TechpowerUp's Spring 2017 WCG Challenge (3/22 thru 3/30)- crunch/fold with TPU and WIN!!!

[Norton]

TechpowerUp's Spring 2017 WCG Challenge- March 22nd thru March 30th, 2017

Join us to crunch/fold and even get a chance to win some cool stuff!!!

Welcome to TechpowerUp's Spring 2017 WCG Challenge

Spring is right around the corner and it's time for TechpowerUp to turn up the digital heat by running our PC's by crunching or folding for a good cause!


Link to the official Challenge results:
https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/challenge/viewTeamChallenge.do?challengeId=8306


We have opened this Challenge to show our continued support of the important work done by the World Community Grid and Folding@Home.


The plan:

Have some friendly competition between WCG Teams as well as within our TPU Teams and hopefully get a few of our fellow TPU'ers to join in.


Fellow TPU members and WCG crunchers are invited to join our Team to heat up some silicon for a good cause, hang out, have a little fun, and even get a chance to win some nice prizes*
* some restrictions apply- see prize post below

How to join:
* note- This Challenge is for WCG Team crunching. However, we work closely with the TPU folding Team and we will be sharing some of the prizes offered with active TPU folders- If you have a Radeon 7850/GeForce 660Ti or better gpu and want to try folding then you are welcome to do that.

For crunching....
Follow this link to register and join our Team:
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/reg/viewRegister.do?teamID=S8TLJ6TFV1
Once you're registered you can follow the prompts and install software- it's all pretty straight forward
If you have any questions you can post them in this thread, our Team thread, or PM an existing Team member.
Our Team thread:
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/tpus-wcg-boinc-team.85784/
For folding....
See this thread to get started:
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/easy-setup-for-folding-home.200520/
If you have any questions you can post them in this thread, the folding Team thread, or PM an existing Team member.
Folding Team thread:
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/tpus-f-h-team.13038/

Some of our past Challenge threads:

Spoiler

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...llenge-october-16th-thru-23rd-join-us.216695/
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...21st-2015-for-dad-for-kreij-win-stuff.213211/
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...2015-join-us-to-crunch-fold-win-stuff.210158/
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...day-challenge-16-november-25-november.206945/
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...challenge-october-16th-thru-23rd-2014.206296/
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...ol-heat-challenge-8-28-thru-8-31-2014.204480/
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...3-crunch-fold-and-win-some-cool-stuff.200648/
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...22-2014-update-tpu-wins-the-challenge.197528/
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...6-11-22-2013-join-us-crunch-win-stuff.194389/
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/world-cep2-challenge-6-october-14-october.191430/
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/world-community-grid-summer-challenge.186603/
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/wcg-tpu-mothers-day-challenge-2013-5-10-5-19-2013.183575/
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/world-community-grid-february-team-challenge.179726/
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/t...nquer-cancer-1st-2nd-week-of-november.174550/
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/wcg-8th-birthday-challenge.175235/

Many more here too:
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/tpu-wcg-challenges-thread.111360/
Challenges link at WCG:
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/challenge/viewTeamChallengeHistory.do?teamId=S8TLJ6TFV1

See the next post for prize info- under construction...., check for updates frequently!

CHALLENGE RESULTS (UPDATED DAILY):
-
-
-

 

[Norton]

TPU Spring Challenge 2017- Prize Pool
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 one of two Cruncher Combo's

#1 - Socket 2011 Xeon (16 core/32 thread) Cruncher Combo* donated by @twilyth
m/b - Supermicro X9DAi
ram - 16 gig (4x4) of ECC ram - Kingston kvr1333D3S8E9Sk2
chips - 2 x QA92 Engineering Samples for the 2687W [v1] cpu
coolers - 2 x Noctua NH-D14

#2 - Socket 1366 Xeon (6 core/12 thread) Cruncher Combo donated by @4x4n
- Xeon X5670
- Gigabyte GA-EX58 UD3R
- 3x2gb OCZ Platinum PC3 15000
- Thermalright TRUE 120 cooler

#3 - Socket 1155/Xeon (4 core/4 thread) Cruncher Combo donated by @bogmali
CPU- Xeon E3-1220 V2
MB-Gigabyte Z77X-UP7
RAM- 2x4gb DDR3
Cooler- TBA

The winners of a 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.

*Grand prizes are available to Team members in the USA (Canada/Mexico if extra shipping is paid)- shipping would be too difficult otherwise. If you don't live in the USA and still want to be included in the drawing please PM me to discuss. You would need to- A) have a US address to ship to OR B) want to work out shipping details separately

Other Prizes
*Note-If anyone is interested in donating a prize- please contact me

Hardware Prizes:
* available in the USA only unless listed as worldwide due to shipping costs and/or customs/regulatory concerns. If you have an available US shipping address or want to discuss details please PM me.

