The alleged Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti may be the next Nvidia graphics card to achieve intentionally impaired performance in digital currency mining, following the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060.
Regular GPU specs leaker @ kopite7kimi tweeted that along with 12 GB of video memory, the next card would include an “ETH mining nerf”.
This points to the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti receiving the same treatment as the RTX 3060: a limit imposed on the GPU “hash rate”, which would render it ineffective in mining the Ethereum digital currency.
This is probably Nvidia’s latest attempt to address the massive inventory shortages of the RTX 30 series, which is not being helped by mining demand – take a look at our guide on where to buy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and you will see how difficult it is. is to find those cards.
Just before the launch of the RTX 3060, Nvidia announced the hash rate limit and its own line of GPUs built specifically for mining: the cryptocurrency mining processor (CMP) line. Unfortunately, this did not have the inventory saving effect we expected, as the RTX 3060 is almost sold out in less than two weeks after launch.
It will have 12G 19 Gbps VRAM and an ETH mining nerf as well.March 4, 2021
Still, Nvidia is keeping the course. It has already been suggested that future GeForce RTX 30 series cards could achieve a similar hash rate reduction to the RTX 3060.
For example, Nvidia spokesman Bryan Del Rizzo clarified that the reduction “is not just a driver thing”, specific to the RTX 3060, opening up the possibility of future cards having similar measures built into their firmware.
Hi Ryan. It is not just a driver thing. There is a secure handshake between the driver, the silicon RTX 3060 and the BIOS (firmware) that prevents the hash rate limiter from being removed.February 19, 2021
VideoCardz also reported that Nvidia has released a firmware update for its card partners, specifically to add the hash rate limit to the RTX 3080 Ti yet to be announced. It is not clear whether older cards like the RTX 3080 could also be upgraded to make them less attractive to miners, although the same measure can be applied to the alleged Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti as well.
We don’t know much about this particular card, which would be between the RTX 3070 and the RTX 3080, but the RTX 3080 Ti is yet to be released in April.