Partial checkmate to Nvidia’s cryptomining checks

Is that a crypto rig on your fridge? © MartenBG/iStock.

Cryptocurrency mining, a significant consumer of GPUs, is exerting pressure on the market that is partly responsible for the graphics cards shortage. In an attempt to mitigate the problem, early last year, Nvidia said it was equipping its gaming graphics cards with a system to prevent them from being used for cryptomining purposes. And yet, some smarty-pants at NiceHash, the cryptomining platform, announced that they have finally found a way around these restrictions and have released an update to their QuickMiner software. This guarantees full Ethereum mining performance on almost all GeForce RTX 3000-series LHR (Lite Hash Rate) compatible GPUs. NiceHash says that LHR’s workaround only works on Windows for now, and that there is “no Linux support yet.” The company also says the software will not boost mining performance on newer GeForce cards that use version 3 of the LHR algorithm, that is, the RTX 3050 and the 12GB version of the RTX 3080.

⇨ Ars Technica, Andrew Cunningham, “NiceHash defeats Nvidia’s GPU crypto-mining limits, does not appear to be a scam.”

⇨ Tom’s Hardware, Zhiye Liu, “Nvidia’s LHR limiter has fallen, but gamers shouldn’t worry.”

2022-05-09