PrimeGrid: The Winter Solstice Challenge

TroubledBunny · Post by **TroubledBunny** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 11:50 am

Last PrimeGrid challenge of the year and time to wind up your GPUs.

The Winter Solstice Challenge

Just one PPS Sieve WU will get you 2311 credits!! and to put that in perspective it takes my GTX275 19mins to crunch one WU.
If you have a Fermi then it's a must... On a GTX460 we're talking 16min and on the GTX480 7mins. ATI cards aren't forgotten, on a HD5870 we're talking 16mins.
That's a huge amount of credit per day just from one card.

For NVIDIA you need the CUDA driver and ATI needs the APP driver.
If your GPU is older than the ones listed on the above thread then they may well not be supported, check first before going through the pain of installing additional drivers.

You can also use your CPUs if you want but the GPU app is much more efficient. More times are shown on the above thread.

Challenge lasts 3 days and 5 hours and starts TODAY 18 December 2010 18:00 UTC. Explanation for the strange challenge period is also in the thread.

I'll be there of course but my host only run for 3/4 of the day, I'm sure you lot will trounce me in the standings.

Good luck all!
Peter

Temujin · Post by **Temujin** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 2:48 pm

I'll be there :thumbup:

Post by **UBT - bobuk** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:20 pm

me toooooooo

b.

idb · Post by **idb** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 6:24 pm

Just fired up 3 of my machines to take part, although as none of them have active GPUs I doubt if I'll do very well.

I'll provide that stats every 12 hours as usual.

This will be my last challenge though. I've decided that after 14 odd years of running distributed processing projects (any other old DNETers here?) it was time to give it all a rest. Seems a bit pointless spending 50 hours on a PG task that a GPU will do in 10 (or so) minutes.

Ian

idb · Post by **idb** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 8:11 pm

Challenge stats as of 2010 12 18 20:00:03 (UTC)

Teams (+-2) ...

14 PrimeSearchTeam 180258.0
15 Crunching Family 157148.0
16 UK BOINC Team 147904.0
17 BOINC.Italy 134038.0
18 Team China 108617.0

UK BOINC Team members ...

65 Localizer 41598.0
84 Temujin 34665.0
88 Madas91 34665.0
168 TroubledBunny 13866.0
199 Adrian Taylor 9244.0
232 UBT - mickyb69 6933.0
259 UBT - bobuk 4622.0
298 UBT - Mikeejones 2311.0

Post by **UBT - Mikee** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 8:20 pm

idb wrote:Seems a bit pointless spending 50 hours on a PG task that a GPU will do in 10 (or so) minutes.

Ian

I tend to agree. I downloaded some CPU WUs but when I realised that I would only get 1 per CPU done in time (90 odd hours) it did seem a bit pointless. CPUs back to doing primaboinca!

idb · Post by **idb** » Sun Dec 19, 2010 6:32 am

Challenge stats as of 2010 12 19 06:30:09 (UTC)

Teams (+-2) ...

14 The Knights Who Say Ni! 1839556.0
15 Russia 1684719.0
16 UK BOINC Team 1633877.0
17 Crunching Family 1273361.0
18 Team China 1185543.0

UK BOINC Team members ...

45 Localizer 531530.0
59 Temujin 446023.0
97 Madas91 288875.0
245 Adrian Taylor 97062.0
351 UBT - mickyb69 48531.0
364 TroubledBunny 46220.0
371 UBT - bobuk 41598.0
418 UBT - Terry 32354.0
428 LupusUK 32354.0
458 david 27732.0
470 UBT - Mikeejones 23110.0
614 idb 6933.0
633 Ram Raider 6933.0
681 Mattyp101 2311.0
706 andyt Home 2311.0

Localizer · Post by **Localizer** » Sun Dec 19, 2010 10:06 am

............... Going to need a few more hosts/members to make a dent in this one.

UBT - mickyb69 · Post by **UBT - mickyb69** » Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:16 pm

Have got both GPU's and 4cpu cores on the go now, About 11 hrs for each WU on the E4500 and about 10 hrs on the E7400 . :o
Cpu's giving me about 4k per day more than all other projects :lol:
GPU's giving me about 80k more than DNETC

idb · Post by **idb** » Sun Dec 19, 2010 1:22 pm

Challenge stats as of 2010 12 19 13:15:11 (UTC)

Teams (+-2) ...

