May 20, 2021 15:00:00

NVIDIA announces GeForce RTX 3080/3070/3060 Ti with limited mining performance for gamers

Demand for GPUs for gaming such as NVIDIA's RTX series is increasing in order to perform the calculations necessary for mining virtual currencies (virtual currency), and the market price continues to rise. NVIDIA has announced that it will release a model with limited mining performance for the GeForce RTX 3080/3070/3060 Ti, following the long-standing availability of the RTX 30 series to gamers.

A Further Step to Getting GeForce Cards into the Hands of Gamers | The Official NVIDIA Blog
https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2021/05/18/lhr/

NVIDIA cripples cryptocurrency mining on RTX 3080 and 3070 cards
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/cryptocurrency/nvidia-cripples-cryptocurrency-mining-on-rtx-3080-and-3070-cards/

The GeForce RTX 3080/3070/3060 Ti is a graphics card for gaming , the second generation RTX series with 'Ampere' architecture and Samsung 8nm process, NVIDIA is the world's most advanced gaming graphics card and appeal. The RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 were launched in September 2020, and the RTX 3060 Ti was launched in December 2020.

NVIDIA officially announces GeForce RTX 30 series, top model enables world's first 8K / 60fps gaming-GIGAZINE

The specifications of GeForce RTX 3080/3070/3060 Ti are as follows.

NVIDIA GeForce	RTX 3080	RTX 3070	RTX 3060 Ti
architecture	Ampere	Ampere	Ampere
Manufacturing process	Samsung 8nm	Samsung 8nm	Samsung 8nm
Number of CUDA cores	8704	5888	4864
Number of RT cores	68 (2nd generation)	46 (2nd generation)	38 (2nd generation)
Number of Tensor cores	272 (3rd generation)	184 (3rd generation)	152 (3rd generation)
VRAM	GDDR6X 10 GB	GDDR6 8 GB	GDDR6 8 GB
GPU core clock (rated)	1.44 GHz	1.50 GHz	1.41 GHz
GPU core clock (boost)	1.71 GHz	1.73 GHz	1.67 GHz
Memory clock	19 Gbps	16 Gbps	14 Gbps
Memory bus width	320 bit	256 bit	320 bit
Thermal design power (TDP)	320 W	220 W	200 W
Auxiliary power supply	8pin x 2	8pin	8pin

However, due to the soaring prices of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, the demand for RTX30 series graphics cards for mining purposes has also risen sharply. The market price of the RTX30 series has soared, and it has been difficult for gamers, who are the original target users, to obtain it.

Therefore, NVIDIA announced that the GeForce RTX 3080/3070/3060 Ti will take further measures in addition to the hash rate limit of Ethereum. The restricted model will be given the identifier 'Lite Hash Rate' or 'LHR' and will be shipped from late May 2021. The restrictions do not apply to models that have already been released.

NVIDIA said about this mining performance limitation, 'The GeForce series is made for gamers and packed with innovative technology. NVIDIA's RTX 30 series is a dedicated RT core specialized for real-time late racing. It is built on the second generation RTX architecture 'Ampere' with a Tensor core for AI acceleration, providing gamers and creators with amazing visuals and performance. '

In February 2021, NVIDIA announced that it would limit the hash rate of the GeForce RTX 3060 Ethereum. In addition, we are announcing the 'CMP (Cryptocurrency Mining Processor)', which is a GPU dedicated to mining.

NVIDIA announces processor 'CMP' for mining & limits mining function of 'RTX 3060' --GIGAZINE

The CMP specifications are summarized in the table below.

	30HX	40HX	50HX	90HX
Ethereum hash rate	26MH / s	36MH / s	45MH / s	86MH / s
power consumption	125W	185W	250W	320W
Power supply	1 × 8pin	1 × 8pin	2 × 8pin	2 × 8pin
Memory capacity	6GB	8GB	10GB	10GB
Appearance time	February-March 2021	February-March 2021	April-June 2021	April-June 2021