NVIDIA to Introduce a New GeForce RTX 3060 GPU SKU with Ethereum Mining Limiter

[AleksandarK]

Some time ago, NVIDIA introduced its GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card with GA106-300 Ampere GPU SKU. The GPU was the first to feature NVIDIA's latest additions like Resizable BAR and crypto mining algorithm limiter that limited the performance of the card while mining. However, despite NVIDIA's intention to keep the card out of the hands of crypto miners, there has been a lot of flaws in the plan. A lot of people discovered that the card still managed to turn in profits with the limiter enables. Later, NVIDIA accidentally released a driver that actually removes the limiter and enables the GPU to mine at full capacity, making the company's efforts useless.

Today we have new information that NVIDIA will launch an updated GeForce RTX 3060 GPU SKU that features a different ID, in the quest to limit card's mining performance. According to HKEPC, NVIDIA is producing updated GeForce RTX 3060 GKU SKUs with GA106-302 ID that should launch sometime in May, which are supposed to replace the GA106-300 SKUs now present. The software and the drivers will use the new ID to identify new SKUs and limit the performance of the card at mining tasks such as Ethereum mining. That way, it ensures that no driver version or bypass can trick the software to enable the card to use its full mining power and it shall render it unprofitable. Additionally, kopite7kimi, a known hardware leaker, claims that NVIDIA is also preparing updated GPU SKU IDs for GA104 and GA102 GPUs, with GA102-302/202 and GA104-302/202 variants supposedly coming.


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[thevoiceofreason]

Not long ago vGPU functionality on regular NVIDIA cards was unlocked, and as I understand it also used PCI device ID lock. So this is broken even before release, impressive.

GitHub - DualCoder/vgpu_unlock: Unlock vGPU functionality for consumer grade GPUs.

Unlock vGPU functionality for consumer grade GPUs. - DualCoder/vgpu_unlock

github.com

 

[Chrispy_]

This will be cracked or screwed up by Nvidia within 7 days of launch.

Their attempts to sell mining-specific GPUs is a joke. No, we are not paying $700 for a last-gen $280 product that Nvidia BIOS-flashed themselves.

 

[64K]

Nvidia needs to reduce the mining capacity to 0% in a hardware solution. Someone will just hack the driver to make the card good for mining again.

 

[TheDeeGee]

We also need a Scalper Limiter.

Perhaps ban sales of 3000 series cards on sites like Ebay for the next 2 years.

 

[ncrs]

We also need a Scalper Limiter.

Perhaps ban sales of 3000 series cards on sites like Ebay for the next 2 years.

What do you mean? You're against the free market?

 

[Deleted member 177333]

Hope they are successful. Would like to see gamers able to actually buy GPUs again when desired from places like Newegg.

 

[64K]

We also need a Scalper Limiter.

Perhaps ban sales of 3000 series cards on sites like Ebay for the next 2 years.

I don't think Nvidia has any pull with what Ebay does.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

Funny that you call them "efforts" to fight cryptomining, it was just a PR stunt.

 

[Metroid]

As soon as the crypto market crashes 95% we will see nvidia enabling that gpu to mine again because if not then nobody will buy it, gamers will have second gpus at 50% or more at discount, release price of this card was 329 usd, sold right now around at 900 to 1100 usd, second hand rtx 3060 will be around 100 to 200 usd. The crypto crash is coming trolls, now at any moment .

 

[Vya Domus]

I do genuinely believe they are trying to do this but it's for a very different reason.

They're trying to figure out how to capitalize on this. See, the problem is Nvidia is selling chips to AIBs for a certain amount of money, these guys proceed to increases their margins by a lot when they sell the cards to retailers which increase their margins as well. Then on top of all this scalpers come in and the product is sold to the end consumer for even more money. Basically Nvidia has to watch how this entire chain is creating profits several times over what they originally sell the hardware for. That's a problem, because they don't get a slice of these insane profits.

What they seem to be trying to do is make the currently available hardware unfit for mining so these massive profits disappear and then launch a distinct line of hardware for which they can have a really high markup from the get go.

 

[AusWolf]

I'm totally convinced that this won't be hacked... until about a week before launch.

 

[99999]

there's nothing wrong with a gamer mining at night when not playing games so they can recoup some of the cost of buying an expensive gpu. restricting mining wont do much to help availability, nvidia quite simply arent making enough. every website is botted to hell by scalpers, even the restricted 3060's which miners avoided were out of stock instantly and remain so. imo nvidia are only doing this so they can sell 1660's etc under a different name for 3-4x the price.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

I would honestly prefer mining ceasing to exist altogether. Not helping anybody and certainly not helping the environment. But that's just me.

