Fortunes turning? Specialized GPUs and SSDs come to aid crypto miners

June 2, 2021 Coin Telegraph

AMD

Manufacturers restrict mining of cryptocurrencies due to a shortage of GPU cards: Will this lead to the end of mining as we know it?

After an exceptional start to the year, the crypto market entered a bearish period in mid-May, causing some to reevaluate their stance on some of the fundamentals surrounding the crypto industry.

The prolonged fall of Bitcoin (BTC) — by more than 50% — and the subsequent dip in mining difficulty by 16%, which are suspected to have been partially caused by news of China’s intention to take tough measures against crypto mining and trading, as well as Tesla’s decision to stop accepting Bitcoin as payment for its electric vehicles, have turned out to be a turning point that brought criticism of crypto to a new level.

Against this background, some commentators and crypto enthusiasts have started talking about the possible end of the mining era. Or is it just a new beginning and a way for the industry to reinvent itself and make use of new solutions to appease the ever-expanding number of stakeholders?

Hardware deficit and price growth

The first bell actually rang back in February this year, when buyers of GPU cards, whether they are miners or gamers, had begun talking about a severe shortage of available cards, which led to exorbitant price increases.

For example, in the United States, some models of cards have risen in price by 120%. It should be noted, however, that the lack of components that make up the video cards have played an important role in such a price hike. What’s more, the slowdown in global supply chains on the back of COVID-19 restrictions has only exacerbated the already dire situation.

Given the spread of hysteria surrounding the short supply of GPU cards, miners were looking for alternative ways of mining cryptocurrencies as new cryptocurrencies, such as Chia (XCH), appeared. Mining this cryptocurrency requires the use of a solid-state drive (SSD), which is used for storing user data on a personal computer and is several times cheaper than GPU cards.

Chia uses free space on the device’s storage, and the more free gigabytes there are, the faster this cryptocurrency will be mined. In addition, Bram Cohen, creator of Chia Network, argued that his cryptocurrency is environmentally friendly compared to others because hard drives consume significantly less power than GPU cards, which means less harm to the environment. Of course, critics were quick to point out a key shortcoming of such a strategy, arguing that the lifespan of this equipment gets reduced to just 80–160 days, which means it must be constantly disposed of for something new.

Despite an alternative to the GPU cards, the emergence of Chia has also inevitably led to a shortage of storage devices and an increase in their prices. In China, back in April, consumers began to buy hard disc drives with a capacity of 4–18 terabytes, while SSDs were also in hot demand. In Hong Kong, the excitement instantly provoked a rise in prices for these components; depending on the model, the cost increased by $25–$75.

Fighting miners

In the wake of price increases, GPU card manufacturers began to actively fend off crypto miners back in February. Spearheading the assault, Nvidia tried to prevent mining by releasing a special driver 470.05 for its RTX 3060 cards, which are widely used for mining Ether (ETH). However, the block did not work in most cases, as miners bypassed it using cheap plugs for HDMI ports that mimic the operation of a monitor.

The unsuccessful attempt to limit the performance of GPU cards forced Nvidia to try a hardware block. At the end of May, the company announced a line of GPU cards called GeForce RTX 30 Lite Hash Rate. The GeForce RTX 30 LHR series includes video cards of the 3060, 3060 Ti, 3070 and 3080 series.

Protection against mining on these cards is implemented at the hardware level: When Ether is mined, the performance drops by half, and the overall mining efficiency decreases by more than 50%. The start of sales was scheduled for late May to early June, but the company has not yet released this product.

Nvidia’s partners have also joined the initiative by releasing GeForce RTX 30 LHR cards under their own brands, and Zotac was among the first. These cards are distinguished with a new marking so that buyers can differentiate the cards when buying one. Anti-mining cards have letters “GE” or “G” in the name, for example, Zotac RTX 3060-12GD6 Destroyer GE Pro.

Moreover, at the end of May, PC manufacturer Asus registered the v2 series GPU card with the Eurasian Economic Commission. Most likely, this is how the company labels the LHR models, which have hardware and software protection against Ether mining.

