Intel Confirms that Arc Graphics Will Not Feature Cryptocurrency Mining Lock

[Uskompuf]

Intel's VP and GM of Client Graphics Products and Solutions Roger Chandler has recently confirmed in an interview with Gadgets 360 that the companies upcoming Arc Alchemist desktop graphics cards will not ship with any software or hardware cryptocurrency mining inhibitors. Roger Chandler didn't rule out the possibility of Intel implementing such a lock in the future simply stating that it is not a priority for the company. Intel SVP and GM of Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Raja Koduri also noted that they cannot guarantee sufficient supply will be available to meet consumer demand. These graphics cards are not expected to be released until Q2 2022 with mobile versions coming earlier in Q1 so we cannot be sure how they will affect availability and pricing for the general GPU market. The full interview which also covers reference board designs, workstation products, and XeSS super-resolution technology can be found at the link below.

As far as like software lockouts and things of that nature, we're not designing this product or building any features at this point that specifically target miners. As far as actions we're taking to avoid or lock them out, it's a product that will be in the market and people will be able to buy it. It's not a priority for us.

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[Ferd]

That’s a competitive advantage that intel needs , nice move especially given the current gpu market status

 

[Metroid]

Intel needs to sell every gpu they have in order to be a success, so yeah, they would be crazy to block any potential sale and competition will make nvidia to unlock their locked gpus, time will make that happen.

 

[RedBear]

Intel needs to sell every gpu they have in order to be a success, so yeah, they would be crazy to block any potential sale and competition will make nvidia to unlock their locked gpus, time will make that happen.

I don't really understand this logic in the current market, gamers are desperate for new GPUs and I highly doubt that Nvidia is losing sales because of their mining lock, if anything looking at the Steam charts makes you wonder whether AMD is producing any GPU at all or they're selling them in bulks to miners. Most likely Intel would do well in the current market if their GPUs are even just moderately competitive, currently even previous generation GPUs are selling for twice their MSRP because of the scarcity of GPUs in the market, who cares about miners? Gamers will buy the GPUs if they don't want them.

 

[maxfly]

If its a competitive card it isn't going to matter. Good to mine with or not they will sell like hot cakes.

 

[Metroid]

I don't really understand this logic in the current market, gamers are desperate for new GPUs and I highly doubt that Nvidia is losing sales because of their mining lock. Most likely even Intel would do well in the current market if their GPUs are even just moderately competitive, currently even previous generation GPUs are selling for twice their MSRP because of the scarcity of GPUs in the market, who cares about miners? Gamers will buy the GPUs if they don't want them.

Where I live sale of gpus are right now stagnant, people are not buying gpus like they used to, I guess the manipulators got the people with more money than sense and the desperate, a 3060 got as high as 1500 usd where I live, right now is around 650 usd, still high, but is much lower than the high at 1500 usd and from what I can tell price is not lowering it more because manipulators are still trying to keep prices high, with intel in the gpu market, manipulation will be much less prone than now. Also authoritarian companies like nvidia blocking what you do with your gpus will only work if other companies adhere to that, meaning, if amd and intel don't do that then nvidia will have to unlock those gpus in order to be competitive again.

I also want to add that Intel is also an authoritarian company just like nvidia, but for them to lock their first gpu arch right now is simple death. I guess they will charge more for mining gpus in the future, the same as nvidia is doing now.

 

[maxfly]

The only cards that dont sell out within hours here are the stupidly priced aib 6800xt/6900xts. Everything else is instasold.

 

[Metroid]

The only cards that dont sell out within hours here are the stupidly priced aib 6800xt/6900xts. Everything else is instasold.

They are stupidly priced because those gpus are not locked and people that don't have any idea about mining think just because those gpus have no lock they can price stupidly prices on them, if they dont find idiots that buy those gpus then as soon as the crypto market crashes later this year or starting next year then they will regret why they have not lowered the prices of those gpus, in 2 words "their loss" and ignorance about the mining market.

 

[bencrutz]

if anything looking at the Steam charts makes you wonder whether AMD is producing any GPU at all or they're selling them in bulks to miners.

is AMD good for mining? i thought RDNAs hashrate is terrible compared to RTXs

 

[RedBear]

is AMD good for mining? i thought RDNAs hashrate is terrible compared to RTXs

I'm no mining expert, but I understand that they compare favourably against the locked (LHR) RTX GPUs, for instance in this Tomshardware chart the RX 6700 XT has a daily profit of $3.45, the 3070Ti LHR has a daily profit of $3.68.

Where I live sale of gpus are right now stagnant, people are not buying gpus like they used to, I guess the manipulators got the people with more money than sense and the desperate, a 3060 got as high as 1500 usd where I live, right now is around 650 usd, still high, but is much lower than the high at 1500 usd and from what I can tell price is not lowering it more because manipulators are still trying to keep prices high, with intel in the gpu market, manipulation will be much less prone than now. Also authoritarian companies like nvidia blocking what you do with your gpus will only work if other companies adhere to that, meaning, if amd and intel don't do that then nvidia will have to unlock those gpus in order to be competitive again.

