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Restrictions on cryptocurrency mining on the GeForce RTX 3060 have not worked well, but Nvidia will try to repair it. It is preparing better protection, due to which it will quietly replace all Ampere graphics with new models. Including the recently released GeForce RTX 3060.
Prior to the release of the GeForce RTX 3060, Nvidia announced that it wanted to ensure that game graphics were “player-friendly” and that cryptocurrencies were not exploited. In drivers and firmware was an algorithm that detected mining and artificially reduced performance.
Unfortunately, Nvidia killed this effort herself various mistakes or weaknesses, due to which in the end it was possible to mine almost as normal on these cards – the limiter worked only on Ethereum, it was enough not to use a riser (cable extension) with only one line, to install dummy video output to HDMI and Nvidia port inadvertently released a driver where the restriction was inactive.
So it seemed that this idea would end infamously soon after it appeared, but according to current reports, Nvidia is not giving it up and will try to push cryptography from game graphics again, this time with perhaps greater success.
Due to mining restrictions, new revisions of all cards will be released
A major problem for future measures against cryptocurrencies is that miners can obtain an older controller with unlocked power. That is why Nvidia is now planning to release new models of all existing GeForce RTX 3000 cards with the GA102 (RTX 3080, 3090), GA104 (RTX 3070, RTX 3060 Ti) chip. But according to Hong Kong’s Expreview website, even a new revision will be released GeForce RTX 3060, ie only a few weeks old card, which already has the first failed version of the limiter.
These cards will probably go on sale without some notice instead of the previous ones, but the identifiers will have changed so that the older driver will not recognize them and will not work with them. Buyers will therefore have to install a newer one, in which we hope that Nvidia will monitor the mining more effectively. Of course, this assumes that he avoids previous mistakes and at the same time does not make any new ones.
According to HKEPC, the mining limiter should be improved so that it cannot be fooled so easily. It’s hard to predict whether this will work. Nvidia is at a disadvantage against miners, preventing them from running cryptocurrency algorithms is a much more difficult task than finding ways to break or circumvent such protections. Cryptoalgorithms can be changed and updated as needed, and Ethereum, for example, can always be replaced by an alternative imitation (although these tend to be less profitable). At the same time, only one weakness is always enough for miners to make the effort to limit mining fall like a house of cards. So if even this attempt fails, it’s probably not appropriate to slander Nvidia.
I’ve said before, maybe not GA106 only.
For example, we would meet GA102-302/202 and GA104-302/202. https://t.co/pGghHbikbV– kopite7kimi (@ kopite7kimi) April 15, 2021
These new revisions of the cards should be visibly distinguishable even at the level of the silicon itself, which will have new designations. In the GeForce RTX 3060, for example, instead of the GA106-300 chip, the chip will be labeled GA106-302. Silicon will probably be the same revision, only those identifiers and probably the firmware will be changed. This is probably how other models could be marked, which should reportedly get chips GA104-302 and GA104-202 (RTX 3070, RTX 3060 Ti) and GA102-302 (RTX 3090) and GA102-202 (RTX 3080). However, these specific designations may not be definitive.
These new revisions could have another advantage, their BIOSes will probably be ready for production from the factory PCIe Resizable BAR functionso there is no need to flash them.
Refresh in May?
According to HKEPC, a new version of the GeForce RTX 3060 with the GA106-302 chip and this new mining limiter should be released in May. It could probably be similar with other cards, but not everything has to happen at once, rather it is possible that the transition to new revisions will take place gradually, so that it is not so much work for companies at once.
So let’s hope that this measure will help at least a little with the prices and availability of game graphics.
Resources: VideoCardz, HKEPC, Kopite7kimi
