Profitability
 

I have a small GPU farm (about 30 AMD 6950/7950/7970s) I'm currently bitcoin mining with. I'm having trouble finding benchmark numbers for OpenCL devices. Would it be at all profitable for me to join the prime95/gpu72 cause? Total power usage is about $600/month.

30? Oh my god...

In short answer, yes we could.

[QUOTE=sathackr;340991]I have a small GPU farm (about 30 AMD 6950/7950/7970s) I'm currently bitcoin mining with. I'm having trouble finding benchmark numbers for OpenCL devices. Would it be at all profitable for me to join the prime95/gpu72 cause? Total power usage is about $600/month.[/QUOTE]
Profitable to the project or to you financially?
Yes to the former, no to the latter; the expected ROI for PrimeNet is strongly negative.

[QUOTE=sdbardwick;340996]Profitable to the project or to you financially?
Yes to the former, no to the latter; the expected ROI for PrimeNet is strongly negative.[/QUOTE]

That's what I was afraid of. I would have to at least be able to cover the power usage for it to be an option...maybe if I find free electricity one day...

I am not a lawyer, nor am I a tax accountant, so you would want to consult someone in those realms, but if you are in the USA, it is worth noting that GIMPS has been officially designated as an IRS 501(c)(3) charitable organization. If you were investing $600 per month for electricity to power these systems *solely* for the purposes of GIMPS, it would seem to me (but please don't take my word for it!) that you might have a good argument for claiming an income tax deduction for a charitable contribution of $600 per month to GIMPS (or, rather, it's "official" name, Mersenne Research, Inc.). It seems as though some folks have made this similar argument when running dedicated hardware for [COLOR=black]Folding@Home[/COLOR] or SETI, which are also both incorporated in the USA as charitable organizations.

Again: Check with your lawyer/accountant/tax advisor before employing this strategy. But if it were feasible, you'd be able to recoup *some* of your expenses, while being able to help out our project.

Another idea: dedicate *some* of your power, say 1, 2, 5, etc. GPUs to GIMPS. You'd be investing less electricity cost into the project, while remaining able to contribute a meaningful amount of work (GPUs are remarkably adept at trial factoring; even one GPU would net you some decent credit).

If you donate [i]money[/i] to a charity there's no limit and no questions asked, as long as no services were provided in return. If you donate stuff, the stuff needs to be appraised if it's over $500 worth. I think the OP would be on thin ground to claim a deduction for electricity given to GIMPS; saving $100 on your taxes is not a good trade for the possibility of an audit. It's not like GIMPS can turn around and resell electricity or anything...

Note that you should have no trouble renting GPU services if you only expect $600/month, as this is far below what Amazon charges for renting GPU machines.

[QUOTE=NBtarheel_33;340999]
Again: Check with your lawyer/accountant/tax advisor before employing this strategy. But if it were feasible, you'd be able to recoup *some* of your expenses, while being able to help out our project.

<snip>

Another idea: dedicate *some* of your power, say 1, 2, 5, etc. GPUs to GIMPS. You'd be investing less electricity cost into the project, while remaining able to contribute a meaningful amount of work (GPUs are remarkably adept at trial factoring; even one GPU would net you some decent credit).[/QUOTE]

That's a possibility...I'll check with my accountants to see what they think.

[QUOTE=jasonp;341012]
Note that you should have no trouble renting GPU services if you only expect $600/month, as this is far below what Amazon charges for renting GPU machines
[/QUOTE]

Any idea where I could find a service that would connect GPU needers to GPU owners?

Just looking for a use for these if/when the bitcoin market comes crashing down. I'm a charitable person and if I can help further a cause, I'm for it.

[QUOTE=jasonp;341012]If you donate [i]money[/i] to a charity there's no limit and no questions asked, as long as no services were provided in return. If you donate stuff, the stuff needs to be appraised if it's over $500 worth. I think the OP would be on thin ground to claim a deduction for electricity given to GIMPS; saving $100 on your taxes is not a good trade for the possibility of an audit. It's not like GIMPS can turn around and resell electricity or anything...

Note that you should have no trouble renting GPU services if you only expect $600/month, as this is far below what Amazon charges for renting GPU machines.[/QUOTE]

If I perform work for a charity the value of my time is not deductible.
However, if I incur (say) expenses for the use of my automobile during
travel to/from the charity's place of business those expenses are deductible.

The cost of electricity certainly is a deductible expense. Documentation might be hard to produce, however..........

Indeed, if these computers are devoted [b]solely[/b] to GIMPS once can also
deduct either the direct cost of purchase or amortization costs.

I'm not familiar with the laws, and in the last decades judges opinions seem to matter more than the laws(resists the urge to rant about case law only applying to the litigants) so be careful even if you think you're in the right.

Although, I think 501(c)(3) is something the IRS has taken advantage of to take money out of people's pockets.

Here's a fun game. Get a copy of the Internal Revenue Code(Title 26) and turn to 501(c)(3) part. Then turn the pages backwards until you find a major heading. Then be careful not to yell out wtf at that point, because you're probably in a library.

Foreign Businesses and Corporations is the major heading I'm talking about. Kind of weird for Americans to paying that tax, now, isn't it?

[QUOTE=jasong;341334]
Although, I think 501(c)(3) is something the IRS has taken advantage of to take money out of people's pockets.
[/QUOTE]Oh?

Please explain how the IRS "take advantage" of 501(c)(3) to take money out of people's pockets.

If you can't explain how, then what evidence do you have that the IRS "takes advantage" of 501(c)(3) to take money out of people's pockets??

Or do you just hurl any old slur that comes to your mind?

[quote]Get a copy of the Internal Revenue Code(Title 26) and turn to 501(c)(3) part. Then turn the pages backwards until you find a major heading.[/quote]

Is THAT how you decide whether the IRS "takes advantage" of 501(c)(3)? Just counting pages?

[quote]Then be careful not to yell out wtf at that point, because you're probably in a library.[/quote]

Do books with lots of pages scare you more than skinnier books?

[quote]Kind of weird for Americans to paying that tax, now, isn't it? [/quote]

Jason,

Do you understand that 501(c)(3) is about tax [b]exemptions[/b], not tax payments?
Do you know what an "exemption" is?

[QUOTE=sathackr;341022]
Any idea where I could find a service that would connect GPU needers to GPU owners?
[/QUOTE]
There are companies (Parabon springs to mind) that act as a brokers between organizations with spare compute capacity and organizations that need spare capacity.

The idea of writing off GIMPS-incurred electricity costs is an interesting concept. I'd be curious if anyone here has done so successfully.

Some posts on F@H-related forums say this cannot be done, but I guess anything is worth a try.