The A1 (as seen in Bitmine and LK Dragons and stuff) was an Innosilicon chip. The A2 (Terminators) was Innosilicon's scrypt offering. If I'm understanding right, they're working on an A3 (sha256) and A4 (scrypt) right now.
Last we talked to them, they apparently had sample chips taped out (probably a short batch of engineering samples) but didn't really care to pass any out. They were more interesed in million-dollar customers tossing down on big batches. I don't know why anyone would lay down on a big batch without first getting samples.
Avalon didn't reply to the last couple emails I sent them but I'll try again. Earlier this year I inquired about chips and they said they'd have a new generation out around July (this was at the same time Bitmain told me they'd have a new chip in June). When I got back to them closer to July I was told the target was moved back to September. Being as September starts tomorrow it'd be nice to know if they pulled it off.
Bitmain says if they come up with some extra chips in the next couple weeks they'll let me know.
We have an incoming $3500 payment from a customer coming in.
I have ear marked this money to buy a small quantity (~1K) of chips from BM, assuming they decide to sell some.
Having said that, I'm a slut, if any other chip supplier has a suitable chip for sale prior to that they'll get the $3500 (first come first served).
Whomever's chips will be shipped to GS (with their approval ofc) for insertion onto hash boards.
We assume that a certain number of chips would be destroyed n the development process.
Once a suitable design is manufactured and field proven we'd be up for a real quantity purchase of chips (and then boards, ofc).
And regarding capex equipment purchases, I've had my eye on a CNC router for more than a year.
Something that will route polycarbonate and thin sheet AL for immersion tank construction.
Made a corporate decision a while back that we're done buying equipment that has a programmed obsolescence (S(odd) and C1).
I'm sick and tired of replacing perfectly good equipment every 6 months - a year solely due to fixed a Vcore which caps the maximum efficiency of the gear.
Screw that.
And yeah I know I could rip apart miners, mod the hash boards (at least to some extent) and get better efficiency. That's a doable option on 1-5 machines but not on 50+.
It is my belief that even the venerable S1, had it been designed with a reasonable lifespan in mind, could be profitable to operate in today's environment given an adjustable Vcore and clock. But it wasn't and neither was any of the BM follow on products. I believe this was part of a designed marketing campaign to continue to sell "new" equipment. Smart practice for miner manufacturer's but not very good for the 200Th/s and down crowd. As such, we're committed to purchasing/building equipment that will "stand the test of time" versus a throw-away mentality.
GS's designs embody this thought process and consequently we will opt to buy their product(s) over a competitor's.
Phil - I am very curious to hear, when your S7's come in, whether one can adjust Vcore and if so by how much.
