PrimeGrid's 2018 Challenge Series World Cup Challenge

[UBT - Mikee]

Hi

Anyone fancy joining me and Meddy in the above challenge. We're currently 57th out of 79.

http://www.primegrid.com/

Mike

[LupusUK]

I'll help out by running a few tasks.
Recently replaced the thermal compound on the cpu heatsink due to temperature issues and I reckon running primegrid LLR tasks will be a good test.
So far so good. Three tasks running, leaving one core to feed the gpu, and the highest temp I'm seeing is 58°C which previously I was seeing with just one task running.

Michael

[UBT - Timbo]

HI Mikee (and everyone else),

This Challenge (called the "World Cup Challenge Project") requires you to allow tasks (in your PrimeGrid Account Preferences) to crunch "Sierpinski/Riesel Base 5 LLR (SR5)" tasks, using ONLY your CPUs.

This Challenge is a 5 DAY "Sprint" and runs from 00:00 UTC on 14th until 00:00 UTC on 19th June 2018.

Supported platforms:
Windows: 32 bit, 64 bit
Linux: 32 bit, 64 bit
Mac: 32 bit, 64 bit
Deadline: 6 days (up to 30 days)

Recent average CPU time: 9:24:37 (hr:min:sec)

PG Forum topic: http://www.primegrid.com/forum_thread.php?id=8027

So, if you want to join in, check your PrimeGrid Preferences...and make sure you "Use CPU" (and also "Use GPU") in the upper "Preferences" box as well as choosing the above project.

Your GPU can be used for another PG task or any other GPU based project.

regards
Tim

[UBT - Mikee]

Hi

You can reduce times if you have a multithread processor and run, say, 4 cores on 1 task.
From Primegrid site ...

Multi-threading optimisation instructions

Those looking to maximise their computer's performance during this challenge, or when running LLR in general, may find this information useful.


Your mileage may vary. Before the challenge starts, take some time and experiment and see what works best on your computer.
If you have an Intel CPU with hyperthreading, either turn off the hyperthreading in the BIOS, or set BOINC to use 50% of the processors.

If you're using a GPU for other tasks, it may be beneficial to leave hyperthreading on in the BIOS and instead tell BOINC to use 50% of the CPU's. This will allow one of the hyperthreads to service the GPU.


Use LLR's multithreaded mode. It requires a little bit of setup, but it's worth the effort. Follow these steps:

Create a app_config.xml file in the directory C:\ProgramData\BOINC\projects\www.primegrid.com\ (or wherever your BOINC data directory is located). For a quad core CPU, the file should contain the following contents. Change the two occurrences of "4" to the number of actual cores your computer has.

<app_config>
<app_version>
<app_name>llrSR5</app_name>
<cmdline>-t 4</cmdline>
<avg_ncpus>4</avg_ncpus>
</app_version>
</app_config>

After creating the file, click on "Options/Read config files". You should then restart BOINC or reboot.
The first time BOINC downloads an SR5 task, it may act a little strange and download 4 tasks instead of 1. The run times on this first set of tasks may look a bit strange too. This is normal. This will also occur anytime BOINC downloads more than one task at a time. This can be avoided by setting "Use at most [ 1 ] % of the CPUs" before you download SR5 tasks. After one task was downloaded, increase the percentage.
Some people have observed that when using multithreaded LLR, hyperthreading is actually beneficial. We encourage you to experiment and see what works best for you.

According to the site we're now up to 45th out of 87

SR5-LLR: World Cup Challenge (2018-06-14 00:00:00 to 2018-06-19 00:00:00)
Last update: 2018-06-16 06:15:05

Paul Griffin and Gordon Lack are also listed as having credit.

Mike

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi Mikee

I added some CPU's to this last night, but I already had some SRBase and Cosmology tasks "on the go"...so, initially my contribution will be a bit on the low side.

The "team stats" for this Challenge are here:

http://www.primegrid.com/challenge/2018 ... teams.html

and the "user stats" for this Challenge are here:

http://www.primegrid.com/challenge/2018 ... users.html

and then just use your browser to find "uk boinc team" or its members.

regards
Tim

[UBT - Mikee]

Hi

LupusUK joins the fray! Team currently 45th out of 90.