 

[Legacy-ZA]

I don't really care to be honest, they are nowhere near MSRP.

 

[1d10t]

Second attempt declaring war on miner? We already know from their first try.

What they seem to be trying to do is make the currently available hardware unfit for mining so these massive profits disappear and then launch a distinct line of hardware for which they can have a really high markup from the get go.

My thought exactly, this will boost their CMP card one way or the other.

 

[64K]

there's nothing wrong with a gamer mining at night when not playing games so they can recoup some of the cost of buying an expensive gpu. restricting mining wont do much to help availability, nvidia quite simply arent making enough. every website is botted to hell by scalpers, even the restricted 3060's which miners avoided were out of stock instantly and remain so. imo nvidia are only doing this so they can sell 1660's etc under a different name for 3-4x the price.

I have no objection to that either but too many small miners are buying multiple GPUs solely for mining and then there are the large mining farms that buy up hundreds and even thousands of GPUs for mining.

btw congrats on your first post since being a member for over 16 years.

 

[medi01]

I think along the lines of:

 

[StefanM]

NVIDIA could utilise the "secondary device ID", which is usually primary device ID + 0x40

 

[Deleted member 177333]

As soon as the crypto market crashes 95% we will see nvidia enabling that gpu to mine again because if not then nobody will buy it, gamers will have second gpus at 50% or more at discount, release price of this card was 329 usd, sold right now around at 900 to 1100 usd, second hand rtx 3060 will be around 100 to 200 usd. The crypto crash is coming trolls, now at any moment .

+1 I'll be ready and waiting to buy cheap equipment on the 2nd hand market. I rarely buy anything new anymore due to ridiculous markups and in cases of some items like GPUs, lack of availability.

 

[evernessince]

As soon as the crypto market crashes 95% we will see nvidia enabling that gpu to mine again because if not then nobody will buy it, gamers will have second gpus at 50% or more at discount, release price of this card was 329 usd, sold right now around at 900 to 1100 usd, second hand rtx 3060 will be around 100 to 200 usd. The crypto crash is coming trolls, now at any moment .

I'm not sure a crypto crash is coming this time. A lot of big companies have jumped on to the point where there is too much money in it. It could crash to maybe 35K but it'd still be profitable at that price for miners.

The whole point of Nvidia's mining cards is to prevent a flood of used cards in the market so that people are forced to buy new GPUs. Nvidia makes bank on mining cards and they also prevent people from getting cheap GPUs. They were never interested in saving gamers, they are interested in maximizing profits.

 

[Metroid]

I'm not sure a crypto crash is coming this time. A lot of big companies have jumped on to the point where there is too much money in it. It could crash to maybe 35K but it'd still be profitable at that price for miners.

The whole point of Nvidia's mining cards is to prevent a flood of used cards in the market so that people are forced to buy new GPUs. Nvidia makes bank on mining cards and they also prevent people from getting cheap GPUs. They were never interested in saving gamers, they are interested in maximizing profits.

Every time starting 2013, always the same thing "A lot of big companies have jumped on" and since then we had 2 major 95% crashes, funny that after it crashes, nobody tells why these "big companies" are not buying anymore ehhe, truth is these are called huge bulltraps, they buy buy and buy then they sell sell and sell, then after few years they rinse and repeat, typical pyramid scheme.

 

[xorbe]

Hah, exactly what I said would happen, rev 2. This also means my 3060 order through EVGA will never be fulfilled. They only processed somthing like 7m45s worth of orders since February. I'm in the queue at like 20 minutes.

 

[evernessince]

Every time starting 2013, always the same thing "A lot of big companies have jumped on" and since then we had 2 major 95% crashes, funny that after it crashes, nobody tells why these "big companies" are not buying anymore ehhe, truth is these are called huge bulltraps, they buy buy and buy then they sell sell and sell, then after few years they rinse and repeat, typical pyramid scheme.

No, before it was mostly startups. Not Tesla, Visa, Mastercard, JPMorgan.

You are calling this a pyramid scheme but many big investment brokerages are starting to offer crypto investment options.

 

[R-T-B]

Not long ago vGPU functionality on regular NVIDIA cards was unlocked, and as I understand it also used PCI device ID lock. So this is broken even before release, impressive.

GitHub - DualCoder/vgpu_unlock: Unlock vGPU functionality for consumer grade GPUs.

Unlock vGPU functionality for consumer grade GPUs. - DualCoder/vgpu_unlock

github.com

Only on linux kernel where you can fudge the device id in kernelland. Can't really pull that off in windows.

Nvidia needs to reduce the mining capacity to 0% in a hardware solution. Someone will just hack the driver to make the card good for mining again.

If it were that easy to do without breaking game based compute, it'd have happened years ago.