Asics suffer from even more severe heat issues than gpu's. The first BFL labs units were errible for heat and even the block eruptors suffer from heat issues. They run fine but are not running at there top end due to heat concerns

I think this looks like the most promising group buy atm:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=226319.0

Speaking of the importance of reading for those that want to learn: In my OP, I already included the link to steamboat's thread. ;-)

Funny thing is, all those chips will probably be sold before I get out of newb jail.

Question: How do you find group buys to get involved in? It seems like a waste of time to read through every thread in the custom hardware subforum. Or is it?

Hello.

So i am relatively new to the whole mining game. Coming in at an interesting point in the whole thing it seems. I currently have 4 7970s churning away. I'm looking to invest some more into mining and wondering what people think the wisest next purchase would be considering the imminent onset of the ASIC era. By my calculations, buying more GPUs will give me a higher Hash per dollar spent ratio, but then factoring in power, and ease of use etc, its seeming like getting some of the Block Erupter USBs might be a better choice at this point. I know they are not hugely exciting when compared to whats coming with the bigger units, but i do very much like that they are available now! ... A huge plus in my opinion. What do you guys think? More GPUs or Block Erupter USBs?

Barntech