I run a 35 GH/s mining operation, ask me anything!

[Garr255]

What do you think about FPGAs right now? Would it be worth stepping up from GPUs to FPGAs right now or do you think the BFL ASIC renders them useless?

If you can get, or already have, an FPGA right now then you should have nothing to worry about until ASICs arrive. Even then, you can trade up to the ASIC thanks to BFL's generous trade-in program. The power consumption is pretty negligible compared to even the most efficient of GPU setups. Personally I wouldn't order an FPGA now due to the amount of time it will take to recover the investment, the amount of time it will take BFL to deliver, and I believe ASICs are going to render them insignificant in the end. If you already have a desktop computer you are better off buying a couple used 5-series GPUs at a good price and start mining immediately, so long as you have relatively cheap power and can deal with a little heat. Two used 5870s can produce the same hash rate as a BFL single at half the cost.

So if you have have an FPGA now, I'd get in on the trade-in list with BFL. If you don't, find yourself a couple used 5870s and stick them in an existing computer. At this point, building full computers doesn't make much sense when difficulty is outpacing the BTC price in the near future.

Here you're assuming an order from BFL. Most companies don't have a 10 week lead time

[TwinTurbo]

With that much mining power would it be better to solo mine or mine in a pool and which one do you do?

I mine in multiple pools. Solo mining would be slightly more profitable in the long run, but I like the consistency of pools and ability to remotely monitor what my machines are doing. If one goes offline, and occasionally they do, I can get alerts and all so I can get the issue resolved quickly. I like some of the features that pools provide, such as graphs, trends, etc. When my ASIC gear shows up, I'll probably just switch everything to solo mining.

[TwinTurbo]

With that much mining power would it be better to solo mine or mine in a pool and which one do you do?

I mine in multiple pools. Solo mining would be slightly more profitable in the long run, but I like the consistency of pools and ability to remotely monitor what my machines are doing. If one goes offline, and occasionally they do, I can get alerts and all so I can get the issue resolved quickly. I like some of the features that pools provide, such as graphs, trends, etc. When my ASIC gear shows up, I'll probably just switch everything to solo mining.

When *IF* my ASIC gear shows up 

[kuzetsa]

What is your reaction to the concept that it may be possible by this October to have 40 Gh/s for $1300? Do you a) doubt this is true, b) already have orders placed with BFL, c) plan to wait and see, d) plan to sell your farm soon, e) something else?

I'm not trying to be obnoxious here by asking this - just wondering what your thoughts are as someone who has recently built a large farm.

Hadn't even heard of bitcoins 3 days ago. Now I'm feeling rather defeated. Haven't even finished rebuilding the rig I was planning to mine with... Really wonder if I'll have enough BTC by end of the year to cash out and get BFL's or other FPGA board to tweak rig with.

[caish5]

What is your reaction to the concept that it may be possible by this October to have 40 Gh/s for $1300? Do you a) doubt this is true, b) already have orders placed with BFL, c) plan to wait and see, d) plan to sell your farm soon, e) something else?

I'm not trying to be obnoxious here by asking this - just wondering what your thoughts are as someone who has recently built a large farm.

Hadn't even heard of bitcoins 3 days ago. Now I'm feeling rather defeated. Haven't even finished rebuilding the rig I was planning to mine with... Really wonder if I'll have enough BTC by end of the year to cash out and get BFL's or other FPGA board to tweak rig with.

Don't be feeling too defeated. There's way more to Bitcoin than just the mining. And you never know, you may just have an idea for the next killer bitcoin app and make your fortune that way.

[LittleDigger]

What is your reaction to the concept that it may be possible by this October to have 40 Gh/s for $1300? Do you a) doubt this is true, b) already have orders placed with BFL, c) plan to wait and see, d) plan to sell your farm soon, e) something else?

I'm not trying to be obnoxious here by asking this - just wondering what your thoughts are as someone who has recently built a large farm.

Hadn't even heard of bitcoins 3 days ago. Now I'm feeling rather defeated. Haven't even finished rebuilding the rig I was planning to mine with... Really wonder if I'll have enough BTC by end of the year to cash out and get BFL's or other FPGA board to tweak rig with.

I felt the same but there's another way to look at it .. How would you feel if you invested thousands into a GPU/FPGA mining rig? Wouldn't you say "Damn, if only I built a small test rig to get a feel for it and waited for the ASICS to roll out, now I'm thousands in the hole with a few months to recoup those costs ". I spent 993$ AUD on two computers and Win 7.. I have sold parts I'm replacing for 300$.. I'm short one monitor and one keyboard. By November I should recover 320$.. If the ASICS start rolling out then, Thats not a bad loss and remember you need a computer to hook an ASIC to.. I'll have two at a cost of 353$ + monitor and keyboard.

The people who have preordered ASICS will make a profit.. But they are assuming some risk.. ButterflyLabs will probably bring out ASICS but they were smart enough to include a provision in their terms that there may be an extra 60 days before delivery.. so the time frame may be into January 2013, after the reduction to 25BTC per block. They will no doubtably make a fair bit of coin at the beginning, but those huge preorders will all be delivered pretty much at the same time.. So the wonderous profit to be had by ASICS won't be long as they all come online in a short space of time. And of course there is always the possibilty of technical glitchs (Though BFL has an excellent history)

You and I are in a position where we have little capital investment to recover, the ability to invest capital (Not that I've got any) in the next generation of hardware now , or to raise capital in preparation of investing in the next generation of hardware AFTER it has proven itself and the mining environment has stablised..

I'm taking the last option, it doesn't give me maximum profit, but it does give minimal risk.. and when all is said and done I've got two gaming boxes at 33% retail price (except for a monitor) and if it's time to quit trying to set up mining, I had a lot of stimulating fun messing about with bitcoin.

[finkleshnorts]

I will have free power from January to may, but I have never done any mining. Would you recommend jumping in the game at this point?

[TwinTurbo]

I will have free power from January to may, but I have never done any mining. Would you recommend jumping in the game at this point?

If you've already got a computer with an adequate power supply and a couple free pcie slots, go find a couple used 5870 cards and run them non-stop until ASICs flood onto the market. Otherwise, don't invest in a full GPU based solution at this point. You'll likely never fully recover your expenses on it from GPU mining alone if ASICs ship in October.