WHAT is OC TRASH CUP 2026?

A Budget-Afflicted, Hardware-Restricted, Time-Period-Conflicted, Air-Cooled-Only, Low-Stakes, Super-Bodged, Only-Kind-Of-Official, Tongue-in-Cheek, Retro-ish HWBot Benchmarking Competition

Organized by watsonad2000 (aka y2kman2k) and NattyKathy

1.) BUILD a TERRIBLE (but Perhaps Oddly Nostalgic?) PC in the style of 2000s - 2010s POVERTY RIGS

2.) MOD that HEAP - Custom AIRCOOLING, Ancient OC Lore, Hardmods, & COOL + SILLY AESTHETICS

3.) TELL us the STORY of your Build- WHY those Specs? Does any of the Hardware have an INTERESTING or FUNNY History?

4.) COMPETE the BEST you CAN on CLASSIC BENCHMARKS while making a SPECTACLE for your Fellow Participants

Think 24 Hours of Lemons C Class but for Dubious PC Hardware of the 2000’s and early 2010s

This is a HYBRID HWBOT + OFFSITE Competition!

OC Trash Cup 2026 Submissions will be made to HWBot and will receive HWBot Points and Rankings As Usual

Trash Cup 2026 Main

Trash Cup 2026 CPU

Trash Cup 2026 GPU

In Addition, ZANY HIJINKS will take place on the Azalea City Computers Discord where the OCTC26 CHAMPIONSHIP will feature WEIGHTED RANKINGS for UNEXPECTED METAS (see below)

WHEN is OC TRASH CUP 2026?

Full OCTC26 RULEBOOKS were RELEASED on Sunday, 1 March 2026

Rulebooks and / or Rulebook Links are Posted on Discord and in This Thread

Competitors may then choose to Register* their Participation in Offsite "Fully Ranked Trash Cup Championship"

*We Require NO FORM, NO ENTRY FEE, and NO Info Other Than HWBOT & DISCORD Usernames to Join the Off-Site Ranked Championship

The Competition BEGINS on Sunday, 15 March 2026, at 00:00 / 12:00AM UTC

Desktop Background will be Released and HWBot Submissions Opened

The Competition ENDS on Friday, 15 May 2026, at 23:59 / 11:59PM UTC

HWBot Submissions will be Closed and final Trash Cup Off-Site Championship Points Calculation will Begin

WHERE is OC TRASH CUP 2026?

Competition Submissions will be made to HWBot as usual for Validation Purposes as well as to grant HWBot Points and Rankings

The OC TRASH CUP 2026 OFF-SITE RANKED CHAMPIONSHIP will take place primarily on Discord, hosted on the Azalea City Computers (HWBot Team) Discord Server.

THIS EVENT IS CO-HOSTED BY AN AZALEA CITY CAPTAIN (me, Natty) BUT IS NOT A TEAM COMPETITION, AND IS OPEN TO HWBOT COMPETITORS OF ANY OR NO ACTIVE AFFILIATION

INVITES TO THE DISCORD FOR COMP DISCUSSION ARE AVAILABLE NOW ON REQUEST!

Here, Competitors will post Photos, Specs, and Stories of the Horrifying Janky PCs they Build for the Comp for COMPLAINCE VALIDATION and ENTERTAINMENT

Channels will be available for general Trash Cup Competition Discussion, Hardware Discussion, and Questions about The Rules

For COMPETITION DISCORD ACCESS, Please Request Invite from NattyKathy or watsonad2000/y2kman2k on Discord - We are Both on the HWBot Server!

This is where the Optional Off-Site TRASH CUP CHAMPIONSHIP RANKINGS will be Made, Silly Achievements Awarded, and at the End-of-Comp there will be One True TRASH CUP GRAND CHAMPION

Please Note: for those unable to access Discord, inclusions to the Offsite part of the Competition may be requested by posting in This Thread. Entrants will be Officially Accepted starting 1 MARCH

Maximum Hardware Budget / Value will be Enforced

Full Details are In The OCTC26 Rulebooks, OUT NOW

Maximum Hardware Budget / Value for your Competition Build is $150 USD or Currency Converted Equivalent for Your Locale

Items Purchased AFTER 1 March, 2026 Must Be Counted by WHAT YOU ACTUALLY PAID, INCLUDING Sales Tax/VAT, NOT Including Shipping

This is ANY Budget Eligible Item You Purchased FOR The Comp AFTER 0000 GMT on 1 March, 2026

Items You Already Own PRIOR to 1 March, 2026 Must Be Counted by CURRENT "eBay Value"

This is ANY Budget Eligible Item You ALREADY Had BEFORE Rules Announcement, REGARDLESS of What You Paid or Didn't Pay

Donated / Free Items Aquired AFTER 1 March, 2026 May Be Counted by 66.6% of Current "eBay Value"

This is ANY Budget Eligible Item That was Gifted / Given To You AFTER 0000 GMT on 1 March, 2026