12 The Knights Who Say Ni! 3387926.0
13 Free-DC 3367127.0
14 UK BOINC Team 3041276.0
15 PrimeSearchTeam 3022788.0
16 Russia 2655339.0

UK BOINC Team members ...

30 Localizer 1111591.0
60 Temujin 704855.0
101 Madas91 473755.0
254 Adrian Taylor 157148.0
361 UBT - mickyb69 94751.0
362 ragtag 94751.0
372 TroubledBunny 90129.0
433 UBT - bobuk 64708.0
442 UBT - Terry 60086.0
451 david 60086.0
476 LupusUK 50842.0
539 UBT - Mikeejones 39287.0
749 andyt Home 9244.0
781 idb 9244.0
806 Mattyp101 6933.0
817 Ram Raider 6933.0
903 IanLee 4622.0
916 UBT - JohnR 2311.0

idb · Post by **idb** » Sun Dec 19, 2010 6:03 pm

Challenge stats as of 2010 12 19 18:00:15 (UTC)

Teams (+-2) ...

13 Free-DC 4277661.0
14 PrimeSearchTeam 4002652.0
15 UK BOINC Team 3958743.0
16 JISATORA@W-ASCII 3531208.0
17 The Scottish Boinc Team 3459567.0

UK BOINC Team members ...

30 Localizer 1409710.0
62 Temujin 887424.0
108 Madas91 586994.0
263 Adrian Taylor 201057.0
265 ragtag 198746.0
361 TroubledBunny 129416.0
372 UBT - mickyb69 120172.0
462 UBT - bobuk 80885.0
468 UBT - Terry 80885.0
477 david 76263.0
509 LupusUK 64708.0
569 UBT - Mikeejones 48531.0
721 idb 20799.0
858 andyt Home 11555.0
859 Mattyp101 11555.0
863 Ram Raider 11555.0
959 IanLee 4622.0
989 Ben 4622.0
1008 UBT - JohnR 4622.0
1125 Silverfish 2311.0
1128 Obfusec 2311.0

idb · Post by **idb** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 6:22 am

Challenge stats as of 2010 12 20 06:15:19 (UTC)

Teams (+-2) ...

15 Free-DC 6787407.0
16 The Scottish Boinc Team 6459245.0
17 UK BOINC Team 6371427.0
18 PrimeSearchTeam 6292853.0
19 Russia 5345343.0

UK BOINC Team members ...

32 Localizer 2165407.0
67 Temujin 1363490.0
112 Madas91 924400.0
211 ragtag 469133.0
265 Adrian Taylor 328162.0
401 UBT - mickyb69 187191.0
417 david 177947.0
433 TroubledBunny 161770.0
481 UBT - Terry 134038.0
499 UBT - bobuk 124794.0
554 LupusUK 99373.0
617 UBT - Mikeejones 76263.0
828 andyt Home 30043.0
832 idb 30043.0
856 Darren 27732.0
895 UBT - JohnR 23110.0
1056 Ram Raider 11555.0
1058 Mattyp101 11555.0
1079 IanLee 9244.0
1177 Obfusec 6933.0
1226 Ben 4622.0
1364 Silverfish 2311.0
1414 Space Cowboy 2311.0

Post by **Jeffers** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 6:58 am

I've started running Primegrid recently and I've been getting some good credit from it.

However I've been having some strange things going on.... I started getting error messages about tasks ending with zero status but no finished file which also recommended resetting the project. I had noticed that my RAC had been falling so I've now done the reset. But now I've got some WUs running that reckon they're going to take 64 hours?!?!?!?!? Any ideas as to what's going on?

I've noticed I'm not listed in the challenge stats, do I need to do anything in particular to be part of it, other than just crunching Primegrid?

Post by **UBT - Mikee** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 7:20 am

Jeffers wrote:I've started running Primegrid recently and I've been getting some good credit from it.

However I've been having some strange things going on.... I started getting error messages about tasks ending with zero status but no finished file which also recommended resetting the project. I had noticed that my RAC had been falling so I've now done the reset. But now I've got some WUs running that reckon they're going to take 64 hours?!?!?!?!? Any ideas as to what's going on?

I've noticed I'm not listed in the challenge stats, do I need to do anything in particular to be part of it, other than just crunching Primegrid?