Current participants are...

210 Mikeejones 36385.87
261 meddy2065 12743.19
341 LupusUK 3212.21
359 Paul Griffin 1699.12
374 Gordon Lack 1687.98

Anyone else want to join?

Mike

[UBT - Mikee]

Hi

Team now 49th out of 99.

Current participants are...

227 Mikeejones 43212
284 meddy2065 12743
317 LupusUK 8031
387 Gordon Lack 3193
402 Paul Griffin 1699

Anyone else want to join?

Mike

[UBT - Timbo]

Hiya Mikee,

Your forgot me:

457 UBT - Timbo 1266.64


regards
Tim

[UBT - Chris Suddick]

I've weighed in as well, although at 11+ hours per work unit it'll be a while before I show up.

Chris.

[UBT - Timbo]

I've weighed in as well, although at 11+ hours per work unit it'll be a while before I show up.

Chris.

Hi Chris

Excellent - Mikee will be pleased

Be prepared for the PG tasks to take longer than they initially state.

I found that you can expect them to take perhaps at least twice as long as the initial "estimated" time.

regards
Tim

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all

Stats as of 12 noon today (and 49 hours to go):

Code: Select all

227	UBT - Mikeejones	49448.10
258	UBT - Timbo		24507.57
302	meddy2065		12743.19
318	LupusUK			9739.81
404	Gordon Lack		3193.84
425	Paul Griffin		1699.12

I'm catching up with Mikee

regards
Tim

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all

Stats as of 1pm

Code: Select all

227	(n/c)	UBT - Mikeejones	49448.10 (n/c)
256	(+2)	UBT - Timbo		26210.03 (+1702.46)
302	(n/c)	meddy2065		12743.19 (n/c)
318	(n/c)	LupusUK			9739.81 (n/c)
404	(n/c)	Gordon Lack		3193.84 (n/c)
425	(n/c)	Paul Griffin		1699.12 (n/c)

Bit by bit....

regards
Tim

[UBT - Mikee]

Hi

Things are on the up then! Team did drop to 50th at one point but now up to 44th out of 105.

Don't forget if you have a mutithread PC you can get quicker results - though less of them. I'm doing 4 per WU they're still taking a while, mostly around 5 hours. I'll stop GPU work for a while and see if that's affecting things as I have 16 threads on Primegrid as well as 2 GPU tasks!

Mike

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all

3pm stats as of today:

Code: Select all

221	(+6)	UBT - Mikeejones	54493.09 (+5044.99)
229	(+27)	UBT - Timbo		48345.58 (+22135.55)

304	(-2)	meddy2065		12743.19 (n/c)
322	(-4)	LupusUK			9739.81 (n/c)

411	(-7)	Gordon Lack		3193.84 (n/c)
435	(-10)	Paul Griffin		1699.12 (n/c)
454	(new)	bigsinky		1602.93 (new)

I'm closing in on Mikee....and bigsinky is assisting too. Of course, I'm sure that not all the members listed above are doing this Challenge by choice...most are just crunching ANYTHING from PG and it just so happens that some of the tasks they have completed are SR Base 5 LLR types...

Team now in 39th place (out of 105).

regards
Tim

[UBT - Timbo]

I'll stop GPU work for a while and see if that's affecting things as I have 16 threads on Primegrid as well as 2 GPU tasks!

Mike

Hi Mike,

Stopping the GPU and running 100% on CPU's should help these PG tasks, as you will be crunching at least one extra task per unit time - even if that "unit of time" is the time to complete one PG work unit, which could take 5, 10 (or more) hours !!

But that should be enough to give you about 1,500 extra credits per additional completed task

regards
Tim

[UBT - Mikee]

I'm sure that not all the members listed above are doing this Challenge by choice...most are just crunching ANYTHING from PG and it just so happens that some of the tasks they have completed are SR Base 5 LLR types...

regards
Tim

Hi

Sure you're right. Just noticed that Meddy is a wingman on one of mine waiting to be validated. Had a look to see what he's doing. He's got 1200 work units on the go - 300 are SR5! I've got 4 in total! (I set it to 0.00 days extra work on purpose - keeping things tidy!)

