quote for the K325 in 100pcs was 187USD

getting 25k slices and 600DSP blocks for 100$ is better than 50k slices and 840DSP blocks for 200$.
The package is cheaper too so the price might be even better in favor of the K160 and higher volume = lower price.

Another benefit with a smaller package is easier and simpler pcb layout and it hurts less for each part that doesn't work due to bad soldering etc

From the prices given by the local distributor it seems K160T-1FBG484 gives the most bang for the buck.
The K325T costs about two times more and it's easier to deal with a smaller package.

There is no schedule yet for the 28nm version.

That's correct. The current fpgaminer implementation is only at 180MHz but 200 should be reachable with some Xilinx tool massaging.
Most LX150 will overclock above 200MHz on this board giving a total hashrate above 800MH/s even with the included bitstream.

~Pusle

Yes, it's not a perfect square but it works nicely.  
I've tested many different drive strengths and termination resistors which didn't have much effect on overclocking.
There seems to be a wide margin.

The included files are set to LVDS 2.5V for the synth, which is the recommended setting
For extreme overclockers you may get a little more speed using SSTL 3.3 as it's even more square and faster rise/fall time.
However with SSTL the signal swing is so large it's way out of spec and not recommended.

This is an open source quad spartan-6 LX150 board designed by The Seven and myself in collaboration.

Since it was completed way behind schedule we didn't see much point in releasing this version.
However some people kept asking for open source boards recently so we figured why not.

Version 1.0 has been manufactured and tested, but rev 2.1 has not. The differences are however minor.
The software is not very complete nor user friendly at the moment but The Seven has been mining with this board for a while now.
The plan is to make a  28nm version of the P7 platform where the software will include support for the LX150 version as well.

We will try to give as much support as possible through this forum and IRC, but the files are delivered as
is with no warranty of any kind. Use at your own risk.

Read the txt file included for more information.

~Pusle


download link:https://mega.co.nz/#!PcNlnBKJ!PN44_C7M2L0aiEd8BxyZNEbpGtJoytkXHbfSBkTAdFQ

If BFL uses standard cell, I think they would have to go with 45nm to have chance to meet their spec.
What is the mask cost of 45nm these days?

But I figure they will go with a 45nm multiple wafer run, ie several designs on one wafer to cut down the initial cost.
They will quickly  get delivery problems but now they have proven their product.
I guess the next step is to get enough preorders by then to cover the cost of a full mask set.

Then the free market will self regulate  and the human population will shrink to the number that can be employed to service the machines! 

but then the number of machines needed will shrink coz there are less people left needing products and then ....   

People talk about the resale value separating GPU from FPGA/ASIC. 
Much more important is the divide between GPU/FPGA vs ASIC when it comes to reprogramming.

P2P Crypto currencies are here to stay, Bitcoin, Bitcoin 2.0 or something else. They will need hashing power.
I will spend my money building general purpose computing power since profit maximizing isn't what drives me.

Sure I might buy some ASICs too at some point but knowing that it's betting on just one horse.
Even bitcoin might change algorithm if threatened.
Being future proof is worth something even to non-idealists hedging in the market.

It is possible to make permutating algorithms for FPGAs rendering ASICs pointless.

Like this thread stated earlier, FPGAs and GPUs are not driven by the bitcoin related market.
This means that for each new process node (28nm, 14nm etc) the generic hardware is available to all and prices are not influenced by bitcoin mining.

For the ASIC market to function properly there would have to be a lot of competition to drive down margins.
They must also make enough money to follow the advancements of the silicon industry at all times.
Currently bitcoin is nowhere near the size needed to support this.
This fact makes it much easier/cheaper for irrational players to attack the network compared with a system where ASICs didn't have any advantage.

With the current algo bitcoin really needs ASICs to protect itself.
If there is a 51% attack,  I think algorithm changes are inevitable.
 

Err, isn't "Simultaneous switching" issue about I/O pins?  not internal core logic.

You have probably thought of this stuff already but here goes:

Hookup an oscilloscope to the vccint, close as possible to the fpga.
Make it look smooth on the scope at all times by:

-Make sure new midstate load etc doesn't results in spikes.

-Stagger the rings start time/midstate load/nonce wrap

-Use phase offset to interleave clock transitions for the different rings

-Ramp the clocks up gradually from idle


It could also be the PLL suffering from too much noise. Try changing the loopfilter/bandwidth of the PLL.
Might be hard but try an external high-speed clock source (connection/termination to the board is critical)

The way I understand it is that adding more rounds makes it harder to find a short cut/weakness.
The fixed length for the second sha256 stage also removes one type of "attack" often used against such algorithms.

yes you're right. So the term "CCR" is incorrect when used for an account like this.
This method does let the customer choose the level of risk vs payback. A sliding scale between a storage/safekeeping and investment/returns.
It would be up to the bank what they keep in reserve to pay out the full amount on withdrawal.

