Actually, the X6500 is $565 without heatsinks, and $580 with heatsinks, which include fans.
The point of selling the X6500 as a bare bones unit is to make it as flexible as possible for people that want to figure out their own cooling and powering solution. This is especially important when buying multiple boards. Here's my own math, for two theoretical customers:
Single board customer:X6500 with heatsinks (ordered from Cablesaurus.com):
$580 + $7.90 mandatory insurance + $5.50 shipping = $593.40
AC adapter:
taken from an old router = $0
USB cable:
who doesn't have millions of these? = $0
Total = $593.40
Multi-board customer:10x X6500 with heatsinks (ordered directly from FPGA Mining LLC):
$550 x10 + $60 shipping = $5540
380W ATX PSU:
$45 + $4 shipping = $49
10-port USB hub:
$11 + $3 shipping = $14
10x USB cables:
$2.32 x10 = $23
Total = $5626 or $562.60 per board
Faire enough. I just didn't like the "holier than thou" attitude he had regarding them. You're right, the 6500 is an option for people that may want to look into powering via a power supply and may have their own usb cables/hub around for doing what they need.
To each their own, for sure. We definitely have a multitude of options available to us, and more all the time it looks like!