It is noteworthy that AMD, the only big competitor to Nvidia in the GPU cards market, has not yet reacted in any way to the attempts of its competitors to return the prices of gaming cards to their previous values. The company has announced no plans to release special anti-mining modifications of its accelerators. Meanwhile, the company said that it would not limit the computing power for mining cryptocurrency so that users can determine what to use the computing power of the GPU for.

Double game

Having deprived crypto miners of using gaming cards, Nvidia simultaneously offered miners an alternative in the form of a series of CMP HX accelerators. These products are focused specifically on mining, which is expressed in the presence of a special crypto mining processor (CMP) and the complete absence of external interfaces. In other words, it’s simply impossible to connect a monitor to them — thus, it can’t be used for gaming.

Asus CMP 40HX will be able to provide mining efficiency of up to 43.77 megahashes per second, while the official number announced by Nvidia stands at 36 MH/s. The 21% higher hash rate is due to memory and power consumption optimization of the video card.

It was assumed that a specialized mining card CMP 40HX would go on sale before the end of the first quarter of this year. Like all other models of specialized video cards of the CMP HX series, they will be distributed by NVIDIA partners. Asus was the first to announce possible prices for such cards: CMP 40HX could cost $699 and the younger model, CMP 30HX, whose mining efficiency is 26 MH/s, around $599.

AMD is also preparing a new GPU that will be designed for cryptocurrency mining. The cards will be based on Navi 10 and Navi 12 chips, which will be capable of mining Ether. AMD has stated that the new GPU would be released without VCN and Display Core Next DCN technologies, which will prevent them from streaming video to the display, once again, rendering them useless for gamers.

Known manufacturers of other mining equipment are not sitting on the sidelines either. Sabrent announced at the end of May the sale of PlotRipper SSDs for Chia Coin miners. The main advantage of the new SSDs is their larger capacity, which will be used gradually as the drives wear out. The PlotRipper and PlotRipper Pro models contain 4TB and 8TB NAND chips, respectively.

Is the end of crypto mining canceled?

The desire of manufacturers to separate their mining cards from gaming ones is understandable, especially when the company is experiencing problems with resources for the production and tarnishes its image in the process.

But in any production, the main thing is demand, which generates income. At the end of the first quarter of 2021, Nvidia made $155 million in revenue from the sales of GPUs designed specifically for cryptocurrency mining. In the second quarter of the fiscal year, it expects to generate $400 million.

AMD also released its first-quarter report showing impressive revenue growth, recording a 93% rise to $3.45 billion over the same period last year. The management explained this dynamic by the surge in demand for consumer Ryzen processors and Radeon graphics cards. The average selling price has been rising in both the CPU and graphics segment. In fact, the revenue from the sales of client processors and their average price have reached record levels.

Thus, if companies continue to make such profits, in which cryptocurrency mining plays an important role, then it is likely that chip manufacturers would be willing to cater to all avenues of customers with specialized products. It may actually be that mining is not only alive and well but, in the face of a sharp drop in crypto prices, may actually come out stronger as the result.

Nvidia Makes $155 Million From Crypto Mining Chips in Fiscal Q1

May 27, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Nvidia Aims to Get Its GPUs Back ‘Into the Hands of Gamers’ by Reducing Mining Capabilities on 3 Graphic Cards

May 20, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Nvidia extends limits on crypto mining to newest gaming graphics cards

May 18, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin mining

The global head of GeForce marketing at Nvidia said that the reduced hash rate "only applies to newly manufactured cards," not to GPUs already purchased.

Graphics card giant Nvidia said that the hash rate limiter on its RTX 3060 graphics cards would also be introduced in other RTX 30 series GPUs in an attempt to disincentivize crypto miners.

In an announcement from Nvidia today, the company said it would be applying a reduced Ether (ETH) hash rate to its newly manufactured GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3070 and RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards. The models will be identified by a “Lite Hash Rate,” or LHR, label, aimed at getting its graphics processing units, or GPUs, to its target customers rather than cryptocurrency miners.

“This reduced hash rate only applies to newly manufactured cards with the LHR identifier and not to cards already purchased,” said Nvidia’s global head of GeForce marketing Matt Wuebbling. “We believe this additional step will get more GeForce cards at better prices into the hands of gamers everywhere.”