Perhaps if all the accounts with corresponding bitcoin addresses was published a real CCR monitor system could be designed?

With bitcoin it's actually possible to monitor how much of your funds are left as a reserve with your bank.
If you transfer 100BTC to your bank account, and have selected a 50% CCR option, the balance of that account should never go below 50BTC.
Sure you might not get much interest in this case but you can chose your risk vs interest payment on an individual basis.
The account/wallet monitoring of the blockchain could be an app you run yourself  or a 3rd party service.

Why can't states have land/resources?  In fact I think that's what a state should have, and use those resources to provide materials, services and jobs for its people. This way you won't even need taxes to fund infrastructure etc which are wastly more efficient to do in centralized form. I'm not saying it should be 100% of the economy, perhaps 10-20% .

This is also where the die hard libertarians fall short. Something DID come before you, a long chain going back to the land/resources.
So who owned those in he begining? God? Native peoples ? and sold them for booze and fake pearls or taken at gunpoint..
The state should retain control/ownership over some but not all land/resources, and develop those using both public and private companies i competition.


What I think he means is that our current monetary system IS a huge redistribution system to benefit the rich. Especially the dollar. If the dollar wasn't used in world wide trade like oil etc, the US would not have been able to run super deficits year on year and print like there is no tomorrow during this financial crisis.

They can't deny sending them. The problem occurs when you exchange from bitcoin to another currency.
When the bicoin economy becomes large enough this is a non issue.

As others have explained nobody can prove if you knew your coins were "tainted" or not.
Exchanges trying to act as policemen helps nobody and undermines bitcoin as a whole.
If one exchange breaks the agreed upon principles and acts stupidly then use another.

With todays fiat system private banks can create money. This is not possible with bitcoin.
The total amount of bitcoin in the world is still controlled by the bitcoin network and outside of banks control.

Fractional reserve can still easily exist with bitcoin, but only if users allow it.

I would only deposit my money into my own account/address with the bank.
Then I could monitor what the bank did with the money. I'd either have an app on my own computer or
buy some monitoring service from a 3rd party.

I guess you could also have bitcoin scripts making it impossible for the bank to move your money without
your "signature". But then why not just do your own banking and have that safety key with a 3rd party service.

If you don't hate fractional reserve like I do, feel free to put your money in a bank without these safeguards.
But remember this is like investing in the stock market. Suddenly all your money can be gone.

I see little difference between this crisis and the mortage crisis in the USA in 2008.
Banks exploit the hobo to take up loans they can't pay back. The only way banks can print money is by giving out loans.
They get bailed out anyway, so there is really no risk even if the hobo can't pay it back.  ( stabilizing feedback loop broken )

In the case of Greece, they take up huge loans and buy lots of stuff... like weapons from germany?.
So Germany and others keeps all the money, while greece keeps all the debt.

You'd think not having your own central bank would prevent the hobo greek from printing so much they ruin their economy.
This time they had LOTS of help to pull this off. In fact it would be much better if they had their own currency.
This would provide a feedback mechanism making sure their purchasing power would go down if they printed too much.  But the Euro won't budge even if they spend a ton.

The Greeks are so bad bla bla.. but on average they don't have a low retirement age nor high pensions and they work more than most other EU countries. So yeah I contradict myself. Sure the politicians in Greece haven't done a good job to build their country with all those loans, so the future prospects are not great. This might explain why they are targeted first. But then again, this isn't really about the Greek. This is just a symptom of the manipulation and failure of the whole system.

Greece like the banks must be allowed to fail and go bankrupt. For a country, the debt isn't really enforcable anyway.
The debt must be deleted. Greece starts with a clean slate, a new central bank and drachma 2.0. This is the way to do it.
They don't have to leave the EU, several countries including UK don't have the Euro so this is a non argument.

Each sovereign country with it's own government MUST have their own currency. The Euro destroyed that essential feedback loop holding their spending/trade balance in check. Over time all the countries should all go back to their own currency, unless they join together under a common government/budget.
The Euro should never have been invented in the first place. It's just an instrument to make the bankers more rich and create more inequality. You can claim hindsight is 20/20 but I'm damn sure several bankers saw this coming and knew how to exploit it.

Why don't you try an advance the Mhash/$ by using your skills to fit a whole unrolled chain into a spartan6 LX100.
From Elden Tyrells 3 ring project it seems this should be possible.
Then make a board with 4 of those. This should give a total board price and performance similar to the BFL single.