- Nvidia’s Ethereum mining lock on their new RTX 3060 graphics cards has been mocked by gamers
- Several gamers suggested on Reddit that the lock will be quickly overcome
- The gamers blame Nvidia for what they see as a token gesture
The ability of Nvidia to prevent Ethereum miners from using their new range of RTX 3060 graphics cards for mining the cryptocurrency has been met with scorn by the gaming community. Nvidia announced last week that its newest range of graphics cards, which launched yesterday, will enforce a 50% hashrate restriction when the software detects that the card is being used to mine ETH. However, gamers have been quick to throw cold water on Nvidia’s ambitions, with some doubting that their efforts will last long and others questioning the authenticity of the plans.
RTX 3060 ETH Mining Lock Will be Breached Within “6 Hours”
The backlash towards Nvidia began not long after the company announced that they were taking steps to prevent crypto miners from using the RTX 3060 to mine ETH. According to the graphics card manufacturer, the drivers for the new range have been coded in such a way that if the card detects that ethash (the Ethereum algorithm) is running then it will reduce the hashrate by 50%. This is very noble in theory, but, as members of reddit gaming forum pcmasterrace pointed out, their efforts may prove to be largely redundant:
RTX 3060 anti mining lock in a nutshell. from r/pcmasterrace
Comments on the post summed up the feeling of the community on Nvidia’s efforts, with one poster saying that the anti-mining lock on the RTX 3060 will work “for like a day, maybe” while another well even less optimistic, giving it “6 hours before someone uploads a patched vbios to just ignore that part of the driver”. Others even claimed that some of the RTX 3060 units already appearing on eBay might even be patched with the new driver and sold at a premium as a result.
Nvidia Blamed for Not Protecting Gamers
The reasons why hackers are able to easily re-code the RTX 3060 drivers was also discussed, with the fault lying squarely with Nvidia themselves:
Only time will tell how long it will be before the Ethereum mining block is overcome on the RTX 3060 graphics cards and if/when it is we can expect Ethereum miners to be competing with gamers to purchase the already limited stock.
