NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 tested in mining: 26 MH/s and a BIOS-level anti-mining algorithm

The future isn't looking particularly bright for crypto miners. Just yesterday, YouTuber CryptoLeo (Levan Beruchashvili) posted a quick benchmark of the unreleased GeForce RTX 3060 mining Ethereum. According to his early tests (keep in mind the card isn't officially out yet), the new graphics card doesn't offer great payback potential, all thanks to NVIDIA's effort to preserve its gaming audience.

Just yesterday, the green giant announced that GeForce drivers would detect when a user is mining cryptocurrency on an RTX 3060. If mining is detected, the system automatically cuts performance by 50% to make the card unprofitable for miners. This is exactly what happened to the GPU tested by CryptoLeo.

Just a few minutes after launching the mining software, the RTX 3060's hashrate dropped from 41.5 MH/s to 24-26 MH/s. Since the YouTuber didn't have access to official drivers, the anti-mining algorithm is likely baked directly into the card's BIOS rather than tied to NVIDIA's software. Honestly, this looks like a highly effective way to combat the ongoing GPU shortage.

That said, NVIDIA isn't leaving miners out in the cold. The green giant has already announced its dedicated Crypto Mining HX series. Perhaps Jensen Huang has actually found a way out of this mess, balancing supply for both gamers and miners.

Source: CryptoLeo