UK BOINC Team Forum

Posted: **Sun Nov 16, 2014 3:25 pm**

I'm now looking in to an ASIC (preferably for under £15), but don't know which hash rate to get - I have found a 333Mh/s on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261658552676, but don't know if it is good or not - can someone please help?!

Thanks in advance :lol:

Posted: **Sun Nov 16, 2014 3:51 pm**

Don't get the 330 ones - they're relatively old and inefficiant compared to the 2.2GHz similar to this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221603398467

Posted: **Sun Nov 16, 2014 4:20 pm**

thanks, Mikee

Posted: **Sun Nov 16, 2014 4:24 pm**

Wow! Just found a link to a Rockminer R-Box 32 - 40 GH/s ASIC Bitcoin Miner for £0.99

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191414312950

EDIT: +£5 postage...

Posted: **Sun Nov 16, 2014 4:32 pm**

How many credits would I get on BU with a 333mh/s miner, though??

Posted: **Sun Nov 16, 2014 5:37 pm**

Hi Chris,

Credit wise the 1.6GH work units would earn you about 30,000 credits, every 1200 seconds (about 20 minutes) so about 90,000 per hour.

BUT:

The 335MH/s USB sticks will take 5 times as long as a 1.6GH/s stick - and you can only "do" the 335MH/s work units, whereas with a 1.6GH stick you can do either the 335MH or the 1.6GH work units....so the 1.6 should be the minimum to aim for.

The R-Boxes might be starting at 99p, but the last few have been going for between £40-£50 each. Which is a bit steep.

I got 2 of them about 3 weeks ago: one was £12 and the other was £28.

So, bide your time and see what comes up.

regards
Tim

Posted: **Mon Nov 17, 2014 7:44 am**

Thanks, Timbo - I might start low at the 333mhs and move to a 1.6ghs soon - how mich are the 1.6ghs one?

Posted: **Mon Nov 17, 2014 9:20 am**

Hi Chris,

As Mike and Tim have said, I really wouldn't bother with the 333MH/s sticks at all, they take far too long to finish any WU (there's no checkpointing, once you've started on a WU then you have to finish it or the work is wasted, it'll start from the beginning the next time it's run), are limited to only one option of WU (you're stuck if the 333MH WUs dry up - no alternative) and the 1.6 - 2.2 GH/s USB sticks are available for a very similar price at 5-7 times the performance. Plus, you wouldn't get much for it when you come to re-sell it if you do move up.

Some going at the moment are:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191407044067 - £14.50
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321585844536 - £15.80
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221603398467 - £10
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151477430135 - £14.95

Most of them have a day or two left to bid so pick one, put in £15 as your maximum bid and see how it turns out. You can always switch to a different auction if it gets too pricey. Usually, the 1.6GH/s U1s can be overclocked upto nearly 2GH/s so they're almost as good as the U2s. They do get very hot though and a fan is required IF they're overclocked (doesn't have to be a separate fan, stick it in front of the exhaust port of your PC

) You also need to make sure that you use a powered hub or that your USB port can supply 0.5 - 0.6 amps.

As a very rough rule of thumb, 1GH/s gets you about 1 million credits a day if left on 24/7 so 336 MH/s is ~14,000 credits an hour, 1.6GH/s is ~67,000 credits an hour and 2.2GH/s is almost 100,000 credits an hour. An R-Box should get you ~1.3 million credits an hour at base speed! (You'd be very lucky to get it to run at 40GH/s, best I've managed is 37.6GH/s and that's with loads of errors.)

Mark.

Posted: **Mon Nov 17, 2014 9:56 am**

UBT - Chris wrote:Thanks, Timbo - I might start low at the 333mhs and move to a 1.6ghs soon - how mich are the 1.6ghs one?

Hi Chris,

Starting off low might make a little sense, esp if you don't have much money. But the 1.6GH sticks can be had for just a pound or three more and they are infinitely better than the 333MH sticks.

So, you really would be better off with the 1.6GH types...as they can run either the 333MH or the 1.6 Work Units....the 333MH sticks can only run the 333MH WU's and the credits you get for the 333MH WU's is far lower.

regards
Tim

Posted: **Wed Nov 19, 2014 9:27 am**

There's an Antminer U2 (1.6 - 2.2 GH/s) here:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301398946146
for £14.95 buy-it-now, free collection from your nearest Argos?

Mark

Posted: **Wed Nov 19, 2014 3:54 pm**

thanks, Tim and Mark - having Mark boost me up by circa 7 million credits in 30mins has made me really want to get more credits for myself!!!

Posted: **Mon Dec 22, 2014 12:07 pm**

On to another investment - a Christmas present to myself

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331418328226

that look good?

Posted: **Mon Dec 22, 2014 12:29 pm**

Just bought it - Merry Christmas me

Posted: **Mon Dec 22, 2014 12:53 pm**

UBT - Chris wrote:On to another investment - a Christmas present to myself

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331418328226

that look good?

Might be an 'oops'! Says U1 not U2, U1s are the slower ones but the spec is for a U2 so hopefully just a typo.