- (2) CoolerMaster Liquid Master Pro 240 AIO coolers donated by @sneekypeet

- (2) AZIO EXO1 Gaming mouse donated by @stinger608

- Gigabyte R9 270 2Gb OC graphics card (available worldwide) donated by @Caring1

- (2) Radeon 7950 graphics cards donated by @twilyth

- Radeon 7870 graphics card donated by @twilyth

- 2x2GB DDR3 RAM kit and Radeon X1650 graphics card donated by @XZero450

Software/other Prizes (available worldwide*):
*restrictions may apply depending on local regulations

- Windows 10 Pro key donated by @Bow

- (2) $25 Paypal gifts (or equivalent) donated by @Norton

- (2) $25 Paypal gifts (or equivalent) donated by @theonedub

- (1) $25 Paypal gift donated by @Bow

Game Giveaway- hosted by @manofthem
Date/Games offered/Details- TBA
Link: TBA

Requirements/terms to qualify for a prize:
* in order for your name to be drawn- you will need to be an active 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 TechPowerUp Spring 2017 Challenge
- Earn a minimum of 5,000 BOINC points for Team WCG-TPU during the Qualifying period (folders see note below)
- Qualifying period ends when all participants reach 5,000 BOINC points or 4/15/2017 (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/folding during this Challenge
*Note- If you fold for the TPU Team during the Challenge you may still qualify for the hardware/software prizes and the game giveaway (Grand prizes will require crunching contribution). PM me to discuss.

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

 

[manofthem]

Balls to the wall time!

Challenge time always bring fun and and increased team spirit.

I had got my 4790 back up running caseless, and I switched some fans around on the h80i. Then I left yesterday morning out of town and forgot about checking in on the system. I remoted in twice today (morning then forgot again til late tonight), and temps seemed pretty decent still, though on the high side. Still debating on switching the cooler but I may let it run for now til something goes wrong.

 

[twilyth]

How is that going to work with the Folding crew? For example are we going to use the same criteria for eligibility.

 

[Norton]

How is that going to work with the Folding crew? For example are we going to use the same criteria for eligibility.

Crunching or folding for TPU over the duration of the challenge is the main qualifier. Crunching will be necessary for the hardware prizes but either will be acceptable for the game giveaway and non-hardware prizes. Still drafting the prize post but expect it to be similar to how past challenges have been setup.

 

[stinger608]

Now is this cool sh!t or what? LOLOL

Bless you @Norton

 

[Zachary85]

Time to dust off my backup server and get it back online for a few days.

 

[Black.Raven]

Will be joining, and see how high my score count can get per day

 

[VulkanBros]

I'm all in with all machinery

 

[Sasqui]

4790k and 3570k will be up and running with the 2x x5670s

 

[Arjai]

All in with my Lappy-Top and the i5 that goes non-stop!

 

[stinger608]

On top of my current rigs, I'll have a little socket 1155 with an i5-3570 crunching away later today. Hopefully, it's spooled up by the challenge date.

Finally came across an extra power supply that will actually fit the Pandora case.

 

[bubbleawsome]

Going to be getting a new GPU in during this challenge, hoping it doesn't interfere with my output.

My machine should be spooled up though, ready to go!

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

do you think xp is safe enough to use just for the duration of the challenge or does it compromise the network its on too

 

[Norton]

do you think xp is safe enough to use just for the duration of the challenge or does it compromise the network its on too

There's quite a few machines crunching that still run XP... the connection between WCG and a PC is pretty secure iirc

EDIT- prize post is updated!
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...ch-fold-with-tpu-and-win.231638/#post-3622912

 

[4x4n]

All back up to speed and set for the challenge

 

[OneMoar]

not entering can't afford to pay the power bill as it is
but good luck people

 

[madness777]

I'm getting a QX9770 very soon! Poor boy doesn't know what will hit (heat) him
Otherwise, yea, I will not be participating in the prize draw, however, I'm grateful for all donators and their generosity and humbly wish the prizes will find a great home!
Now let's get this thing started!

 

[Norton]

We have about 36 hours to go ... start your engines Team!!!

Well I'm off to a good start

3 of my remote rigs aren't reporting any work since early yesterday and the 2600k I have running on the Kreij account died on me

Hoping the remote rigs are just a communications issue or a power blip (fingers crossed). The 2600k may have a dead chip or board... will take it apart today and see what happened

 

[Sasqui]

Hoping the remote rigs are just a communications issue or a power blip (fingers crossed). The 2600k may have a dead chip or board... will take it apart today and see what happened

Thats sucks.. fingers crossed. Are the remote rigs at the same location?

 

[Disparia]

WCG... I think last time I had a small army of Q6600 and Atom 330.

i5-6600, up 3/20.
A8-5500, up 3/20.
i5-3470, up 3/21.
FX-8120, not yet, needs work.

 

[Norton]

Thats sucks.. fingers crossed. Are the remote rigs at the same location?

Yes they are- here now and it looks like it was just an internet connection issue. Just reset the modem and got 2 rigs all set/all work reported... still waiting on the 3rd one to do so. I may have to drag the monitor/kb/mouse over to it but I hope I don't have to since it's a real pain to do so.

When I get home later today I'm going to pull the cooler on the 2600k system and try to reset the chip/ram and clear the BIOS. It was running fine yesterday and all I tried to do was restart it since the wireless seemed to not be working...It didn't restart/boot since then. starting giving me start/stop's on the fans and a mixture of odd POST codes???

 

[Sasqui]

It didn't restart/boot since then. starting giving me start/stop's on the fans and a mixture of odd POST codes???

My EVGA started doing that, but let it run for a while near stock, then took it home to put the Frozr on Now it's back up running at 4Ghz with no complaints ...X5670. Weird.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Never understood this, what's with this... i've have one machine crunching 24/7 anyways, what's the difference here?

 

[Norton]

Never understood this, what's with this... i've have one machine crunching 24/7 anyways, what's the difference here?

It's a competition between WCG crunching Teams. We participate and/or host these from time to time to bring the Team together, get our part-timers to join in, giveaway some goods, recruit new members, etc... Just a bit of fun and fellowship with our members for a good cause

*UPDATE- My FX-8350 is back up and reporting!