The rumored Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti could be the next Nvidia graphics card to get intentionally hamstrung performance in digital currency mining, following the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060.
Regular GPU specs leaker @kopite7kimi tweeted that along with 12GB of video memory, the upcoming card would include an “ETH mining nerf.”
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That points towards the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti getting the same treatment as the RTX 3060: an imposed limit on the GPU’s “hash rate,” which would make it ineffective at mining the digital currency Ethereum.
This is likely Nvidia’s latest attempt to deal with massive RTX 30-series stock shortages, which aren’t being helped by the demand from miners — take a look at our guide on where to buy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and you’ll see how hard it is to find these cards.
Just prior to the RTX 3060’s launch, Nvidia announced both the hash rate limit and its own range of GPUs built specifically for mining: the Cryptocurrency Mining Processor (CMP) range. Unfortunately, this didn’t have the stock-saving effect we hoped for, as the RTX 3060 is largely sold out less than two weeks after launch.
It will have 12G 19Gbps VRAM and an ETH mining nerf too.March 4, 2021
Still, Nvidia is staying the course. It’s already hinted that future GeForce RTX 30-series cards could get a similar hash rate reduction to the RTX 3060.
For instance, Nvidia spokesman Bryan Del Rizzo clarified that the reduction is “not just a driver thing,” specific to the RTX 3060, opening the possibility of future cards having similar measures built into their firmware.
Hi Ryan. It's not just a driver thing. There is a secure handshake between the driver, the RTX 3060 silicon, and the BIOS (firmware) that prevents removal of the hash rate limiter.February 19, 2021
VideoCardz also reported that Nvidia released a firmware update to its board partners, specifically to add the hash rate limit to the as-yet-unannounced RTX 3080 Ti. It’s unclear whether older cards like the RTX 3080 could also be updated to make them less appealing to miners, though the same measure may be applied to the rumored Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti as well.
We don’t know much about this particular card, which would sit between the RTX 3070 and RTX 3080, but the RTX 3080 Ti is still tipped for an April launch.
