NVIDIA GPU drivers would throttle cryptocurrency mining to 50 percent. This driver software will be available for RTX 3060 from February 25. According to Nvidia, the company wants the products to be used by gamers and digital content creators, not so much by cryptocurrency miners.
NVIDIA launching dedicated mining chip
In the past years, GPU manufacturers saw a steep rise in demand due to cryptocurrency mining’s growing popularity. It was so much so that many gaming enthusiasts could not get the GPUs that they needed or had to pay exorbitant prices. Many companies have tried to prevent this situation for a while.
In the official statement, Nvidia has said that the latest driver software can detect when a user is running the software for Ethereum cryptocurrency mining. Once detected, the software will reduce the performance of the RTX 3060 by a whole lot, bringing the mining efficiency to 50%.
Experts have said that this is like DDoS attack protection in that it can detect the actions that can potentially exhaust the hardware and suspend all of them earlier. However, people will stop relying on the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 for mining on the Ethereum blockchain.
Nevertheless, Nvidia understands the rising demand for cryptocurrency mining as well. Therefore, the company has recommended its customers interested in mining check out the Nvidia CMP lineup. CMP, which stands for Cryptocurrency Mining Processor, is a lineup of GPUs that have been designed and optimized for cryptocurrency mining and not gameplay.
Nvidia believes that this dichotomy will ensure a stable supply of the RTX 3060 for gamers while providing something dedicated to the mining community. The company has not mentioned whether the CMP GPUs are more potent than the RTX lineup.
Nvidia’s decision has sparked controversy among the mining community, as expected. While many are disappointed that they cannot use the brand-new RTX 3060 for mining, others don’t want the company to dictate what people can do with its products.
It is also unclear whether Nvidia has planned something against Bitcoin miners. Noticeably, though, Bitcoin miners tend to use custom-made hardware for mining in place of relying on a consumer-grade GPU.
