Nvidia claims its Ethereum mining limiter calls for a secure handshake involving motorists, GPU, and BIOS.
Nvidia claims its cryptocurrency hash speed limiter on the upcoming GeForce RTX 3060 12GB graphics card–which is applied in software, not hardwareis unable to be contested owing to some secure handshake between software and hardware.
Especially, Nvidia informs PC Gamer, in an updated statement for further clarity on the limiter, it believes”End users cannot eliminate the hash limiter in the driver. There is a safe handshake between the driver, the RTX 3060 silicon, and the BIOS (firmware) that prevents elimination of this hash rate limiter.”
Nvidia had initially left it in”the software can’t be hacked to remove the limiter,” that had left the door open into a little more speculation concerning what informed miners could do in order to get round the limiter, many of whom are certain to want to conduct these cards at an unfettered hash rate.
Nvidia is convinced that its limiter is up to the challenge, then.
This limiter being one intended to prevent miners from zealously chasing down graphics cards for use in blindly chipping away at cryptocurrency to get a heady profit. The most important cryptocurrency of choice for the enterprising GPU miner is Ethereum, so that’s precisely what Nvidia’s block will stop RTX 3060 graphics cards from mining.
The new limiter will halve the hash rate of this RTX 3060 when specific areas of the Ethereum mining algorithm are detected.
The expectation for Nvidia, and mild-mannered gamers anywhere, is the block will remain in place and see these cards make their way out to gamers.
The RTX 3060 will be the only card to come together with the limiter in place from its arrival on February 25, Nvidia tells usas it’s”not restricting the performance of GPUs sold.”
The RTX 3060 is sure to be a popular card, too, as all Ampere GPUs have been up to now, though even more so thanks to its $329 price tag.
Whether we will see more stock stick around on that day as a result of lowered mining demand, we are not yet sure. There’s still incredible demand for PC components, and undoubtedly the lowest priced Ampere GPU of the lot will be the most popular with quantity, as we have seen in the past with popular cards such as the GTX 1060. So my guess is that it’ll still be a day one scramble just like any other launch within the previous five months.
Any move Nvidia will make to keep as many GPUs as possible in play for gamers will be utterly welcome by many, but not those looking to do a little mining on the side. It will probably turn miners off to the first wave of RTX 3060 graphics cards, at least, as any doubt as to the hash rate of those cards will not observe these cards as sequential mining material–even though Nvidia’s unhackable limiter goes down like the Titanic later in life.
We’re hoping it’s not easily brushed aside, but, and Nvidia’s assurance offers a little hope for PC building in the first half of 2021.