Mike

Posted: **Mon Dec 22, 2014 1:51 pm**

UBT - Mikee wrote:
UBT - Chris wrote:On to another investment - a Christmas present to myself

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331418328226

that look good?
Might be an 'oops'! Says U1 not U2, U1s are the slower ones but the spec is for a U2 so hopefully just a typo.

Mike

Hi Chris/Mike,

It's a U1, the U2's have a heatsink and have 'ANT USB V1.2' along the edge (actually the revision of the board but co-incidentally, it also ties up with the type

)

Both have a similar performance (U1 = 1,6 to 2.0, U2 = 1.6 to 2.2) but due to the heatsink, the U2s are more stable at the higher rates. you'll need a fan for overclocking and possibly even for normal running!

I believe they're the same size and use the same fixing holes so if you can find a spare U2 heatsink, it would be worth fitting one.

It might not be the best device out there but I reckon you've done well for only £16

Mark

EDIT: A user on the BU boards managed to get a U2 to run at 4GH/s http://www.bitcoinutopia.net/bitcoinuto ... =4072#4072 so with a bit of tweaking ...

Posted: **Mon Dec 22, 2014 2:32 pm**

cool - i have a fan already, so overheating won't be a huge problem, but I'll browse for a heatsink aswell

Posted: **Mon Dec 22, 2014 3:07 pm**

UBT - Chris wrote:On to another investment - a Christmas present to myself

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331418328226

that look good?

Hi Chris,

As Mark said a U1 and U2 are basically the same ASIC, but the U2 has a fluted heatsink, so in theory it can be overclocked a bit more.

If you are interested, I still have 2x 1.6Gh USB sticks left (can't recall if they are U1 or U2, as they back at home now), which I was putting on fleabay starting at £0.99 each, though as I mentioned to you before, I was looking for around £10 each for them.

So, if you want 1 or 2 more, let me know and it'll save me some ebay fees!!

In the meantime, happy crunching - you should really start picking up a few more credits now, esp if you switch to the 1.6+GH work units (which your Antminer can easily crunch !!)

regards
Tim

Posted: **Mon Dec 22, 2014 3:12 pm**

UBT - Chris wrote:cool - i have a fan already, so overheating won't be a huge problem, but I'll browse for a heatsink aswell

Hi Chris,

You may find some small "chip" heatsinks, which can be glued to the PCB side of the ASIC.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111541555268

Alternatively, what I did was to basically attach a couple of ASICs directly onto a heatsink from an old Intel CPU, and used elastic bands to hold them together tightly - a bit "Heath Robinson" but it worked.

The white Arctic USB fan is quite good for cooling:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360991400504

but ANYTHING that can gently blow air over the ASIC will do....even a cheap CPU or GPU fan will do....and if it's powered off a spare 5V USB socket then all the better.

regards
Tim

Posted: **Mon Dec 22, 2014 6:36 pm**

UBT - Timbo wrote:Alternatively, what I did was to basically attach a couple of ASICs directly onto a heatsink from an old Intel CPU, and used elastic bands to hold them together tightly - a bit "Heath Robinson" but it worked.

I was just going to suggest that!

Any large, metal surface will do, it doesn't have to be a proper heatsink, you're just looking for something that'll take the heat from the ASIC and spread it out where it dissipate.

Mark

Posted: **Tue Dec 23, 2014 10:42 am**

ok - thanks, Mark and Tim

Posted: **Tue Dec 23, 2014 11:04 am**

UBT - Chris wrote:ok - thanks, Mark and Tim

Hi Chris

Oops -almost forgot....if you DO add a heatsink to a USB stick, then it would be best to get yourself one (or more) USB Male to Female extension cables....as the weight of a large "extra" heatsink, could damage the USB socket of your PC/laptop, if it was just "hanging" on the end of the ASIC.

So, be careful, as metal tends to be dense and it could put extra strain on the stick and on the socket.

regards
Tim

Posted: **Tue Dec 23, 2014 11:14 am**

Thought that might be the case, Tim - I have 3 or 4 in the loft... somewhere, so I'll dig those out soon

Posted: **Tue Dec 23, 2014 1:32 pm**

You could hang it out the window then, that should keep it cooler

Posted: **Wed Dec 24, 2014 9:45 am**

haha - what if it rained? :shock:

Posted: **Wed Dec 24, 2014 11:47 am**

UBT - Chris wrote:haha - what if it rained? :shock:

The rain would immediately turn to steam!

Seriously, don't hang it out of the window, it might come off the USB cable and it wouldn't like being exposed to the elements. Lay it on the windowsill by all means, that should be nice and cool ... unless there's a radiator underneath it.

Posted: **Wed Dec 24, 2014 1:38 pm**

Woodles wrote:...Seriously, don't hang it out of the window, it might come off the USB cable and it wouldn't like being exposed to the elements. Lay it on the windowsill by all means, that should be nice and cool ... unless there's a radiator underneath it.