Nvidia limited the hash rate on some of its earlier GPU models, announcing in February that the changes reduced mining performance by 50%. However, in March a driver update from the graphics card manufacturer inadvertently removed the limiter, allowing some crypto miners to achieve a hash rate of 118.9 megahashes per second for mining tokens using Nvidia’s RTX 3060 series.

Many users responding to the news on computer news site VideoCardz seemed to believe that the expanded hash rate limits would reduce the incentive for Nvidia buyers to immediately resell their GPUs to crypto miners for a profit.

"The price a miner would pay for these cards should now also drop slightly more in half too," said VideoCardz user manicdan. "If the typical eBay price was $2000 [for example], the new one should be closer to $1000. This might be way over the original price of a $500-$600, but hopefully also reduces the desire for scalpers to try so hard and maybe more get into gamers hands at the store rather than on eBay since scalpers need to sell a card for a sizable profit to cover the eBay fee, their time, and taxes."

User Prince FA added:

"Miners won't be enticed to pay the insane current prices for half the profitability."

The company will start shipping the new RTX 3080, RTX 3070 and RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards in late May, with the LHR label in retail product listings and on the box.

Nvidia again limiting crypto mining on its RTX-3060 gaming graphics card

April 30, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

After accidentally unlocking its own hash rate limiter in a driver update, Nvidia has announced it will lock new cards again by reducing the mining capacity by 50%.

Graphics card giant Nvidia is quietly reintroducing a hash rate limiter on its RTX 3060 series graphics cards in an effort to disincentivize cryptocurrency miners.

On April 29 the company issued the GeForce 466.27 driver that reintroduces RTX 3060 cryptomining limiter.

*GeForce 466.27 driver release notes, Source:* *Nvidia*

According to sources reported by computer news site Videocardz, Nvidia will release the new ‘Lite Hash Rate’ models in mid-May which will be almost identical to previous versions of the same cards.

The gaming giant had originally limited the hash on the previous models, reducing mining performance by 50%. Matt Wuebbling, head of global GeForce marketing at Nvidia, said in a blog post in February:

“We designed GeForce GPUs for gamers, and gamers are clamoring for more.”

Hackers first came up with a workaround, and then in March, a driver update inadvertently unlocked this 'limiter' unleashing the card’s true potential of 118 Mh/s, enabling the mining of Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies.

The new cards are said to be identical in every way except that they will have a new PCI Device ID of 2504. Although the unlocked driver is now in the public’s hands, the new ID is designed to render them useless if used with the 470.05 driver update. It is however virtually certain some miners will attempt to circumvent this, and the previous models were supposedly hard-locked via the BIOS.

*GeForce RTX 3060 new PCI Device ID in 466.27 drivers. Source:* *VideoCardz*

The news has received a mixed response among the gaming community. Videocardz forum user “Eric W,” stated that the move only seems to sideline small home miners, who are often gamers t:

“Well this is a mixed bag. I want to buy a new gpu for gaming, but I also mine when I'm not actively playing games... I can't buy a mining gpu because Nvidia seems to only sell them in quantities of several thousand and I have no interest in having 100s of mining rigs.”

User “Mark” suggested the limiter wouldn’t put miners off anyway, adding that “it needs to be 90%+” to “be a real deterrent to miners” while "Mashed Potato" believes it’s just a money grab:

“They still want miners to buy their cards… but twice as much.”

According to VideoCardz, limits are expected to be set on most RTX 30 series cards, although certain models, like the RTX 3090, may not end up with a limiter due to its high price tag of $1,500.

Leaked Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti GPU shown mining Ether at 118 Mh/s

April 23, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Leaked screenshots of the latest Nvidia GPU mining Ether at full power leaves gamers worried and miners rubbing their hands.

Nvidia’s RTX 30 series of graphics cards have been subject to unending speculation, rumors and even ridicule since the firm first announced it would ship its latest GPU’s with a built-in Ether (ETH) mining limiter.