Ones you recently finished were downloaded before the start of the challenge and will not count. Also they are version 1.36 which were apparantly a bit buggy. Abort any that are still 1.36 and any that were downloaded before 18:00 18 December.

fellie · Post by **fellie** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 10:23 am

All my wu's are now 1.37's .. so hopefully they will count

Post by **Jeffers** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 11:51 am

UBT - Mikee wrote:
Jeffers wrote:I've started running Primegrid recently and I've been getting some good credit from it.

However I've been having some strange things going on.... I started getting error messages about tasks ending with zero status but no finished file which also recommended resetting the project. I had noticed that my RAC had been falling so I've now done the reset. But now I've got some WUs running that reckon they're going to take 64 hours?!?!?!?!? Any ideas as to what's going on?

I've noticed I'm not listed in the challenge stats, do I need to do anything in particular to be part of it, other than just crunching Primegrid?
Ones you recently finished were downloaded before the start of the challenge and will not count. Also they are version 1.36 which were apparantly a bit buggy. Abort any that are still 1.36 and any that were downloaded before 18:00 18 December.

Right....

I've checked through the Primegrid WUs. THe ones that were predicting the very long run times were all 1.36, so I've aborted them as recommended. The rest are 1.37 so should be OK, yes?

Oddly enough, the 1.36 WUs were just downloaded early this morning after I'd done the project reset. Are they still issuing these along with the 1.37s?

Resetting the project does seem to have sorted things, though. I've had no more error messages and RAC is rising again.

TroubledBunny · Post by **TroubledBunny** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 12:02 pm

Jeffers,
You shouldn't be getting any more 1.36 WUs according to Rytis.
See this message: Message 29494
If you do get one then abort it and let PrimeGrid know.
Peter

491*2^698645+1 is prime!

Post by **Jeffers** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 1:17 pm

Still received a couple more 1.36 WUs this morning. They stand out because of the very long predicted run times. I've aborted them and I'll post on Primegrid to let them know what's happening.

Zydor · Post by **Zydor** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 1:56 pm

As a generalisation, ignore predicted run times - they are invariably way way out. The reason is the way BOINC calculates it, which can get very complicated as it has to deal with an infinite array of computer systems and architectures, yet still be able to deal with new ones as they come along. The detailed reasons would take up a volume of encyclopedia Brittanica on its own .... however, once waded through its understandable why there is the variation there is striking at the very core of BOINC itself and how it operates. Its very unlikely to be fixed for the forseeable future - if ever frankly.

The best way to get a time remaining estimate is to take the percentage complete and time taken so far, then extrapolate to 100%. EG: If a WU is 40% complete and taken 4 hours so far, there is 6 hours to go, and will take about 10hours in total. This method is usually on the money after about 20-30% of the WU is crunched.

It is very common to get seemingly massive times to complete on a WU particularly if the previous WUs were short ones, and the new ones are long ones. You will find the massive times will plummet as soon as you start to crunch the WU. It gets back to how BOINC calculates the whole piece. Just ignore the time to complete - its practically meaningless in the vast majority of cases - with a few minor exceptions.

Regards
Zy

TroubledBunny · Post by **TroubledBunny** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 2:03 pm

Zydor,
I agree but in the case of those 1.36 WUs the problem was that they were faulty and several people reported 0% complete after several hours.
Thanks,
Peter

Post by **Jeffers** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 4:43 pm

So are all 1.36 WUs screwed or not?
I've just killed another 4 that have been downloaded today. A couple had already done some processing and, although the remaining run time was pretty high, they were reporting progress on the percent complete figure. SO do I kill all 1.36 WUs that come in or not????
I will check the Primegrid forum as well to see if there's been an update there....

PS, just checked on Primegrid and it seems that only CUDA 1.36 units are suspect. WUs at 1.36 for CPU rather than GPU are OK. See here http://www.primegrid.com/forum_thread.p ... true#29681
I may have just wasted some perfectly good crunching! :x

TroubledBunny · Post by **TroubledBunny** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 5:01 pm

Which platform are you using?
Checking the applications for PPS Sieve I see that 1.36 is current for:
Microsoft Windows (98 or later) running on an Intel x86-compatible CPU
Microsoft Windows running on an AMD x86_64 or Intel EM64T CPU
Linux running on an Intel x86-compatible CPU
Mac OS 10.4 or later running on Intel - CPU and CUDA
Mac OS 10.5+ running on an Intel 64-bit - CPU and CUDA

If you are windows or linux CUDA then it should NOT be version 1.36
The only CUDA 1.36 apps that look current are for MAC.

