Nvidia makes RTX 3060 GPUs less attractive to cryptocurrency miners



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Since cryptocurrency mining has become a popular activity, miners have gobbled up the best GPUs in order to increase their production, making it harder to find and purchase said GPUs. Fortunately, Nvidia has announced that its upcoming RTX 3060 GPU will feature new software drivers that will make it less desirable for cryptocurrency miners, while also launching a new dedicated mining GPU.

Nvidia says the RTX 3060 GPUs, released on February 25, will ship with software drivers that detect when the GPU is using the Ethereum cryptocurrency mining algorithm. The GPU will limit the hash rate (the unit of measure for how fast a GPU processes cryptocurrency), which will make the GPU about 50% less efficient for miners.

Nvidia CMP is the company’s answer for miners, with various upgrades that make it more efficient at mining cryptocurrency. It’s basically the computing power of a GPU without the graphics.

“CMP products – which do not do graphics – are sold through authorized partners and optimized for the best performance and mining efficiency,” Nvidia said. “They do not meet the specifications required for a GeForce GPU and, therefore, have no impact on the availability of GeForce GPUs to gamers.”

CMP also lacks display outputs and has a lower peak voltage output, improving its mining efficiency.

Nvidia CES 2021 – GeForce RTX 3060

“With CMP, we can help miners build the most efficient data centers while preserving GeForce RTX GPUs for gamers,” said Nvidia.

Crypto miners, scalpers, and generally strong demand have made it extremely difficult to find 30 Series GPUs, like the coveted RTX 3080, since September of last year. When the value of Bitcoin and Etherium exploded last October, with Bitcoin hitting highs of $ 20,000 per Bitcoin, that GPU demand increased further, according to Tom’s Hardware. Nvidia previously said in January that the availability of its 30 Series GPUs will remain low for months to come.

Demand for the RTX 3060, Nvidia’s most affordable 30-series card at $ 329, will likely continue the trend. Nvidia’s plans for 30-series mobile GPUs may fix this, but it will come at the cost of purchasing a full gaming laptop.

Joseph Knoop is a writer / producer for IGN. Mine his feelings on Twitter.



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