Nvidia's RTX 3060 GPU is getting a driver that limits cryptocurrency mining efficiency
Nvidia wants the RTX 3060 to make it to gaming PCs, so it's added a driver that limits cryptocurrency mining, as well as announcing new processors specifically for cryptocurrency.
With the launch of Nvidia’s RTX 3000 Series of GPUs, a new generation of powerful and efficient visuals are within the grasp of PC gamers… or they would be if players could find places to buy them. With the rush of aftermarket resellers, bots, and particularly cryptocurrency miners buying up RTX 3060s, 3070s, 3080s, and 3090s, it’s been difficult for the average PC builder to get their hands on any of these cards. On the matter of cryptocurrency, Nvidia itself addressed the problem and, at least in the case of the RTX 3060, is doing something to try to ensure cryptocurrency miners are deterred and some of its GPUs end up in the hands of gamers.
Nvidia released a blog post addressing the cryptocurrency matter with its GPUs on February 18, 2021. In said post, VP of Global GeForce Marketing Matt Wuebbling both announced the launch of a new crypto miner-deterrent driver for the RTX 3060, as well as a solution for those looking to use the RTX 30 series for that purpose. New 3060s will feature a driver that identifies and limits its Ethereum hashrate, a metric used for cryptocurrency mining performance.
“RTX 3060 software drivers are designed to detect specific attributes of the Ethereum cryptocurrency mining algorithm, and limit the hash rate, or cryptocurrency mining efficiency, by around 50 percent,” Wuebbling wrote. “With the launch of GeForce RTX 3060 on Feb. 25, we’re taking an important step to help ensure GeForce GPUs end up in the hands of gamers.”
It’s a bold statement, and it will remain to be seen if the driver actually does its work to deter crypto miners from buying up the new GPU. After all, it’s not as if a workaround to the driver is unfeasible. Moreover, the new driver likely won’t have any impact on older Ampere GPUs as miners can simply use older, unblocked drivers to continue to utilize their cards as they please.
That said, Nvidia isn't completely out to cut off cryptocurrency miners from using its products. Whether taking advantage of a market opportunity or as a further deterrent to use of its gaming-intended GPUs, Nvidia also announced a new line of Cryptocurrency Mining Processors or Nvidia CMPs, which forgo graphics in favor of producing power and functionality specifically focused on cryptocurrency mining and be sold through approved Nvidia partners.
The Nvidia doesn’t feature drivers for graphics or video output, but rather focuses more thoroughly on producing the power for a strong Ethereum hashrate. The first of the CMP cards will supposedly be out by March with stronger options coming later on.
As the Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU’s launch dawns, it will be interesting to see if Nvidia’s efforts pay off, but at the very least, the launch of the Nvidia CMP line in March may alleviate pressure on purchase of other gaming GPUs. Stay tuned as we continue to follow these products for more information and details.
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replyTJ Denzer posted a new article, Nvidia's RTX 3060 GPU is getting a driver that limits cryptocurrency mining efficiency
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NVidia going to release drivers to specifically discourage cyrptomining by throttling their GPUs performance if the cards aren't used in gaming applications, at the same time looking to make a second line of cards specifically designed for cyrptomining that lack GFX features so that miners aren't hogging gaming cards.
https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/02/18/geforce-cmp/-
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The drivers from today don't support the RTX 3060 card though.. this change is just for the 3060 card, not the other cards in the line up.
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so how are those people in Pakistan who bought 3060s 2 weeks ago using them?
https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3060-being-sold-in-pakistan-weeks-before-launch-for-750-us/
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My 3080 came with a driver CD.
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From what I saw, 3060 is a new card with no official drivers yet, the 3060ti/3070/3080 are all out with existing drivers so they can't do the same there at this point as people would just rollback.
I'm sure people will still figure out a way around this, however. Can't you still use older nvidia drivers on newer cards? idk. Feel like I've done that before without complication, but maybe I'm not remembering clearly.-
Nope I attempted to do this on the 3080 as an older driver performed better in RDR2.. tried forcing it to install via the Device Manager and failed defaulting to the non accelerated Microsoft generic driver.
Maybe this worked in the past when a lot of the GPUs shared the exact same GPU die with just some small parts disabled? -
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The Nvidia 20 & 30 series BIOS haven't been hacked yet.. Nvidia started digitally signing their BIOS. Card wouldn't boot if it's not digitally signed.