Check the applications for PPS Sieve here

Post by **Jeffers** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 5:06 pm

Sorted I think! Thanks for the help in clarifying the situation.

TroubledBunny · Post by **TroubledBunny** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 5:28 pm

During challenges I modify my cc_config.xml to report completed WUs immediately...

<cc_config>
<log_flags>
...
</log_flags>
<options>
<report_results_immediately>1</report_results_immediately>
...
</options>
</cc_config>

Obviously it's up to you if want to do this, but it takes away the pain of making sure you send the completed work before the end of the challenge.
It's also helps if you are prime searching as the first person to report will be the 'finder' and the second will be the checker (wing man if you prefer) only.

If you do modify the file you need to make the BOINC manager get the new setting by going to the menu >Advanced>Read config file. You should get a message like: 'Config: report completed tasks immediately' in your messages log.

All the best,
Peter

idb · Post by **idb** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 6:04 pm

Challenge stats as of 2010 12 20 18:00:28 (UTC)

Teams (+-2) ...

15 The Scottish Boinc Team 9509765.0
16 Free-DC 9389593.0
17 UK BOINC Team 8786422.0
18 PrimeSearchTeam 8564566.0
19 AMD Users 7214942.0

UK BOINC Team members ...

33 Localizer 2884128.0
73 Temujin 1786403.0
110 Madas91 1241007.0
197 ragtag 707166.0
279 Adrian Taylor 436779.0
415 UBT - mickyb69 258832.0
417 TroubledBunny 254210.0
421 david 249588.0
496 UBT - Terry 184880.0
523 UBT - bobuk 166392.0
651 LupusUK 101684.0
668 UBT - Mikeejones 99373.0
683 Darren 94751.0
726 UBT - JohnR 80885.0
869 idb 46220.0
883 andyt Home 43909.0
918 Jeffers 39287.0
1026 Mattyp101 25421.0
1032 Ram Raider 23110.0
1103 IanLee 18488.0
1116 Silverfish 18488.0
1270 Obfusec 9244.0
1360 Space Cowboy 6933.0
1426 Ben 4622.0
1469 John Williamson 4622.0

UBT - mickyb69 · Post by **UBT - mickyb69** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 7:09 pm

1.36's are for cpu's but were given to the gpu's when they first came out .
Should get 1.37's on your gpu's .

If my Nvidia cards overheat on P.G (greedy me o/c too much ) they tend to slow right down and take anything up to 30mins longer ....full power off Reboot and all's fine !

If you reset the project you get silly times for a day or 2

TroubledBunny · Post by **TroubledBunny** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 7:28 pm

UBT - mickyb69 wrote:1.36's are for cpu's but were given to the gpu's when they first came out .
Should get 1.37's on your gpu's .

And 1.35 WUs on your ATi cards

UBT - mickyb69 · Post by **UBT - mickyb69** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 8:09 pm

And 1.35 WUs on your ATi cards Wink

Them ATi's are Witchcraft,

Zydor · Post by **Zydor** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:04 am

UBT - mickyb69 wrote: .... Them ATi's are Witchcraft,

I resemble that remark :happy5:

Regards
Zy

idb · Post by **idb** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:12 am

Challenge stats as of 2010 12 21 07:00:33 (UTC)

Teams (+-2) ...

15 The Scottish Boinc Team 13175011.0
16 Free-DC 12613438.0
17 UK BOINC Team 11418651.0
18 PrimeSearchTeam 11067379.0
19 L'Alliance Francophone 10149912.0

UK BOINC Team members ...

34 Localizer 3686045.0
71 Temujin 2283268.0
123 Madas91 1536815.0
183 ragtag 991419.0
297 Adrian Taylor 540774.0
408 david 358205.0
432 UBT - mickyb69 330473.0
449 TroubledBunny 300430.0
512 UBT - Terry 240344.0
542 UBT - bobuk 214923.0
579 Darren 191813.0
635 UBT - JohnR 150215.0
663 LupusUK 138660.0
728 UBT - Mikeejones 110928.0
809 Jeffers 85507.0
904 idb 57775.0
923 andyt Home 55464.0
1090 Ram Raider 32354.0
1137 Mattyp101 27732.0
1207 IanLee 20799.0
1260 Silverfish 18488.0
1308 Obfusec 13866.0
1339 John Williamson 11555.0
1385 Space Cowboy 11555.0
1544 Ben 6933.0
1601 Woodles 4622.0

fellie · Post by **fellie** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:54 am

Ugh, I'm still not on the list... running 1.37's every 26 minutes :shock:

TroubledBunny · Post by **TroubledBunny** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:05 am

fellie,
Were your WUs downloaded before the challenge started?
If so they will NOT count for the challenge!
Peter

fellie · Post by **fellie** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:24 am

Good point Peter, I've just aborted all I had, and then downloaded the obligatory 100 wu's.
Checking on the PG site, all are noted as downloaded today, so should start counting..

