I’ve been working on a new stickminer in secret for the last few months to replace the classic 2Pac.
It’s not as fancy as I’d hoped, but you know how GekkoScience rolls with the "Simple, Durable, Reliable" motto.
This new stick, called NewPac (because it’s basically a refreshed version of the 2Pac, which was itself a two-chip Compac), packs in a couple of Bitmain BM1387 chips and runs at a stock clock of 100MHz for 23GH. These chips struggle a bit with thermal runaway, so realistically, the max you can hit for passive cooling is about 100-125MHz. But with some airflow, they can reach 200MHz (45GH) while staying under 5W on stock voltage.
I’ve seen these sticks pushed to 90GH, which is similar in hashrate to my Terminus R808 pod miner but draws about one-fifth of the power. Overclocking to 130GH is theoretically doable, but you'll need a solid hub and maybe some custom cooling. I haven’t pushed past 90GH myself. Every stick is tested to run at 45GH before it goes out the door.
The new Gekko cgminer driver from VH can handle and recover from the same kinds of issues that would have led to a "ZOMBIE" state on the 2Pac, meaning it’s way more reliable and needs less maintenance over time. The dimensions are exactly the same as the 2Pac, so if you have any custom hardware for the old one, it’ll work with this too. And yes, it’s got BLINKY LIGHTS!
As of now, I’m not planning on doing direct sales. I’ve got too many projects lined up for the next six months, including some bigger and better non-industrial mining stuff.
Started a new thread for NewPac technical discussion and support:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5053833.0
The code base is the same, and compatible with all version of GekkoScience stick miners.
Here are some readings off of my portapow monitor for efficiency*.
*fan uses power but not included
I know it may too soon but have you (Sidehack) or VH had a chance to see if the "overt asicboost" can be utilized?
Also CrazyGuy, I Can not get an account registered on Asicpuppy for some reason as you have the only NewPacs available on your website.
Would love to buy some
But I can not get an account registered on Asicpuppy for some reason... Or add to cart.
CrazyGuy, can you help? And do you ship to Skandinavia/Europe?
Hey guys, I've resolved the shopping cart issues a couple of you were having. Please contact me directly if you are still having issues. Newpacs still in stock
ASICPUPPY.COM
Was able to complete my registration and my first order.
Thank you CrazyGuy
Sidehack, what hubs are you using in the pictures above?
They look like the 7-port Plugables (casing stripped) that NotFuzzyWarm recommended but you have 4 NewPacs in them. Which If i recall the Plugable was only able to power 3 2Pacs because of power distribution being joined at 1-2, 3-4, 5-7 ports.
Just wanting to see what hubs I need or if I can reuse what I have onhand.
They are the Plugables. I still have my trusty 49ers from Eyeboot but I was having trouble running several sticks at high speeds (I test at 200MHz though stock is 100) so I built new test setups with smaller hubs and better USB busses than the ancient computers I was using. Now each machine is running 12 sticks; I tested 16 but had trouble, though it could have been a faulty hub.
Two sticks per hub are running off one regulator, but they're also running only 5W each so power is not overwhelmed. You might have trouble depending on how much you overclock. If the hub's good for 60W that's 20W per regulator, so 10W per stick in pairs. If that holds, you should still see around 400MHz (90G) before it gives out assuming you have adequate cooling.
On Thursday I finally received a sample order of hub chips that were purchased in September, so hopefully I can get back to my own hub project. For now though, those Plugables are working pretty well.
Hey Guys, sorry for the delay's. We had to get our testing/documentation in order. ours are now posted.
https://www.419mining.com/shop/miners/gekkoscience-newpac-dual-bm1387-usb-stickminer/