7TH) vs (30 chips in SP35 = 5.5 TH) If the SP3X series ran all 30 chips at the same power as the SP20 you would see it achieve around 6.3TH (similar to the original claims). However, that would use around 4.4kW at the wall. Instead, the SP35 does 5.5TH/3.6kW and the SP31 does 4.7TH/2.8kW. The hashrate gain is at about 1w/GH, which doesnt make sense for a lot of users right now

[the joint]

Everyone that done review have hashrate dip to 0 in 1day hashspeed chart. In your case was the same? This units resets itself in 1 day periods?

I can't speak for others, but the stats I posted in my review were accumulated while leasing my rig out because of the Paycoin frenzy.  Any significant drop in hashrate was likely the result of renters switching pools or accidentally entering invalid pool mining credentials.