The growing demand for GeForce RTX graphics cards, driven by the popularity of cryptocurrency mining, has affected the gaming community. As the shortage of graphics cards arises, Nvidia seems to have a solution.
Nvidia introduces a line of graphics cards — CMP, or Cryptocurrency Mining Processor. According to their official blog, these processors are specifically designed for professional crypto mining for the Ethereum blockchain.
Nvidia has announced four models in the new CMP-HX series, which interested parties can purchase through partners such as ASUS, Colorful, EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI, Palit, and PC Partner. Power starts at 26 MH/s on the 30HX and goes up to 86 MH/s on the 90HX.
The CMP-HX cards lack graphics outputs and rely on a cooling system that should also be able to guarantee the tightly packed operation of several graphics cards in the rack under full load over the long term.
The efficiency of the graphics cards is high because the GPUs can be operated with lower voltages and, as a result, lower clock rates – the Ethereum algorithm primarily requires memory bandwidth.
CMP-HX series
| Specs | 30HX | 40HX | 50HX | 90HX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hash rate (Ethereum) | 26 MH/s | 36 MH / s | 45 MH / s | 86 MH / s |
| TDP | 125 W | 185 W | 250 W | 320 W |
| Power connections | 1x 8-pin | 1x 8-pin | 2x 8-pin | 2x 8-pin |
| Storage | 6 GB | 8 GB | 10 GB | 10 GB |
However, this is not all. Nvidia also promises that its new RTX 3060 cards will be less efficient for mining cryptocurrencies. The new drivers will reduce the hash rate by 50%. With the introduction of a line dedicated to mining plus the limitation to cards that are not manufactured for that purpose, the firm hopes the GeForce will return to the hands of gamers.
