PrimeGrid

On 2 Feb 2012, 21:30:55 UTC, PrimeGrid’s The Riesel Problem project eliminated k=162941 by finding the prime: 162941*2^993718-1 The prime is 299,145 digits long and will enter Chris Caldwell's The Largest Known Primes Database ranked 1536th overall. This prime was found while exploring a suspected gap in a previously searched range. This is PrimeGrid's 8th elimination. 56 k's now remain. The discovery was made by Dmitry Domanov (unconnected) of Russia using an Intel Xeon @ 3.60GHz with 2 GB RAM running Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x86. This computer took just over 1 hour 5 minutes to complete the primality test using LLR. Dmitry is a member of Team Russia. For more details, please see the official announcement.

Come join us in laid-back competition in tribute to the number 2...the first prime and the only even prime. The prizes are simple colored jerseys . Yellow for the most primes, Green for the highest prime score, and Polk-a-dot for the most primes on 19 Feb. No pressure or stress other than what you put on yourself. :) For more information, please see Tour de Primes 2012.

On 29 Jan 2012, 08:10:03 UTC, PrimeGrid’s PRPNet found the largest known generalized Cullen prime: 427194*113^427194+1 The prime is 877,069 digits long and enters Chris Caldwell's The Largest Known Primes Database ranked 1st for generalized Cullen primes and 57th overall. The discovery was made by Ricky L. Hubbard of the United States using an AMD Phenom II X6 1090t @ 3.2GHz with 8GB RAM, running Windows 7. This computer took 7 hours and 15 minutes to complete the probable prime test using pfgw64 and 7 hours 20 minutes to complete the primality test again using pfgw64. Ricky is a member of the AMD Users Team. For more details, please see the official announcement.

February is just a week away which means it is time for the 4th annual Tour de Primes. 2 is the first prime number...and the only even one. Therefore, we have declared February, the 2nd month, as prime month. We're offering a small informal competition in tribute to this unique prime number. There are no points to be gained or awards to be won...just a simple rare jersey (Yellow, Green, and Polk-a-dot) at the end of the month to add to your badge collection. No pressure or stress other than what you put on yourself. :) For more information, please see Tour de Primes 2012.

The Dragon, the mightiest of all the signs, is a creature of myth and legend. In Asia, the Dragon is an auspicious creature, a symbol of benevolent power, strength and good luck and capable of great good. 23 January 2012 marks the start of the Year of the Dragon. Let's see if we can channel that Dragon energy to find some primes for the start of PrimeGrid's 2012 Challenge Series. A 5 day Challenge is being offered on PrimeGrid's Proth Prime Search (LLR) application. For more information, please see this forum thread.

On 18 Jan 2012 21:13:24 UTC, PrimeGrid’s Generalized Fermat Prime Search found the mega prime: 525094^262144+1 The prime is 1,499,526 digits long and enters Chris Caldwell's The Largest Known Primes Database ranked 2nd for Generalized Fermat Primes and 24th overall. The discovery was made by David Tomecko of the United States using an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 in an Intel Core i7 980 @ 3.33GHz system with 24GB RAM, running Windows 7 Ultimate. This GPU took about 55 minutes 24 seconds to probable prime (PRP) test with GenefCUDA. David is a member of the The Knights Who Say Ni! team. The PRP was verified on 19 Jan 2012 7:37:53 UTC, by Rick Reynolds of the United States. For more details, please see the official announcement.