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Wondering if these cards will work for Plex and hardware transcoding. We also need to know what the pricing of them will be. If they are the same price as GeForce cards, why would a miner buy them over a Geforce card? The reselling ability of Geforce is going to be much higher, due to versatility.
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What will help though is CMP, hardware side of things for mining if priced competitively.
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/cmp/ -
They're detecting mining specifically, not just throttling all non-gaming uses.
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this is so they can say they tried.
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Thank fuck. At least it will cripple the average person who is mining on their primary gaming PC
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I am curious if crypto prices fall after this
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Eh nevermind, its only for the 3060 it seems. Lame. Do it for the whole line!
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Too late for that, they say the 50% limitation is driver based and those cards and drivers are already out there for mining 100% on the existing line.
Perhaps these cards be more available to the people wanting to play games since miners won't be scooping them up in droves, but I'm sure scalpers will still try grabbing a bunch to flip them for a premium regardless. Although if the demand isn't there for that with these then idk.
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I think any new cards now into the future will be like this, which will help at least getting the cards into gamers hands for the 4080 series (Hopefully). Then they can sell their mining cards to miners. Good for gamers in the long run I think.
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So these miners stop buying all of the RTX supply and they get in the hands of gamers (hopefully)
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I don't see how this will stop mining outside of significant actual hardware modifications unless they have obscene acrobatic levels of security to prevent custom drivers.
The base problem is that manufacturing across the chain cannot keep up with demand which is outside of nvidia control since many players across the industry are absolutely hammering the various production lines.
Assuming the the hardware essentially remains the same across both mining, and gaming GPU's supply won't be able to meet demand regardless of driver wizardry. Miners will continue to buy whatever they can get their hands on, and apply custom drivers as necessary .
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A bit too late for all that since it was already an issue last gen.
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Thinking about this again, it does nothing against scalpers; which I assume is just as large a part of the problem as far as pricing goes. Unless it's miners that are buying from scalpers. If that's the case, then this approach of having a mining specific card would help in the long run.
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It would all depend on the pricing.
If their mining targeted card was less than the Geforce cards, then it will be a hit with miners.
If the mining card was too similar in price, the Geforce card will still be snapped up, as their resale value is going to be better in the long run. -
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fucking lol
RTX 3060 software drivers are designed to detect specific attributes of the Ethereum cryptocurrency mining algorithm, and limit the hash rate, or cryptocurrency mining efficiency, by around 50 percent.
there will be 3rd party drivers, think those omega builds, with in 15 seconds
nvidia what are you even doing here. LAUNCH THE MINING PRODUCT AND FOCUS ON THAT. do not even attempt to get in a software race with the crypto mining faction. you will lose.-
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NOPE this is bullshit marketing and probably isn't going to help you buy a card; they're also releasing a line of crypto mining cards which means that manufacturing capacity is going to be split between mining cards and graphic cards.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-announces-cryptocurrency-mining-processor-gpu-line
This only helps Nvidia by not having a glut of 2nd hand cards flood the market when either crypto dies or a new better mining card comes out.
Also sucks if your a gamer and maybe wanted to dabble in crypto mining on the side.-
Good analysis. Damn.
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They're specifically targeting the mining algorithm used for Ethereum (ethash). 34 coins rely on this algorithm for mining and two thirds of them are worthless. Hundreds do not. Of coins considered most profitable to mine, Ethereum is less profitable than some and the only one that uses ethash. And you're assuming miners won't defeat Nvidia. Best case scenario: Nvidia succeeds, Eth miners shift to alternate coins, demand doesn't change, supply shortages continue.
Thinking this is going to mean we can buy a 3060 whenever we feel like it is highly optimistic.-
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It may be what most mine with their Nvidia cards but the difference in profits between mining Ethereum or something like Cortex are negligible, and miners aren't going to care that much if it takes them a few extra weeks to see a return on their investment. If I was running a few gpus for mining I'm not going to complain about $30 a day vs $35 dollars a day, either way I'd reach a point where the 3060's paid for themselves and "free" money started rolling in while I did nothing.
The better approach, in my opinion, would be to produce enough cards for gamers and miners. Everyone blames the miners but this has been an ongoing situation for 4 or 5 years now. Obviously Covid has compounded the problem but nobody would be complaining (least of all Nvidia) if there were enough cards to go around.-
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...and current resale prices have nothing to do with the upcoming 3060.
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Also a good way to ensure the 3070s, 80s, & 90s won't be in stock in 2021 and scalpers continue cashing in. Those 1050ti's are on the way though.
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