The performance limits of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 for cryptocurrency mining have once again been bypassed. This time with an experimental driver released by the software maker itself. report by Japanese media.
The GeForce driver, originally developed to support the [simple_tooltip content=’software-hardware architecture of parallel computing’]CUDA[/simple_tooltip] technology in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), allowed boosting the graphics processor nearly to 48.5 MH/s when mining Ethereum.
Miners who discovered the loophole did not have to modify the driver or BIOS to lift the limiter.
Data: PC Watch.
Overclocking the memory frequency from 15 GHz to 16.6 GHz raises the RTX 3060’s hash rate for Ethereum mining to almost 46 MH/s.
The publication notes that using the driver can ‘hack’ only a single card of this model. The hash power of two cards would halve. Experts explain this by the fact that the GeForce RTX 3060 is equipped with a full-speed PCIe x16 adapter, and the PCIe x1 bus commonly used is insufficient.
Data: KKJ CN.
Some users on various social networks confirmed they had bypassed the RTX 3060’s limits and achieved a hash rate above 45 MH/s.
3060 crack eth drivers up to 45M pic.twitter.com/l5cMSCn8a8
— Linmb (@Bj3OfZG5Yt8qdlR) March 11, 2021
Data: KKJ CN.
The mechanism for bypassing the GPU protection remains unclear, but it may occur only at the driver level. Experts do not rule out that Nvidia will close this ‘hole’ in the near future.
Update (6:17 p.m. MSK): In a comment to The Verge, Nvidia confirmed that it accidentally unlocked Ethereum mining on the RTX 3060 using the new driver.
“The driver unintentionally enabled code used for internal development, which removes the hash-rate limiter on the RTX 3060 in some configurations,” is stated in the company’s statement.
The driver has been removed. However, mirrors of it can still be found online.
Earlier Chinese miners reported that using an undocumented algorithm they managed to bypass the protection of the desktop Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 and overclock the device to 50 MH/s. However, the information did not receive official confirmation. Nvidia itself had claimed that bypassing the protection was impossible.
The decision to halve the hash rate of GeForce RTX 3060 the GPU maker explained as aiming to tailor the model to gamers’ needs. The mobile variants of graphics cards were not affected.
Later online appeared the first photos of Nvidia Gigabyte CMP 30HX graphics processor, created specifically for mining cryptocurrencies.
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