Compute4Cash: it's a trap or not?

[Steevo]

I see where it creates a file. Is it by chance just encrypting all your data and sending it along like a keylogger/trojan.


I could download a empty hull file, let it compute the best way to search my hard drive for a set of specific numbers like SSN, CC..... then inject them into a new smaller transport file and send it away, along with all your paypal info.


Hell it could be doing ADS and encrypting them and copying your hard drive byte by byte.


I might try it on a new, clean computer,behind its own firewall with connection monitor and then spend some time in a few utilities figuring out what it does. But not on a PC I actually use.

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

I'm thumbing through the code now.

EDIT:

Used an FTP DLL to send data, looks like it uses MD5 encryption as well. POP3 and SMTP mentioned, means it emails something. GZIP mentioned, means it zips up data before it sends. Winsocks library used for proxy options. And this:

Wat?

Something to do with the days of the week... no idea why this is here:

Anyone have any idea what the below is?

O hey look it makes a file here:

I'll keep looking...

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

now thats a killer review

 

[punani]

Likely the electrical companies behind this .. hoping that your rigs are gonna suck juice worth more than they are paying you

 

[hellrazor]

Is there a way to limit the processing power they use? You know, just to get in the "most efficient" range of your power supply?

Hahahaha just saw this on geeks3d:

"We certainly are not brute forcing passwords"

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

Is there a way to limit the processing power they use? You know, just to get in the "most efficient" range of your power supply?

Hahahaha just saw this on geeks3d:
http://img.techpowerup.org/110216/Compute4cash.jpg

"We certainly are not brute forcing passwords"

Could also means it compares the size to the size of a max file size to send in an email, so the zip file can be emailed to someone. Just saying.

 

[_JP_]

Scroll further down. Their response to questions regarding the costs of energy spent on doing those calculations:

Here’s a thought to chew on: the heat generated by your video cards when running the Compute4Cash client can be used to heat your house, so some if not all of the electricity expense involved with running the Compute4Cash client is offset by a reduction in your heating costs (in cold climates at least).

Now, my computer does definitely heat up and my cooling arrangement is set so that all of the heat generated is expelled as quickly as possible, but is not near enough to warm up a 25m^2 room (or something like that, I don't know the room's exact measurements). Also, those with powerful computers will surely like their GPUs running at 90% load, 24/7, during summer.

 

[Arctucas]

"All your GPUs are belong to us"

 

[AphexDreamer]

I'm gonna do it for a bit.

It'll be like folding minus the benefits of folding.

If anything happens to me, I will let y'all know. Unless I end up naked in some 3rd world country, then I will still let y'all it will just take me longer.

 

[Fourstaff]

Need to send the code to Anon and see what they think , From what I know, they don't like people cheating on them: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...peaks-the-inside-story-of-the-hbgary-hack.ars

 

[Easy Rhino]

Scroll further down. Their response to questions regarding the costs of energy spent on doing those calculations:

Now, my computer does definitely heat up and my cooling arrangement is set so that all of the heat generated is expelled as quickly as possible, but is not near enough to warm up a 25m^2 room (or something like that, I don't know the room's exact measurements). Also, those with powerful computers will surely like their GPUs running at 90% load, 24/7, during summer.

they actually use that as a reason? they didn't think that those costs would be offset by cooling your house in the summer wow, just wow...

 

[sneekypeet]

they actually use that as a reason? they didn't think that those costs would be offset by cooling your house in the summer wow, just wow...

they wont be paying you when its warm, the $600 cap will be up by then, duh

 

[AphexDreamer]

Well use 90-94% of my GPU and temps are 70-71C.

It says I'm getting a lil over 1 WU/Hour.

So what, that like a dollar per hour... Meh...

 

[sneekypeet]

lil over 1 WU/Hour.

thats a lil over 20 cents an hour

 

[AphexDreamer]

thats a lil over 20 cents an hour

lol Yup. I just checked on the site and it says I've made .9 cents for .43 WU's


Thats almost .10 cents for Half a WU. Screw that lol.