HI both,

How about: Turn off the central heating and directly attach the USB stick to the (metal) radiator....that way the house is heated and the USB stick has a good heatsink.....though you would need to keep the central heating pump working.

regards
Tim

Posted: **Sat Dec 27, 2014 11:16 am**

Haha - good advice, Mark and Tim

Quick question, will two ASICs run on one WU, and if they do, will they crunch it faster?

Posted: **Sat Dec 27, 2014 11:42 am**

UBT - Chris wrote:Haha - good advice, Mark and Tim

Quick question, will two ASICs run on one WU, and if they do, will they crunch it faster?

In my experiance - no. I used to have 4 ASICs running per WU, when I tried 1 WU per stick they appeared to go a lot quicker so I've stayed at 1 WU per stick rather than 1 WU over the 4.

Mike

Posted: **Sat Dec 27, 2014 12:27 pm**

UBT - Chris wrote:Quick question, will two ASICs run on one WU, and if they do, will they crunch it faster?

Hi Chris,

There is now a default setting when BU work units are running that one WU is per ASIC.

This is a recent change....before that, the more ASIC's you had, the shorter the time to complete each one....but there was always an issue that this wasn't the most efficient way of crunching, because one could be at "full throttle" and the other could have been just ticking over, waiting for it's "turn"...

So, the usb:1 command is now set by the WU and hence it's one WU per ASIC....but it does still mean that with 2 ASIC's you earn double the credits, in the same time period, where before, with 2 ASIC's, you earned the same credits in half the time....

Also, to allow both ASIC's to run you need to have this in your cc_config.xml file:

Code: Select all

<cc_config>
<options>
<coproc>
<type>miner_asic</type>
<count>2</count>
</coproc>
</options>
</cc_config>

regards
Tim

Posted: **Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:49 am**

Thanks Tim - I'll add that in now

Posted: **Mon Dec 29, 2014 11:19 am**

ASIC just arrived

need to check if it is working, though...

EDIT: Yes

fully working, and the hub copes fine with it, so in come the credits

Posted: **Mon Jan 05, 2015 12:17 pm**

Well done Chris, keep up the good work.

Mark

Posted: **Tue Jan 06, 2015 5:11 pm**

Thanks, Mark

My BU config file isn't letting me limit processors to 1, but it is set properly, I think...
Can you give me a copy of the commands needed, please?

Posted: **Tue Jan 06, 2015 7:17 pm**

Hi Chris,

You don't specifically set the cores to 1, you have to tell the application how much of a core it's allowed to ask for and that, plus the number of WUs running decides how much CPU it uses.

In my app_config.xml in the Bitcoin Utopia data directory I have:

Code: Select all

<app>
<name>cgminer-rbox_4</name>
</app>
<app_version>
<app_name>cgminer-rbox_4</app_name>
<plan_class>miner_asic</plan_class>
<avg_ncpus>0.05</avg_ncpus>
<cmdline>--rock-freq 320</cmdline>
</app_version>

which limits each WU to 0.05 (5%) of a core.

Look in Task Manage to see how much each cgminer task is using and scale that. Task manager reports in percent of the whole host so multiply by the number of cores to get the number you need (don't forget to convert the percentage to a whole number!)

eg. Task manager reports 1.1% of the total CPU power available, four cores means each WU uses 4.4% of a core, which means a minimum setting of 0.044. Err on the high side, with a whole core to play with and two ASICs, you can go as high as 0.50 (50%) without affecting other projects. That high will affect you using the PC for anything other than crunching though.

That's just for the Campaign 4 WUs, you need the same entry in each of the <app>...</app_version> blocks for each campaign that you're running.

How much each WU needs depends on the speed of your CPU and possibly the WU. As I only run the 20+GH/s ones, that's all I can speak for but 12 BU WUs (0.6 of a core) and 3 POEM WUs run quite happily on this four core laptop @ 2.4 GHz and still leaves enough for me to surf the net.

You also need to limit any other project to one core less than the total to stop it grabbing BUs core.

Add a <project_max_concurrent>3</project_max_concurrent> line to their app_config.xml file.
For POEM, I have:

Code: Select all

<app>
<name>poempp</name>
<max_concurrent>3</max_concurrent>
<project_max_concurrent>3</project_max_concurrent>
</app>

If you've done it right, BOINC should list each running task as "Running (0.05 CPUs + 1 miner_asic)

Good luck,

Mark

Posted: **Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:37 pm**

Woodles wrote:
<avg_ncpus>0.05</avg_ncpus>

Hi Mark,

You don't even need this any more as BU now sets the CPU to 0.05 (of processing power) when used with ASIC's.

regards
Tim

Posted: **Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:59 pm**

UBT - Timbo wrote:
Woodles wrote:
<avg_ncpus>0.05</avg_ncpus>

Hi Mark,

You don't even need this any more as BU now sets the CPU to 0.05 (of processing power) when used with ASIC's.

regards
Tim

Hi Tim,

Thanks for that, last time I looked it was set at 0.8/0.9 of a core!

I'll remove it next time I make any changes but for now, "if it ain't broke ..."

Mark

Posted: **Wed Jan 07, 2015 10:48 pm**

thanks, guys

UK BOINC Team Forum

Which one???

Which one???