WCG-TPU 9th Birthday Challenge (11/16-11/22/2013)- Join us/Crunch/Win Stuff

[Norton]

Ongoing.....

Come on folks- TPU's crunching team needs your help

Welcome all to the WCG-TPU 9th Birthday Challenge
we have joined the WCG 9th Birthday Challenge (11/16 thru 11/22) that SETI.Germany is sponsoring.
Links:

Hourly stats updates (WCG points):
http://www.seti-germany.de/wcg/statistiken/challenge.php?&lang=en

http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/viewthread_thread,35626_lastpage,yes#lastpost

http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/challenge/viewTeamChallenge.do?challengeId=6195

We participated in prior years and we came very close, with the help of the GPU work, to winning last years WCG 8th Birthday Challenge (2nd place)

Link to the 8th Birthday Challenge results:
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/challenge/viewTeamChallenge.do?challengeId=5312

What do you need to do?
- Join the Team*
- Install the software*
*How to join our Team and get started
*Note- the WCG website has been updated- screenshots may differ slightly
- Crunch from 11/16 (0:00 GMT) to 11/22/2013 (24:00 GMT)
- Hang out with your Team mates

Challenge results:
TPU takes 5th place and the Raspberry Pie

 

[Norton]

As with many of our Challenges we have a few prizes available
*Note on Challenge prizes. Our prizes are donated by WCG-TPU Team members "By Cruncher's for Crunchers" for the purpose of assisting the Team to continue to maintain our rigs, grow our membership (or our crunching farms), and to promote the good work of crunching in general.

Grand Prize: Win a Crunching Rig* (donated by Norton/Ion)
Specifications/Details
- NZXT Source 210 (White) case w/5x 120mm fans
- Corsair TX-550M modular psu
- Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 (AM3+) mobo
- AMD Phenom II 1055T (6 core-125w) cpu
- AC Freezer64 Pro (stock AMD heatpipe cooler as spare)
- 2x4GB GSkill Ares DDR3-1866 ram
- Geforce 8800GT video card- provided by [Ion]
- 320GB Western Digital 7,200rpm HDD (WD3200AAKS)
- DVD/RW drive
*available to Team members in the USA (Canada/Mexico if extra shipping is paid)- shipping would be too difficult otherwise
The winner of the Grand Prize will need to declare that he/she will dedicate a minimum of 6 months crunching for the Team WCG-TPU on the rig.
Preview here:
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3016150&postcount=25357

Other prizes
*Note-If anyone is interested in donating a prize- please contact me or [Ion]
Hardware/Software Prizes
- CM Sentinel Advanced 2 (mouse) provided by manofthem*
- Silverstone Argon AR03 cpu cooler provided by Norton*
- $20 PayPal gift - provided by Bow
- $20 PayPal gift (x2)- provided by theonedub
- $20 PayPal gift - provided by BarbaricSoul
- $10 Google Play Gift Card (US only)- provided by theonedub
- Window 7 Pro key (x3)- provided by [Ion]
- MSI Radeon 7770 graphics card- provided by BarbaricSoul
- CM Storm Havok mouse- provided by sneekypete*
- CM Cosmos SE case provided by sneekypete*
*available to Team members in the USA (Canada/Mexico if extra shipping is paid)- shipping would be too difficult otherwise

Game giveaway- to be hosted by manofthem
Watch this thread and the WCG section of TPU for announcement of the game giveaway!

Requirements/terms to qualify for a prize:
* in order for your name to be drawn- you would need to be a member of this forum also (we will draw according to forum name so please post if WCG name is different)
- Participate for the duration of the WCG 9th Birthday Challenge
- Earn a minimum of 5,000 BOINC points for Team WCG-TPU during the Qualifying period (see below)
- Qualifying period ends when all participants reach 5,000 BOINC points or 11/29/2013 (whichever comes 1st)
- Winners will be chosen randomly at the end of the qualifying period.
- Participation in the Game giveaway will require that you are actively crunching during this Challenge

How Random Winners Will be Drawn (see below):

Spoiler: Random Drawing system provided by the theonedub

To ensure everyone gets a fair shake and to minimize any potential conflict of interest while maintaining the highest level of transparency- I have drafted a new way to draw winners. The system uses (3) members and works as follows:

Originally Posted by The System
Member 1: This member creates a list of all qualified participants usernames. This list is sent to Member 2.

