From The Register:
Nvidia announced a new line of GPUs solely for mining cryptocurrencies on Thursday – and that it's halving the cryptocurrency mining efficiency of forthcoming GeForce cards in an effort to keep the kit in the hands of gamers when the hardware goes on sale next week.
Specifically, if the driver software for the GeForce RTX 3060 cards detects certain proof-of-work algorithms used in the mining of digital currencies, it will slash the hash rate. This is intended to deter folks from snapping up the cards to mine Ethereum in particular, it seems, leaving more kit for computer game fans to fight over.
“We are gamers, through and through,” the Silicon Valley-based corporation insisted in a statement. “Yet Nvidia GPUs are programmable. And users are constantly discovering new applications for them, from weather simulation and gene sequencing to deep learning and robotics. Mining cryptocurrency is one of them.
“With the launch of GeForce RTX 3060 on February 25, we’re taking an important step to help ensure GeForce GPUs end up in the hands of gamers. RTX 3060 software drivers are designed to detect specific attributes of the Ethereum cryptocurrency mining algorithm, and limit the hash rate, or cryptocurrency mining efficiency, by around 50 per cent....
....MUCH MORE
As noted in the outro from January 19's "Top Tick: Server Farmer, Crypto Mining Rig Maker, Bitmain's IPO May Be On Again":
The company has sold out their production through August 2021 prompting NVIDIA to reconsider manufacturing chips for mining rigs although I thought the battle of Graphics Processing Units versus ASICs was settled a few years ago in favor of the more stripped-down, single purpose chip.
Bitmain will be joining a couple others trying to squeeze through the window:....
