Quote from: MrTeal on January 30, 2014, 08:07:09 PM

Quote from: kleeck on January 30, 2014, 07:20:02 PM

I don't see anything in this that indicates that chips arriving in Q2 could not be mining within that same quarter, i.e. 3 months time.

This is not a pipe dream. We are not taming unicorns, here. I'm not saying that for absolute sure ActM will have a 1-2PH farm in Q2, but it is in the realm of possibility in this day and age.

The design is done. Tape-out indicates the final step of the design process, once all details have been worked out, (although certain things can come up that require re-spins). Once we have the first article we will know if any re-spins are necessary or not. Board design is done long before Q2 and might very well be done already. Pick and place is lightning fast and completely automated. Placed boards will be tested and be sent to be placed in the actual machines, which will be a second point of testing, ensuring that the boards work with the rest of the device and mining software.

This has been done so many times long before Bitcoin that it is comical how so many think of this as some unattainable or unreachable goal.

The design of the chip is done. The design of the board still seems to be underway, but it should definitely be done by the time chips roll off the line. As for the speed of the pick and place machines I'd agree, although it would probably still take a couple/few days to get all those boards through. There is still the setup for the lines though and there is kitting and other prep work to do, and even the waiting to get on a line. Any good assembly house runs at a pretty high capacity factor, and some order like this is not substantial enough that they're going to kick another client off a line in the middle of their run so that they can immediately start on yours.

It's not impossible for AMC/VMC to get working hardware into people's hands by the end of Q2. Hell, if they want to really pay they could probably even get 1PH/s online by June 30th of they get the chips April 1st if everything goes extremely well and they're willing to take some possibly expensive risks, at the cost of really raising their average unit price, and absolutely nothing goes wrong.

I would disagree that this happens so many times long before Bitcoin though. The insane standing starts we see here are due to the time sensitive nature of the Bitcoin world. If Ken were designing cable modems using a custom ASIC or something the idea of have 10,000 units in customers homes 3 months after the first sample chip rolls off the line would be crazy.

You're right. It is not entirely true that "this" has been happening for long. These stages of the complete process have been around for a while, but the time short time frames are a new element that really change the game.