Member 2: Using the list of names, Member 2 will assign each entrant a unique number. A list of the usernames with the unique numbers is sent back to Person 1. The list of just the random numbers is sent to Member 3.

Member 3: Member 3 has a list of just numbers. They use Random.Org or whatever random system to select which number wins a given prize. The list of winning numbers and the associated prize is then sent back to Member 1.

Member 1: Using the lists, Member 1 ‘decodes’ the winning numbers into the winning usernames and posts the results.

The lists are sent as Private Messages through the forum. This establishes an electronic record of everything while also preventing alterations of lists after the drawing.

When the winning usernames are posted by Member 1, Member 2 can verify that the number belongs to the correct username and Member 3 verifies that the number was actually pulled as a winner.

The system makes sure that there is no bias or other favoritism at play when winners are drawn. Winners are drawn based on a random number instead of usernames- where a possibility exists to redraw if that person doesn’t like who won, draw a friend, draw themselves, pass on new members, or skip doing a random drawing all together.

My hope is that this will alleviate any concerns about drawings and their legitimacy. If it works smoothly, I would like to see this become the new standard when conducting giveaways that have prizes donated by the community.

If there are any questions about this system, drop me a PM.

Note(s):
- If for some reason you cannot participate at the start of the Challenge you may still qualify for the prizes, PM me to discuss your situation and we'll make those decisions on an individual basis


Challenge Participants:
*WCG user name in () if different from TPU user name
list pending...

Prize winners:

Spoiler: non-hardware prizes

Spoiler: hardware prizes

 

[manofthem]

I'm in and super stoked for it!


So is this challenge "all projects" or anything in particular?

 

[stinger608]

I'm in and super stoked for it!


So is this challenge "all projects" or anything in particular?

++++1111 on that bro!!!

I am soooooooooo in!

 

[[Ion]]

Not going to mention the Freezer64Pro?

Count me in for contributing at least three Windows 7 Pro COAs.

I'm in and super stoked for it!


So is this challenge "all projects" or anything in particular?

It's all projects, so you may wish to run FAAH--in my experience it gives the best PPD

 

[Norton]

Not going to mention the Freezer64Pro?

Count me in for contributing at least three Windows 7 Pro COAs.



It's all projects, so you may wish to run FAAH--in my experience it gives the best PPD

Will add in the Win7 Pro keys and the Freezer shortly- Thanks!

They both arrived safely today btw

Can someone check the "getting started in BOINC" thread to see if the new WCG website layout messed it up too much? We may have to put up another step by step guide if that's the case

Stay tuned- TPU's News Dept is prepping an article for the front page

 

[[Ion]]

Yes, will check the thread later and prepare new screenshots if necessary

 

[stinger608]

Also a quick note, the front page news of this challenge is live now:

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194391

Might want to throw that in the original post Norton.

 

[theonedub]

- $20 PayPal gift X2 - provided by theonedub

That looks better

 

[erocker]

It may be a good idea to link to a tutorial/directions on getting WCG running on a rig.

 

[Norton]

It may be a good idea to link to a tutorial/directions on getting WCG running on a rig.

We're double checking the process now- World Community Grid (WCG) redid their website less than a week ago so our step by step guide may by invalid atm

*Note to potential new crunchers- WCG's website has a brief blackout daily for stats updates from appr. 00:30-01:30 GMT

*Update- this link should work OK (OP updated):
*How to join our Team and get started
*Note- the WCG website has been updated- screenshots may differ slightly

 

[BUCK NASTY]

Not going to mention the Freezer64Pro?

That would not be the FreezerPro64 that I sent you, would it?

 

[[Ion]]

That would not be the FreezerPro64 that I sent you, would it?

No, that one ended up getting used in the AMD X2 system I had at the point that eventually ended up getting sold. This is another one I picked up recently b/c it was free and I figured it would be useful for something, eventually

 

[BUCK NASTY]

No, that one ended up getting used in the AMD X2 system I had at the point that eventually ended up getting sold. This is another one I picked up recently b/c it was free and I figured it would be useful for something, eventually

No worries my friend. Pay it forward!!!!