A series of missteps saw the mining limiter on Nvidia’s RTX 3060 card first undon e by crafty hackers and then completely removed by one of Nvidia’s own driver updates.

The latest in a series of leaks now suggests Nvidia’s next major GPU release — the RTX 3080 Ti — could be shipped without a cryptocurrency mining limiter at all. Leaked screenshots first uncovered by VideoCardz.com show the 3080 Ti mining Ether with a hash rate of 118.9 megahashes per second — that’s more than quadruple what the hamstrung cards were originally supposed to be capable of.

It’s worth noting that there has been no confirmation that the GPU in the screenshots is the same one that Nvidia is prepping for release. The leaked model could be a model still around from before the company decided to implement its mining limiters.

Also, Nvidia’s previous missteps in releasing its anti-crypto cards have led to the company considering a complete overhaul of its 30 series range, so the performance of the card in question may not necessarily be representative of the one that is expected to hit shelves in May.

With a prospective hash rate of 118.9 MH/s, the RTX 3080 Ti stands to be a very profitable card for Ether miners, even in Western nations.

China’s average electricity costs round out at $0.08 per kilowatt-hour per household, meaning the GPU would stand to return profits of around $378 per month, or $4,611 per year.

In the United States, where electricity averages at around $0.13/kWh per household, the card would still return healthy profits of $4,488 per year, or just over 2 ETH based on current prices. The GPU is expected to cost around $999 upon release, however, another mad rush by cryptocurrency miners could see demand outstrip supply once more, again resulting in a higher price.

Bitmain’s new Ether ASIC mining rig may not fix GPU shortage after all

April 16, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

A new Ether ASIC mining rig is on the way, but will it help ease Nvidia's GPU problems?

Cryptocurrency mining rig manufacturer Bitmain announced the pending release of a new Ether (ETH) miner on April 16. The Antminer E9 model is an application-specific integrated circuit chip, which will run on the Ethereum blockchain’s Ethash algorithm.

No official release date has yet been announced for the E9, however, the machine’s arrival may not be as impactful as first suspected. The rig faces competition in the form of Nvidia’s CMP (Cryptocurrency Mining Processor) range of GPUs, designed specifically for crypto mining. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s scheduled move away from proof-of-work towards a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism could mean the E9’s utility is short-lived.

Nvidia recently announced that its CMP range was expected to rake in $150 million in profits in the first quarter of the year — three times more than the firm had originally anticipated.

Despite the apparent booming popularity of its crypto-specific graphics cards, Nvidia chief financial officer Colette Kress said on an investors call this week that the company expected its GPU shortage to continue for the rest of the year, despite increasing supply.

“We expect demand to continue to exceed supply for much of this year [...] We will see supply continue to increase throughout this quarter as well as throughout the year,” Kress said, as reported by The Verge.

Nvidia has struggled to meet demand for GPUs from its core gaming customer base for some time, as would-be miners gobbled up cards to mine Ether and other cryptocurrencies. The phenomenon of Nvidia’s supply shortage first emerged in late 2017 as the bull run of that year attracted more people toward crypto mining. After cooling off somewhat in the intervening years, the GPU shortage emerged once again in 2020 and shows no signs of abating.

Nvidia also announced on April 15 the launch of a new anti-crypto mining version of the RTX 3060. Earlier this year, the firm launched the RTX 3060 graphics card with a built-in limiter which made it less than half as effective when mining cryptocurrency, as part of its efforts to separate gaming and mining demand.

Within days hackers had been rumored to have bypassed the mining limiter, and just a few days later still, Nvidia shot itself in the foot by releasing an official driver update which unintentionally removed the limiter by itself.

The new version of the RTX 3060 will reportedly retain the same name and branding, but will see the faulty driver replaced completely, reports TechRadar.

While Bitmain’s release of the E9 may seem a little late given Ethereum’s eventual move to proof-of-stake in the next year or so, the limited time left to mine ETH could also result in a sharp demand spike, as miners seek to accumulate as much ETH as possible before the changeover.

We asked Nvidia if it expected the release of the E9 to help ease its GPU shortage by diverting demand, or, whether the company viewed the rig as competition for its CMP range. This article will be updated should Nvidia reply.