Fold On Team.
Thank you for anther Year of Folding EVGA
 
2.0M to 10M is going to be rough.
4.0M to 25M is really going to be very tight even for RTX Cards.
 
But One GTX 1080 Ti Folding 7x24 can get 30M a Month.
Shock and Awe all in one Thread
 
One Rule I wish EVGA would add this year is that you can only Fold under one Team.

EVGA in year 12 is continuing to giving out EVGA Bucks to help EVGA Folders purchase new hardware to contribute with.

Woooo Whoooo! These higher goals should help keep some folks engaged longer as well (Depending on equipment).

Thanks again to EVGA for supporting the good work that everyone here does! My lone 1070 would have no chance of making the second tier, but thankfully I just picked up a second one on the cheap. Time to slap that puppy in my rig!
 
edit: fixed typo

I'm happy to see a lot of constructive feedback from the community, both here and through some emails or PMs.  I think it's fair to say that there's still a narrow window for us to receive more feedback before everything's finalized for Year 12.

I know we all appreciate EVGA's continued support of our folding and crunching teams. The top tier maybe a bit too high of a jump for some folders. Not everyone can afford the new cards since they have almost more than doubled in price. Not everyone can fold 24/7 either. When the weather warms up it affects some of our team mates as well. Is it possible to bring the top tier down to 20,000,000 or so? What was the considering factors to decide on these thresholds? If it was based on solely the 20xx series performance, that wouldn't be a true reflection of our team I don't feel. 

EVGATech_LeeM
 
No, 20-Series performance alone wasn't the main driving force.  A factor, but not the only factor.


Here are a few items that were part of the consideration, with no particular order:

• # of EVGA Bucks claimed by the Community (this will always be a factor for every promotion)
• Performance of current Gen cards, performance of last Gen cards, performance of potential next-Gen cards, and performance of older Gen cards
• Ease of attaining Year 11 numbers
• Variables (one of the reasons why we're reserving the ability to change the point totals)
  • Single vs. multi card setups
    • There are rough PPD totals for most cards, but there's no easy way to determine how many folders run multiple cards that may make the numbers more attainable
  • The number of people that fold only until they hit the monthly number and stop
  • The number of people that might reconsider participating in this program after raising the point total at different levels

We certainly looked at another year of easing people into moderately higher numbers.  From my point of view, I feel this is more of a transition year to readjust the point levels to appropriate levels.  "Appropriate levels" will hopefully be determined through the year.  It might be rough for the early going, but this will setup the program better for the next few years. 
 
Again, we appreciate this feedback.  Part of the reason we announce this early is to hear from everyone.  This is one of the bigger changes we've made to the program, and it's a large task to make it correct.  We'll be reviewing this again - probably early next week - so any final comments will be appreciated.

I don't understand why the ease of Year 11 numbers is a factor.  Granted, the year 11 target was far too low (I advocated that Year 11 target be doubled from where it ended up).  Does this imply that you are now raising target above what they should actually be to compensate for the fact that they were low in the past?  i.e. You gave out too many in the past so now you're giving out too few so that on average you're where you want to be?  I can't see any other reason the ease of Year 11 would be relevant in setting future targets?
 
I also don't understand the relevance of future card performance.  Unless they are being released in the next few months this seems irrelevant as future points levels can be adjusted to coincide with future cards.

EVGATech_LeeM
I'm happy to see a lot of constructive feedback from the community, both here and through some emails or PMs.  I think it's fair to say that there's still a narrow window for us to receive more feedback before everything's finalized for Year 12.

As someone who provided feedback via email, I'll post it here as well to weigh in with my $.01 if it furthers the debate/dialogue.
 
From the outset I want it to make it clear that my motivation is not personal and I have surpassed 25 million points monthly for the last several years (other than a mobo failure 5-6 months ago and some occasional downtime).

As someone who has long been advocating that EVGA raise the required points for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the folding at home program, I am very concerned that the most recent increase is far too extreme and detrimental to the EVGA folding program in general.  On the forums I had previously advocated that year 11 should have been 4 million and 8 million respectively to be in line with the power of the 10xx series GPUs and that year 12 should be 8 and 16 million to be in line with the 20xx series GPUs and stand by these numbers.
 
In the past monthly folding targets have been accessible to the casual but dedicated folder, accessible to a wide audience of potential folders that had the most current generation of GPUs.  Many of these folders typically caught the folding bug and went on to become hardcore dedicated folders. 

The numbers I proposed are in line with the historical norms from when I started folding with EVGA back in Year 3, but more importantly they are a reasonable expectation of a casual but dedicated folder.  I don't know that the explicit standard was ever set, but the increases in the first 8-10 years of the program seemed to be roughly in line with what a middle of the line xx60 GPU could fold in approximately 20-21 days.  So if someone bought a 460 (the card I started folding on) and folded 3 weeks a month they would roughly hit the tier 2 mark.  If you had a higher end GPU or a bigadv folding rig (no longer possible) you could obviously hit it sooner, but still required a substantial effort.

My best estimate of the performance of the 2060 card comes from OCN's GPU database: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vcVoSVtamcoGj5sFfvKF_XlvuviWWveJIg_iZ8U2bf0/pub?output=html which estimates 800,000 PPD for a 2060.  This would equal 24 million points over a 30 day month or 24.8 million points in the best case of a 31 day month, still missing target of 25 million points, while leaving no leeway to play games or allow for any (inevitable) computer downtime.  Granted, if you have a better estimate of the 2060's PPD that estimates it to be 1.25 million PPD my point is moot, unfortunately I don't have the finances to purchase a 20x0 series card to test this myself.