I also want to add that Intel is also an authoritarian company just like nvidia, but for them to lock their first gpu arch right now is simple death. I guess they will charge more for mining gpus in the future, the same as nvidia is doing now.

Generally people assume that it's limited supply raising prices, making GPUs too expensive for people on a budget, but as you've noted there's still plenty of crazy and/or desperate people who are buying them anyway. At any rate, even assuming that there's some manipulation going on there, I wonder how Intel would disrupt things. And if anything I think that this is a good moment to try and milk the market a little with LHR cards and expensive mining cards with no reselling value, later the market might return to a semblance of normality with additional capacity coming online (and hopefully the mining craziness winding down), in a market resemling 2019 more than 2021 locked GPUs make no sense.

 

[Deleted member 185088]

Locking the cards for one algorithm was a smart move by nVidia to fool philistines, selling them crippled cards for same price.

 

[Metroid]

I'm no mining expert, but I understand that they compare favourably against the locked (LHR) RTX GPUs, for instance in this Tomshardware chart the RX 6700 XT has a daily profit of $3.45, the 3070Ti LHR has a daily profit of $3.68.

Generally people assume that it's limited supply raising prices, making GPUs too expensive for people on a budget, but as you've noted there's still plenty of crazy and/or desperate people who are buying them anyway. At any rate, even assuming that there's some manipulation going on there, I wonder how Intel would disrupt things. And if anything I think that this is a good moment to try and milk the market a little with LHR cards and expensive mining cards with no reselling value, later the market might return to a semblance of normality with additional capacity coming online (and hopefully the mining craziness winding down), in a market resemling 2019 more than 2021 locked GPUs make no sense.

Well lhr gpus already failed in the sense that now miners can be using them for full mining hashrate using 2 or more algos, this stupid nvidia act blocking how we use something that we purchased will end as soon as this crypto market crashes because there will be no profit anymore and then gpu prices will crash very hard. If intel dont release these gpus now then they will be going for a very bad start.

 

[R-T-B]

Well lhr gpus already failed in the sense that now miners can be using them for full mining hashrate using 2 or more algos,

I mean you can earn even more running two algos on non lhr gpus... ie it's still limited. But the limitation is weaker than it could be.

 

[Metroid]

I mean you can earn even more running two algos on non lhr gpus... ie it's still limited. But the limitation is weaker than it could be.

on lhr gpus you need to run 2 algos at once in order to bypass the lhr bs, on a non lhr gpu you can run 100% on everything, 1 or more algos. While running one algo is better for management and maximum profit, you can always run 2 or more algos on lhr in order to defeat the lock. I guess nvidia will come next time trying to lock that too.

 

[R-T-B]

on lhr gpus you need to run 2 algos at once in order to bypass the lhr bs, on a non lhr gpu you can run 100% on everything, 1 or more algos.

Oh, so dual mining actually tricks the limiter? Interesting.

 

[Metroid]

Oh, so dual mining actually tricks the limiter? Interesting.

Yeah. I wonder how long will take for nvidia to lock that too.

 

[TheOne]

Sounds like the cards could initially end up being optimized more for mining than gaming with the inevitable bot swarms blocking gamers, of course it will depend on what the volatile mining market looks like next year.

 

[ZoneDymo]

so even if they suck at gaming, they might still be worth scalping, its a win win!

 

[Vya Domus]

if anything looking at the Steam charts makes you wonder whether AMD is producing any GPU at all or they're selling them in bulks to miners.

For the last time, AMD does not make video cards, neither does Nvidia. All their GPUs go the AIBs which them might sell them to miners but AMD does not have a say in that.

 

[Vayra86]

I don't really understand this logic in the current market, gamers are desperate for new GPUs and I highly doubt that Nvidia is losing sales because of their mining lock, if anything looking at the Steam charts makes you wonder whether AMD is producing any GPU at all or they're selling them in bulks to miners. Most likely Intel would do well in the current market if their GPUs are even just moderately competitive, currently even previous generation GPUs are selling for twice their MSRP because of the scarcity of GPUs in the market, who cares about miners? Gamers will buy the GPUs if they don't want them.

Don't look at Steam Charts for any sensible conclusions on gaming related market share. Its a complete and utter mess, with lots of ancient data mixed with tons of non-gaming oriented systems.

 

[Chomiq]

is AMD good for mining? i thought RDNAs hashrate is terrible compared to RTXs

AFAIK 5700XT's are great for mining, to the point that second hand they now cost more than new 6700XT's.

 

[Broken Processor]

Hopefully they will be garbage for mining and that's why they aren't limited.

 

[Flanker]

Is it just me or the release date is forever next year?

 

[maxfly]

Is it just me or the release date is forever next year?

I think supply chain crap has pushed everything fun and exciting back to next year. Except for AL for some strange reason. Better not say that to loud or that'll be the next thing to get the boot.

 

[Bomby569]

Nvidia seems to be the only ones in the side of gamers. Well f**** you Intel then just like AMD.