Nvidia is trying again to limit the use of its RTX 3060 graphics cards for mining Ethereum, with a new update once again adding a hash limiter to the GPU, via VideoCardz.com.
If that sounds familiar to you, that’s because it’s not the first time that Nvidia has tried to nerf mining performance on the RTX 3060 — the company first rolled out new drivers that were intended to limit the hash rate of Ethereum mining by around 50 percent in February.
“We designed GeForce GPUs for gamers, and gamers are clamoring for more,” says Matt Wuebbling, head of global GeForce marketing at Nvidia, in a blog post announcing the change. The company also announced a new product, the Nvidia CMP (Cryptocurrency Mining Processor), a dedicated GPU meant specifically for cryptocurrency mining.
However, that update was short-lived, with Nvidia managing to accidentally unlock its own limit in a beta driver released in March, undoing its previous work. Nvidia would go on to confirm that the new driver was a mistake, but it was already too late — the updated driver was out in the wild, and RTX 3060 owners were able to download it and avoid the new restrictions.
The new GeForce 466.27 driver, though, brings back the original limit and notes that it’ll be required for all future RTX 3060 cards starting in May. Nvidia may be looking to add hash rate limits to other cards, too.
A separate VideoCardz.com report notes that the company is working on an updated version of “LHR” (Lite Hash Rate) GPUs across the other RTX 30-series cards (including the RTX 3060 Ti, 3070, and 3080 models), in order to help discourage cryptocurrency miners from snapping up the limited stock before gaming-focused customers can. Only the top-of-the-line RTX 3090 may be exempt, as the $1,500 price tag already makes it of limited value for mining tasks.