Ethereum-mining GPUs Based on Mobile Processors Appear in China

On the popular China-based marketplace for used goods Goofish, custom graphics cards have appeared that bypass Nvidia’s mining limiter by using a mobile processor. Local media report.

The device is built around a GA106 GPU from GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile, used in laptops. It has not undergone the Lite Hash Rate (LHR) hash-rate lock, is equipped with 30 streaming multiprocessors, and demonstrates full performance at around 50 MH/s for Ethereum mining.

In one listing, a mining rig based on nine such models delivers over 240 MH/s in total, with a power draw of 910 W.

The cooling system consists of two copper heat pipes and two fans with Nvidia stickers.

The manufacturers of these GPUs remain unknown, as the devices carry no markings. Prices range from $545 to $570.

Experts note that the custom GPUs could potentially be used by gamers — they are equipped with an HDMI output, and the mobile chip GA106 packs more CUDA cores than the desktop variant. Nevertheless their gaming performance is limited by the memory amount (6 GB GDDR6) and a low TDP.

Earlier in February 2021, Nvidia released an updated LHR line of GPUs RTX 3000, for which it halved the mining power for Ethereum. Thus the company aimed to steer GPU sales toward gamers.

However, miners later learned to restore up to 70% of the original performance and bypass the lock by mining two digital currencies simultaneously.

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