Nvidia to limit RTX 3060 hash rate to discourage miners, introduces CMP alternative

As we all know, graphics cards are in very short supply right now. In the case of Nvidia's RTX 30 series GPUs, some launch-week pre-order customers are still waiting to get their card due to long queues, meanwhile, much of the stock being made is going out to crypto mining farms. Nvidia has a plan to tackle this for the RTX 3060 launch next week. 

As a GeForce branded graphics card, the RTX 3060 is intended for the gaming market – not crypto currency miners. To discourage miners from hoarding gaming GPU stock at launch, Nvidia has made the decision to limit the hash rate of the RTX 3060, cutting it in half.

The RTX 3060's drivers are “designed to detect specific attributes of the Ethereum cryptocurrency mining algorithm”. If detected, the hash rate will be halved at the driver level. This is part of Nvidia's commitment to serving the PC gaming community, ensuring more gamers can get their hands on GeForce GPUs.

Nvidia isn't completely shunning the crypto-mining crowd though. As an alternative to GeForce, Nvidia is introducing CMP, a new line of products intended for the mining market. CMP stands for Cryptocurrency Mining Processor and these will be optimised for mining specifically and sold through authorised partners.

Nvidia's hope is that by creating tailor made products for these two markets, there will be less crossover. CMP hardware can go to the mining crowd, while more gaming GPU stock will be freed up for the customers they were intended for.

KitGuru Says: This is very interesting news and hopefully it ends up working. Are any of you struggling to get a new graphics card at the moment? How do you feel about Nvidia's move to try and discourage miners from buying GeForce graphics cards? 

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