I fully agree that last year's numbers were far too low, and a substantial increase is warranted.  I am concerned that they are too extreme and anyone without a 2070 card or better (or multiple GPUs) will not be able to hit them.  Upgrading to the current generation of GPUs to hit the latest tiers is to be expected, but upgrading to a higher power card and folding longer is unprecedented.  When you combine this with significant increase in price of GPUs over the past 10 years and the erosion of the US dollar (and correspondingly EVGA buck) due to inflation over the past 10 years, the current proposal for year 12 appears very detrimental to a causal but dedicated folder in the EVGA folding community.

A casual folder now has to buy the xx70 card rather than the xx60 card, which is more expensive, and has to fold on it as long or longer than was expected in the historical norm (excluding the most recent few years) only to be rewarded less seems very detrimental to the EVGA's support for the Folding at Home program and the folding community at EVGA.

I don’t dispute the need to increase the points required to hit tier 2 in Year 12, but more importantly I would urge them to do so in a manner that is not so exclusive.  Keep in mind that most folders spend far more on electricity than they do on hardware to support this cause, and most people fold because its a good cause worth supporting, not simply for the EVGA bucks (though they are a nice bonus and we are grateful for the support and also recognize that some simply are bucks folders).  I would also urge EVGA to increase the reward to 12 or 13 EVGA bucks to keep pace with inflation, but that concern is small in comparison to keeping the tiers within reach of a casual but dedicated folder.

Thank you for your time and for continuing your support for the EVGA Folding at Home program.  The last thing I want to do is come across as entitled or ungrateful, but I also want to see the program continue to thrive and be accessible to all folders.

That makes much more sense.  Year 11 was certainly an outlier that was far too low of a target.  Thanks for clearing that up

EVGATech_LeeM
Your email was forwarded to me this morning, and it's one of the reasons why I'm carefully reading much of the feedback the community is giving on this.  Again, I greatly appreciate all the thoughtful responses.  You guys (the EVGA F@H team) care very much about not only the cause, but the health of the team, so I'm paying close attention to a lot of these responses.

I can assure you that the feeling is mutual.  The folding community greatly appreciates all the time, effort and support that EVGA dedicates to the folding at home team.  I (and many others) would not bother providing feedback if we felt it would be wholly ignored. 

Good feedback would best come from Folders that currently only Fold enough for the EVGA Bucks.
I say this only because I Fold but I do not Fold Only for The EVGA Bucks, I Fold for the Cure, the Bucks are extra.
I started to Fold and did not even know about the EVGA Bucks until after I stated Folding.
From our Team List https://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/user_list.php?s=&a=1&srt=1&t=111065 (Point last 24 Hours)
Start at 51 and work down the list and ask them in an email or even a PM for there thoughts as most do not even read the Forums.
For them this this could push them away and even stop Folding altogether.
This list is the current New Members to our Team
https://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/user_list.php?s=&a=2&t=111065
Maybe ask a few of them as well with this change.
 
As I posted above "One GTX 1080 Ti Folding 24 Hours a Day 7 Days a Week can get 30-32M a Month." Dedicated For Only Folding 90% of the Year.
With most Team Members only have there one computer that they also use for Gaming and Home Office Works and other uses.
With One Computer in the Home they would only be able to use it for Folding and this in turn would also increase their Elect Bill.
This alone would stop me from Folding.
 
8/16 Sounds like a good Start for Year 12

The new year starts in March. 10/25 is not set in stone as of yet. But March will be the new set amounts needed.
Hopefully more people will chime in before the deadline. Looks like there is still a few days they are thinking it over.

Chris21010
if people really think the 25M target is just too extreme then a 3 tier system at $4 a tier would be the best trade off at this point.

I just read this entire thread for the first time and I was thinking of adding this as well only due to the possibility of losing quite a few folders. I am inline with a required points increase. 
Maybe double the current requirement but adding a bonus for a long shot tier 3 goal to encourage people to fold more 
 
Tier 1 : 4   (or +)                  (5 EVGA Bucks)
Tier 2 : 8   (or +)                  (5 EVGA Bucks)
Tier 3 : 50 or 100m          (5 or 10 EVGA Bucks)
 
I think doing something along these lines would lesson the chance of losing existing team members who fold mostly for the bucks by adding a large reward.
I personally fold only for the cure and use mostly eVGA  products. I plan to continuously  build the farm and keep building more. I would happily donate my tier 3 reward to another folder who does not currently have a farm to keep them on board as well. 
Another thought that crossed through my mind would be to align those higher targets to those who have registered newer 20xx cards. Granted many may not be using eVGA products. But, if you see the numbers being hit on day 1 or 2 it is obvious. 
 
Or do  a TZC type raffle and no bucks.  1-3 prizes at random after folding all month or past a smaller minimum. There is a giveaway for gamers, why not folders and crunchers
" tier 3, fold 50 mil points and be entered in the drawing to win a new ____________ " (dreamin, lol)
 
All said, I will continue folding for this team regardless of any point structure and wholeheartedly thank eVGA and team eVGA for your support in finding a cure. 
 
 
 
 

Thanks EVGA for continuing the folding bucks program. Enjoyed all the intelligent points above and will keep an eye on this topic for more.
 
The levels are too high IMHO. I will always fold at a pace I'm comfortable with and feel lucky to be able to do it at all. The proposed levels it would take me away from crunching GPU projects that are as important to me as folding. It all comes down to electricity costs for these hobby's of mine. Many people don't have these concern's but a lot do.
 
 

Thinking a bit more about this, why not triple the threshold?  From 2 million to 6, and 4 to 12 million, that may seem more "reasonable" to many . JMO. I personally like the third level, but feel 50 million is way too high at this time. Chris mentioned the amount per year that can be earned. I don't always use those bucks on a GPU. Sometimes I use them for folding prizes when we are lucky enough to have contest's, ect. I just hope whatever is decided doesn't cause a big drop in team production.