Mike

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all

Stats as of 5:45pm today:

Code: Select all

224	(-3)	UBT - Mikeejones	56103.43 (+1610.34)
234	(+5)	UBT - Timbo		50052.05 (+1705.47)

310	(-6)	meddy2065		12743.19 (n/c)
327	(-5)	LupusUK			9739.81 (n/c)

421	(-10)	Gordon Lack		3193.84 (n/c)
443	(-8)	Paul Griffin		1699.12 (n/c)
459	(new)	duncanr			1603.67 (new)
460	(-6)	bigsinky		1602.93 (n/c)

I'm still catching up with Mikee...and new member "duncanr" joins in too.

regards
Tim

[UBT - Timbo]

Just noticed that Meddy is a wingman on one of mine waiting to be validated. Had a look to see what he's doing. He's got 1200 work units on the go - 300 are SR5! I've got 4 in total! (I set it to 0.00 days extra work on purpose - keeping things tidy!)

Mike

Hi Mike

I think you might need to check Meddy's "In progress" tasks again...

He's got about 138 SR5 tasks in progress right now and about 7 "pending":

1st PC:
http://www.primegrid.com/results.php?ho ... 1&appid=19

2nd PC:
http://www.primegrid.com/results.php?ho ... 1&appid=19

I've got 38 "in progress" and 10 "pending" - and that's with a cache of 0.25 days !!

regards
Tim

[Woodles]

Missed this and with only fifteen hours left and seven hours before I could switch anything over, I'm not going to bother

Well done to those that were paying attention

Mark

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all,

Stats as of 10:45am this morning:

Code: Select all

217	(+7)	UBT - Mikeejones	79552.55 (+23449.12)
238	(-4)	UBT - Timbo		59465.93 (+9413.88)

315	(+12)	LupusUK			14877.39 (+5137.58)
320	(-10)	meddy2065		14142.36 (+1399.17)

372	(new)	UBT - Chris Suddick	6745.77 (new)
415	(+45)	bigsinky		3418.97 (+1816.04)
446	(-25)	Gordon Lack		3193.84 (n/c)
473	(-30)	Paul Griffin		1699.12 (n/c)
486	(-26)	duncanr			1603.67 (n/c)

Seems I've fallen behind Mikee a wee bit and LupusUK has gained ground. Welcome to Chris S as well

I think the stats will be quite different in an hour or three...as I have at least 24 tasks that will complete within that timeframe...and as long as my various wingmen complete their tasks (if they haven't already) then I should have a bit of a PG credit windfall before midnight tonight

regards
Tim

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all

12 noon stats on the last day and just 13 hours to go !

Code: Select all

217	(n/c)	UBT - Mikeejones	81274.31 (+1721.76)
220	(+18)	UBT - Timbo		76411.41 (+16945.48)

316	(-1)	LupusUK			14877.39 (n/c)
322	(-2)	meddy2065		14142.36 (n/c)

363	(+9)	UBT - Chris Suddick	8117.38 (+1371.61)
417	(-2)	bigsinky		3418.97 (n/c)
448	(-2)	Gordon Lack		3193.84 (n/c)
478	(-5)	Paul Griffin		1699.12 (n/c)
493	(-7)	duncanr			1603.67 (n/c)

hehehehehe....my PG tasks are coming home to roost !!

Team stats-wise, I think we'll stay in 38th place, but we have a chance to leap maybe one place :

Code: Select all

35	LinusTechTips_Team	251852.83
36	BOINC@Denmark		251697.60 (diff: +46959.15 :-( ) 

37	Blasfemias		211026.40 (diff: +6287.95)
38	UK BOINC Team		204738.45
39	Ditech GmbH		189184.85 (diff: -15553.60)

40	BOINC Synergy		180700.88

regards
Tim

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all
Stats as of 12:45pm today:

Code: Select all

207	(+13)	UBT - Timbo		91858.01 (+15446.60)
217	(n/c)	UBT - Mikeejones	83121.91 (+1847.60)

