Nvidia halves RTX 3060 hashrate and introduces GPUs for crypto mining crypto

Nvidia limits the hashrate of the upcoming RTX 3060 with a driver, so that it is not interesting for mining Ethereum. That should make the card more available to gamers. The manufacturer also introduces a series of GPUs for crypto mining.

Nvidia only limits the hashrate of the RTX 3060 and not that of other RTX video cards. This is probably due to the fact that other cards have been on the market for some time and that they can no longer be limited with a driver. After all, users can then switch to an older driver without restrictions. The RTX 3060 has not yet been released and there are no drivers that support this video card yet. The first driver to add support for the new video card will also implement the hashrate limitation.

It is specifically about limiting the performance of mining Ethereum. That cryptocurrency has risen sharply in value, making it profitable again to use GPUs to mine Ethereum. Nvidia says the driver detects specific parts of the Ethereum mining algorithm and limits the hashrate accordingly. In practice, that hashrate is approximately halved, says the manufacturer.

Nvidia will release the RTX 3060 with 12GB Gddr6 on February 25 for a suggested retail price of 329 euros. Whether the driver changes will help the video card’s availability remains to be seen. Currently, video cards are virtually not for sale at the suggested retail prices. Demand far exceeds supply, causing stores to offer the few cards that are available at much higher prices. The previous generation RTX cards have also been discontinued and prices on the second-hand market have risen sharply.

Nvidia Cryptocurrency Mining Processor

Nvidia also presents the Nvidia CMP series, which stands for Cryptocurrency Mining Processor. Under that heading, cards are coming out that are purely aimed at mining Ethereum and do not contain video outputs. According to Nvidia, GPUs are used that “do not meet the necessary specifications” for a GeForce GPU. It could be GPUs that do not reach high clock speeds. That is not relevant for crypto mining, but it is for the video cards for gamers.

According to Nvidia, the CMPs also have lower consumption due to a lower voltage and lower clock frequencies. Manufacturers such as ASUS, Colorful, EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI, and Palit will release mining cards based on Nvidia’s CMP. Four variants appear. Two of those will be released in Q1 and two more powerful versions will be released in Q2. Prices have not been disclosed.

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