I wish it were a buck per hour lol

Back to folding.

 

[DannibusX]

They should call it Folding4Madoff

 

[Easy Rhino]

guys i am a moron and missed a decimal point. i am surprised nobody checked my math. so here is new math showing it could indeed work out for you so long as your electric costs are below say $1.00/kwh (which they are unless you live in a third world country)and you stop when you hit $600.

i pay $0.14 per kilowatt hour. a 5970 on full stress takes 425 watts. That is .425 kilowatts per hour. so that close to $0.06 per hour it would cost to fold non-stop. that means it costs $1.44 in energy costs per day for me! (some of you may pay a little less or a little more)

they say a 5970 will do around 2 WU per hour so that mean $0.40 per hour ($0.20 per WU) they pay you run the program non-stop. that is $9.60 per day they would pay out somebody.

$1.40 in energy costs - $9.60 = $8.20 a day in profit

it could work but you remember it is maxxed at $600 a year.

 

[sneekypeet]

and the .20 per wu is only till the end of the month, then its $4.80 -1.40, still profit but much less.

 

[AlienIsGOD]

This is ghey IMO. Ima just stick with WCG and let my GPUs sit and do nothing, I really dont like the feeling i get after reading all this.

 

[Easy Rhino]

and the .20 per wu is only till the end of the month, then its $4.80 -1.40, still profit but much less.

i wonder how wear and tear factors in to this.

also, say you do make $600 you basically get paid less than the cost of the 5970. so it is not like you can use it for gaming when your not folding or whatever for them because then you would be losing revenue. essentially they are subsidizing the cost of the GPU and you pay the difference in the power bill. power bill for me would come out to $1.44/day * 365.25 = $525.96

 

[sneekypeet]

thats how I see the payoff. Cheaper for them to make payments monthly then to front everything at once.

 

[scaminatrix]

These are timezones

I think this is just like all the others. The time/effort/money you put in is not reflected in the payments. Unless you got all the computers in your local school hooked up...

 

[n-ster]

Meh.... 6870 = 1WU/hr is my guess.

It is meh for many people IMO. especially at 10 cents per WU. At 500W for PC power consumption, and 16 cents per KWh, you par 8 cents per hour just in electricity. Now add in card depreciation etc etc, and you are left with practically nothing


My situation is 8 cents per KWh, and at 20 cents per KWh for feb, that makes 16 cents per hour? 15 days * 20 hours = 300 hrs * ~ 15 cents = 45$ profit. So for now it is pretty good for 15 days At 10 cents, it would be 6 cents profit per hour. 30 days * 20 hours = 600 hours * 5 cents = 30$ profit per month, 1$ per day. Not too shabby.

 

[Beertintedgoggles]

guys i am a moron and missed a decimal point. i am surprised nobody checked my math. so here is new math showing it could indeed work out for you so long as your electric costs are below say $1.00/kwh (which they are unless you live in a third world country)and you stop when you hit $600.

i pay $0.14 per kilowatt hour. a 5970 on full stress takes 425 watts. That is .425 kilowatts per hour. so that close to $0.06 per hour it would cost to fold non-stop. that means it costs $1.44 in energy costs per day for me! (some of you may pay a little less or a little more)

they say a 5970 will do around 2 WU per hour so that mean $0.40 per hour ($0.20 per WU) they pay you run the program non-stop. that is $9.60 per day they would pay out somebody.

$1.40 in energy costs - $9.60 = $8.20 a day in profit

it could work but you remember it is maxxed at $600 a year.

I'm glad I read through all the comments before pointing that out.... still what do you think are the chances that this might be a front for a Chinese supercomputer/password cracker

 

[n-ster]

Mine isn't working... giving me only 0.077 WU/hr and 0% CPU or GPU usage