NVIDIA will restrict mining on video cards for the second time

According to HKEPC, NVIDIA is about to launch a new variant of the Ampere GPU with an improved limiter for cryptocurrency mining. The new GPU, codenamed GA106-302, will replace the GA106-300 in the GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards. This new chip will receive a new PCI device ID that will render any existing drivers useless.

Note that NVIDIA made a big announcement earlier this year that their mid-range GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards will be the first of their kind to offer support for resizable panel sizes and a mining algorithm limiter. Despite good intentions, it was quickly discovered that the graphics card was still profitable even with the limiter in action. To make matters worse, NVIDIA accidentally released a driver that removed the same limiter. This rendered the entire anti-mining campaign useless.

They say that the new GPU GA106-302 will not only not work with the new driver, but will also have additional protection mechanisms against Ethereum mining on the GeForce RTX 3060. The source also clarified that other models on the Ampere architecture may undergo similar alterations.

The new GA106-302 GPU is expected to launch in May, indicating that NVIDIA has recently made the decision to upgrade to a new variant. What may be important for customers is that NVIDIA will not differentiate the new RTX 3060 variant from the existing one with the GA106-300 GPU.