Items DUMPSTER DIVED AFTER 0000 GMT on 1 March, 2026 are BUDGET EXEMPT

This is Any Item that you Found DISCARDED DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED

You May Return Available Value to Your Budget by Selling Items PURCHASED AFTER 0000 GMT on 1 March, 2026

This Means Items Purchased FOR COMP that you Don't Need NO FLIPPING FOR THE SAKE OF FLIPPING, Must come out of PC / Kit / Combo You are RETAINING PART OF for Your Comp Build

DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED See BUDGET RULEBOOK for Details

Detailed Hardware Restrictions and Allowances will be Enforced

Full Details are In The OCTC26 Rulebooks, OUT NOW

In a Very General Sense, most 2000's hardware and some early 2010's hardware is the target spec - Lower-and-Lower-Tier the Newer You Go, while Old Retro can allow some Higher-End kit

Short Version

32nm Intel / 28nm AMD or OLDER

DDR3 or OLDER

Four THREADS or FEWER

ATI / AMD Radeon 6000 or OLDER, 800 SP or FEWER

NVidia GeForce 500 or OLDER, 240 CUDA or FEWER

AMD Radeon GCN 1.0, 768 SP or FEWER

NVidia GeForce KEPLER, 576 CUDA or FEWER

NON-NV/ATI/AMD GPU, Any DX10 or OLDER

Windows 8.x / 7 / Vista / XP ONLY

DESKTOP OS Only, ANY Edition

NO Server OS

AIR-COOLING ONLY, NO EXCEPTIONS

Sorry folks! This Comp is about Making Do With Less... Thoughtful Limitations can Increase Creativity (or at least be amusing), do you agree?

There ARE Exceptions in The Rules to allow Defined Forms of "Chilled/Cold Air" cooling!

There are MANY Possible PC Configs for the Comp but MANY Exclusions as Well, It's In The Rules™

OC Trash Cup Championship (The Off-Site component) uses a Custom Scoring System

Full Details of OC TRASH CUP 2026 OPTIONAL OFF-SITE CHAMPIONSHIP WEIGHTED SCORING SYSTEM are in the OCTC26 Rulebooks, OUT NOW!

All Benchmark Scores MUST be Submitted to HWBot for Usual Validation

In Addition, For an Off-Site OC Trash Cup Championship Ranking, All Benchmark Scores MUST be Submitted to Official Competition Discord Channels for Points Calculation

These Links Will Be Provided when Comp Begins

All Submissions MUST use Competition Wallpaper

Only your BEST Submission for each Benchmark will Count!

ONE SUBMISSION PC PER PARTICIPANT

Once you start Submitting scores, Core Hardware Changes (Mobo/Platform, CPU, GPU, RAM) will require restarting your Submissions over from Scratch

Have Multiple Build Ideas? Please do Make Em All to Show Us! BUT Pick Only ONE for Trash Cup Ranked Championship Submissions

Operating System May be Changed Unlimited Times

For the OFF-SITE Trash Cup Championship Rankings, Points Earned will NOT be based DIRECTLY on Benchmark Scores

Benchmark Scores will be WEIGHTED based on Hardware Age, to Encourage both Proper Janky Ol' 2000s Retro Nostalgiabait PCs AND The Most Copey 2010s Sweaty-Tuned Ultra Low Budget Contraptions

Factors such as System Appearance, Ingenuity, Nostalgia, and Hilarity will earn STYLE BONUSES

Use of Hardware that is Too Old To Run All Benchmarks (ie lacks Instruction Sets or 3D APIs) may earn Concessions, Benchmark Substitutions, and/or Pity Bonuses

Use of Hardware that is In Violation of The Rules for Being Too New, Too Powerful, and / or Too Expensive / Valuable may earn Shame Penalties

These may be SEVERE at the Discretion of Competition Organizers and Within Rules to be Set Forward, to ensure Fair Competition

Entries will be Validated, and Weighted Benchmark Scores and Bonuses / Penalties will be computed for a Final Trash Cup 2026 Off-Site Championship Ranking, to Be Released by 1 June, 2026

OC TRASH CUP 2026 RANKED CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDS

Main Awards

First Place in Weighted Trash Cup Championship Points - "Trash Cup Grand Champion"

Second Place in Weighted Trash Cup Championship Points - "Trash Cup Runner Up"

Third Place in Weighted Trash Cup Championship Points - "Trash Cup Podium Finish"

Achievement Awards

Best Case Mod - "Trash Cup Modder Extraordinaire"

Best Non-Case Build - "Trash Cup Cursed Creative"

Fastest OEM System - "Trash Cup Office Manager"

Most "Jank" Build - "Duct Tape Wrangler"

Anti-Achievement Awards

Last Place in Benchmark Performance

Most Annoying / Asks The Most Unserious Questions

Got Caught Cheating the Worst

To be Eligible for OCTC26 Championship Awards, Entrants MUST Participate in the Off-Site Ranked Championship, NOT ONLY HWBot Submissions