I will have the following crunching for TPU during the challenge:

Both Opty 48 core Servers(Linux)
i7-870 @ 4.0ghz(Linux)
Phenom II x4 B90 @ 3.7Ghz(Win7)
Phenom II X4 B50 @ 3.4Ghz(Linux)
Phenom x4 9550 @ 2.8Ghz(Win7)HTPC
Might get the Phenom x4 9850 @ 3.0Ghz/K9A2 Platinum going as well(Linux)

Let's do this!

 

[Nordic]

I wonder if we and the HWBOT team could cooperate. If we did some benching they might crunching?

 

[manofthem]

It may be a good idea to link to a tutorial/directions on getting WCG running on a rig.

Alrighty, we got erocker coming in!

 

[Easy Rhino]

I assume there is a Linux client?

 

[Nordic]

I assume there is a Linux client?

There is. You can follow the instructions that Norton provided for the most part, except you would download boinc from the software center.

The Cruncher's Guide to The Linux Operating System is in the making.

I like crunching on linux better. Its free performance.

 

[[Ion]]

No worries my friend. Pay it forward!!!!

I will have the following crunching for TPU during the challenge:

Both Opty servers(Linux)
i7-870 @ 4.0ghz(Linux)
Phenom II x4 B90 @ 3.7Ghz(Win7)
Phenom II X4 B50 @ 3.4Ghz(Linux)
Phenom x4 9550 @ 2.8Ghz(Win7)HTPC
Might get the Phenom x4 9850 @ 3.0Ghz/K9A2 Platinum going as well(Linux)

Let's do this!

Sweet!
I'll have:
Opty 4P (Linux)
3770k @ 4.0 (Win7)
3770k @ 3.6 (Linux)
2600k @ 4.4 (Linux)
2700k @ 4.4 (Win7)
Q6600 @ 2.4 (Win7) (probably, may need the PSU for the i920 below)
920 @ who knows (Linux)
3612QM @ 2.8 (Win7)
3537U @ 2.8 (Win8)
3x2100 @ 3.1 (Win7)
L7600 @ 1.6 (Win7)
T9600 @ 2.8 (Win7)
3930k @ 4.5 (Win7)
FX8350 @ 4.0 (Linux)
920 @ 3.8 (Win7)

That's the fleet. So there we are

I've switched back over to exclusively FAAH again so that I'm at peak PPD by the time the competition starts.

 

[Easy Rhino]

Sweet!
I'll have:
Opty 4P (Linux)
3770k @ 4.0 (Win7)
3770k @ 3.6 (Linux)
2600k @ 4.4 (Linux)
2700k @ 4.4 (Win7)
Q6600 @ 2.4 (Win7) (probably, may need the PSU for the i920 below)
920 @ who knows (Linux)
3612QM @ 2.8 (Win7)
3537U @ 2.8 (Win8)
3x2100 @ 3.1 (Win7)
L7600 @ 1.6 (Win7)
T9600 @ 2.8 (Win7)
3930k @ 4.5 (Win7)
FX8350 @ 4.0 (Linux)
920 @ 3.8 (Win7)

That's the fleet. So there we are

I've switched back over to exclusively FAAH again so that I'm at peak PPD by the time the competition starts.

how much is your electric bill

 

[TRWOV]

count me in! Throwing the backup 8350 into the fray for the challenge.

 

[[Ion]]

how much is your electric bill

I live in the school dorm, so we don't pay extra for electricity. I'd estimate that everything is probably a total of about 2KW or so, which is considerably less than things were last year with the ancient 4P and all of the G92 cards (I had 10 G92 cards, each of which are probably about 100w folding).

 

[manofthem]

In all humility, I will post that I'll be crunchning on a 2600k @4.5ghz and a 2100 @3.1ghz, but they will be crunching 24/7 for the challenge.

 

[BUCK NASTY]

count me in! Throwing the backup 8350 into the fray for the challenge.

Dude, how much hardware do you have to have when a FX-8350 is in your back-up fleet? Rock on TRWOV!

 

[Peter1986C]

I am in, with Intel-desk being forced to "evolve" into Darwin. PPD should more or less double now the good old Wolfdale E8400 is being replaced wth a Trinity 740. Asgard-AMD will assist this weekend while Darwin will spool up.

If anyone of the European crunchers wishes to get the RAM that has been in Intel-desk so far (OCZ Platinum DDR2-1066), he or she better sends me PM before it goes to the B/S/T/ forum and Ebay. Cruncher discount is in effect.