Dammit :!:

fellie · Post by **fellie** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 2:59 pm

1375 fellie UK BOINC Team 13866.00

To little to late :shock:

UBT - mickyb69 · Post by **UBT - mickyb69** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 6:30 pm

On a happy note 400k's a good score for me in 3 days :lol:
Took me 2 1/2 years to get my first million :lol:

idb · Post by **idb** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:38 pm

2 hours to go, and the current stats are as follows. I'll post the final stats for the team tomorrow.

Challenge stats as of 2010 12 21 21:30:38 (UTC)

Teams (+-2) ...

15 The Scottish Boinc Team 17584399.0
16 Free-DC 16107670.0
17 UK BOINC Team 14582410.0
18 L'Alliance Francophone 14071679.0
19 PrimeSearchTeam 13926086.0

UK BOINC Team members ...

37 Localizer 4573469.0
74 Temujin 2782444.0
122 Madas91 1927374.0
187 ragtag 1257184.0
318 Adrian Taylor 674812.0
412 david 459889.0
430 TroubledBunny 429846.0
433 UBT - mickyb69 415980.0
518 UBT - Terry 302741.0
536 Darren 286564.0
563 UBT - bobuk 265765.0
610 owlz.net 226478.0
632 UBT - JohnR 210301.0
735 LupusUK 147904.0
753 Jeffers 143282.0
754 UBT - Mikeejones 140971.0
824 Zydor 110928.0
929 idb 80885.0
1011 andyt Home 64708.0
1139 Ram Raider 41598.0
1202 Mattyp101 34665.0
1251 IanLee 30043.0
1334 Silverfish 23110.0
1335 Space Cowboy 23110.0
1371 John Williamson 18488.0
1384 fellie 18488.0
1406 Obfusec 18488.0
1461 Woodles 13866.0
1727 Ben 6933.0

Temujin · Post by **Temujin** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 10:36 pm

Well done all

fellie · Post by **fellie** » Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:10 am

1271 fellie UK BOINC Team 30043.00

Got a bit further up the ladder.. :D

Might use my pc for some gaming now, as I'd let it crunch for 3 days solid for the challenge :?

So, whats next

idb · Post by **idb** » Wed Dec 22, 2010 11:15 am

Final team stats for the challenge. Well done to all who participated.

Ian

Challenge stats as of 2010 12 22 00:15:43 (UTC)

Teams (+-2) ...

15 The Scottish Boinc Team 18390938.0
16 Free-DC 16553693.0
17 UK BOINC Team 15046921.0
18 L'Alliance Francophone 14667917.0
19 PrimeSearchTeam 14439128.0

UK BOINC Team members ...

36 Localizer 4691330.0
74 Temujin 2842530.0
124 Madas91 1982838.0
195 ragtag 1257184.0
316 Adrian Taylor 693300.0
413 david 473755.0
429 TroubledBunny 448334.0
438 UBT - mickyb69 427535.0
529 UBT - Terry 307363.0
539 Darren 298119.0
566 UBT - bobuk 272698.0
591 owlz.net 249588.0
646 UBT - JohnR 210301.0
678 Zydor 191813.0
742 LupusUK 154837.0
759 Jeffers 145593.0
760 UBT - Mikeejones 145593.0
941 idb 80885.0
998 andyt Home 69330.0
1146 Ram Raider 41598.0
1172 Mattyp101 39287.0
1251 IanLee 30043.0
1271 fellie 30043.0
1335 Silverfish 23110.0
1342 Space Cowboy 23110.0
1378 John Williamson 20799.0
1423 Obfusec 18488.0
1500 Woodles 13866.0
1727 Ben 6933.0

UK BOINC Team Forum

PrimeGrid: The Winter Solstice Challenge

PrimeGrid: The Winter Solstice Challenge

Still getting 1.36 units