Nvidia to replace RTX 3060 GPU processor to curb mining

Nvidia will release a new version of the GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card based on the Ampere GA106-302 GPU processor to prevent use for cryptocurrency mining.

The card is currently built around the GA106-300 processor. With the transition to the new GPU, it will change its PCI identifier and become incompatible with previously released drivers.

The RTX 3060 will also receive ‘additional mechanisms’ guaranteeing that Ethereum mining is not possible on it.

The updated model will go on sale in May.

Earlier in February Nvidia announced a decision to halve the hash rate of the desktop GeForce RTX 3060. It explained this was intended to focus the model on gamers’ needs and asserted that bypassing the protection could not be bypassed.

Later, Chinese miners claimed that with the help of an unnamed algorithm they hacked the protection and boosted the device to 50 MH/s. However, the information has not received official confirmation.

Subsequently the RTX 3060’s throttling was bypassed using an experimental Nvidia driver. At that time, only a single card of this model could be ‘cracked’. The company confirmed the bug and removed the software from its site.

At the end of March, a South Korean enthusiast assembled a farm of seven RTX 3060s, bypassing the Ethereum mining hash-rate caps. The farm’s total hash rate was 337 MH/s. The miner did not specify how he managed to bypass the GPU protection.

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