Participating in, or Declining to Participate in the Off-Site Ranked Championship does NOT Affect Your HWBot Points / Ranking for the HWBot Component of OC Trash Cup 2026

OC Trash Cup 2026 Off-Site Ranked Championship Weighted Rankings and OC Trash Cup HWBot Competition Rankings are SEPARATE and will have DIFFERENT END RESULTS

Prizes Will be Given out as either Hardware or Equal Value Currency at Organizer Discretion

Prizes Will Cap at $25 USD or less for Main Awards - for Achievements expect low/no-value "gag gifts", something to make ya laugh

Winners of the Trash Cup 2026 Off-Site Ranked Championship will be Announced and Contacted by 1 June, 2026

Edited March 2Mar 2 by NattyKathy
updating comp info now that rules are officially public / clean up formatting / add more clear Organizer credits

FULL RULEBOOKS for Hybrid/Offsite Component of OC Trash Cup 2026 are NOW HERE!

OCTC26-Rulebook-A-OVERVIEW-1March.pdf OCTC26-Rulebook-B-HARDWARE-1March.pdf OCTC26-Rulebook-C-BUDGET-1March.pdf OCTC26-Rulebook-D-SCORING-1March.pdfOCTC26-Rulebook-FULL-COMBINED-1March.pdf

Edited March 1Mar 1 by NattyKathy
emergency bugfix for SuperPi scaling algorithm

Scoring Algorithm for OC Trash Cup 2026 Offsite RANKED CHAMPIONSHIP Component

See Rulebook D - SCORING

CPU Score

CPU Stage1 = ((150000 - SuperPi 1M Duration in Miliseconds) ÷ 3.75)

CPU Stage2 = (Cinebench R11.5 Points x 10000)

CPU Stage3 = (7zip MIPS x 2)

CPU Stage4 = (X265 1080P FPS x 5000)

CPU Stage Substitution (ONLY if CPU LACKS SSE2) = (PCMark04 Score x 20)

2D Benchmark Points = SUM of All Scaled CPU Stages

Core Count Scaler = (((4 - CPU Core Count) ÷ 4) + 1)

Age Scaler = (((CURRENT Year - CPU RELEASE Year) x 12) ÷ 18) ÷ 10)

Weighting Factor = ((Core Count Scaler Age Scaler) x 0.13)

CPU Score = (2D Benchmark Points x Weighting Factor) ROUNDED to the Nearest Whole Number

GPU Score

GPU Stage1 = 3DMark01SE 3D marks

GPU Stage2 = 3DMark03 3DMarks

GPU Stage3 = (3DMark06 3DMarks x 3)

GPU Stage4 = (3DMark Vantage P Score x 6)

GPU Stage Substitution (ONLY if GPU LACKS Shader Model 4 / DX10) = (3DMark2000 3D marks x 1.25)

3D Benchmark Points = SUM of All Scaled GPU Stages

Age Scaler = (((CURRENT Year - GPU RELEASE Year) x 12) ÷18) ÷10)

Weighting Factor = (Age Scaler x 0.08)

GPU Score = (3D Benchmark Points x Weighting Factor) ROUNDED to the Nearest Whole Number

Bonuses

+ 1500 pts if Case is Modded (AESTHETIC / Appearance Mods)

+ 1500 pts if Power Supply is a POTENTIAL FIRE HAZARD (PSU is 15 Years Old or More)

+ 2000 pts if AFTERMARKET Retro Case (2010 or Earlier, Doesn't Count OEM Cases)

+ 2000 pts if Case is Not A Case (NO Test Benches) + 2000 pts if Socket 423 / 478 Dell Desktop

+ 2000 pts if TRI-CORE CPU (MUST be NATIVE Triple-Core or UNLOCKED Dual-Core, Core DISABLING is BLANKET DISALLOWED)

+ 3000 pts if OEM PC (Well-Known Consumer Brands, MUST Retain at Minimum COMPLETE Original Case AND Motherboard)

+ 3000 pts PITY BONUS if GPU Does NOT Support Shader Model 2 / DX9.0 (ONLY if NO Hardware DX9 Support at ALL)

+ 3000 pts if CORE Hardware Component Suffers CATASTROPHIC FAILURE During Benchmarking (DOCUMENT IT)

+ 4000 pts PITY BONUS if CPU Does NOT Support SSE2

+ 4000 pts if Consumer Laptop (NO Workstations / DTR / Gaming)

+ 5000 pts if Intel Atom or AMD Bobcat, Jaguar, or Puma CPU Cores

+ 5000 pts if GPU is in RETRO HELL Category

Points Bonuses = Sum of ALL APPLICABLE Bonuses

Total OC Trash Cup Championship Points = CPU Score + GPU Score + Points Bonuses

Edited March 1Mar 1 by NattyKathy
bugfix for SuperPi Scaling algorithm + missing Bonus item