317	(-1)	LupusUK			14877.39 (n/c)
323	(-1)	meddy2065		14142.36 (n/c)
365	(-2)	UBT - Chris Suddick	8117.38 (n/c)
406	(+42)	Gordon Lack		4905.45 (+1711.61)
418	(-1)	bigsinky		3418.97 (n/c)

479	(-1)	Paul Griffin		1699.12 (n/c)
494	(-1)	duncanr			1603.67 (n/c)

At last !! With a bit of luck I might just scrape into the Top 200..

regards
Tim

[LupusUK]

I have only one task running that is going to finish in time.
There should have been another one but that got suspended when i inadvertently downloaded some tasks from another project

Michael

[UBT - Chris Suddick]

The challenge finishes at midnight UTC which is 1am tomorrow morning so you have an extra hour to complete your work units.

Chris.

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all

Stats as of 9pm tonight - meaning there's 4 hours left until 00:00 UTC (1am BST):

Code: Select all

200	(+7)	UBT - Timbo		109021.62 (+17163.61)
213	(+4)	UBT - Mikeejones	94822.45 (+11700.54)

293	(+30)	meddy2065		25943.42 (+11801.36)

326	(-9)	LupusUK			14877.39 (n/c)
342	(+23)	UBT - Chris Suddick	12853.74 (+4736.36)

421	(-15)	Gordon Lack		4905.45 (n/c)
435	(-17)	bigsinky		3418.97 (n/c)

495	(-16)	Paul Griffin		1699.12  (n/c)
510	(-16)	duncanr			1603.67 (n/c)

I don't have any more PG taks that will finish in time, so I'm dependant on my remaining 14 "pending" tasks if I'm to add to my total
But thus far, a Top 200 place for Timbo and good results from other forum members

Teams stats wise:

Code: Select all

35	LinusTechTips_Team	276499.70
36	BOINC@Denmark		272336.26 (diff: +3190.44)
37	UK BOINC Team		269145.82
38	Blasfemias		248100.05
39	BOINC Synergy		210207.10

We're into 37th place and maybe might snatch 36th !!

And many thanks to Mikee for bringing this Challenge to our attention

regards
Tim

[UBT - Timbo]

The challenge finishes at midnight UTC which is 1am tomorrow morning so you have an extra hour to complete your work units.

Chris.

Good call Chris - I've adjusted my previous time-related posts as I always seem to forget that we're on BST and the BOINC world (usually) revolves around UTC !!

regards
Tim

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi all

This looks to be the final stats (as of 00:15 UTC):

Code: Select all

203	(-3)	UBT - Timbo		109021.62 (n/c)
215	(-2)	UBT - Mikeejones	98396.04 (+3573.59)

293	(n/c)	meddy2065		27648.18 (+1704.76)

324	(+2)	LupusUK			16490.37 (+1612.98)
343	(-1)	UBT - Chris Suddick	12853.74 (n/c)

425	(-4)	Gordon Lack		4905.45 (n/c)
437	(-2)	bigsinky		3418.97 (n/c)

498	(-3)	Paul Griffin		1699.12  (n/c)
512	(-2)	duncanr			1603.67 (n/c)

So, well done everyone for taking part.

Teams stats:

Code: Select all

35	LinusTechTips_Team	285952.85
36	BOINC@Denmark		280962.73

37	UK BOINC Team		276037.16

38	Blasfemias		258443.62
39	BOINC Synergy		220224.90

We didn't quite snatch 36th place...but 37th out of 113 teams isn't that bad.

regards
Tim

[UBT - Mikee]

Hi

That could have been close between me and Tim - over 12,000 came through after the finish - damn! Ah well onto the next one - FB which starts Thursday night.

Mike

[UBT - Timbo]

Hi

That could have been close between me and Tim - over 12,000 came through after the finish - damn! Ah well onto the next one - FB which starts Thursday night.

Mike

Hi Mike

Indeedy - that was too close to call...it was only in the last few hours that I had enough momentum to squeeze past.

Mind you - we were lucky that Mark wasn't involved, as we'd have been crushed like flys in comparison based on Marks CPU power !!

regards
Tim