Galax launches RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 GPUs with crippled Ethereum mining performance
Galax launches RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 GPUs with crippled Ethereum mining performance
On their Chinese website, Galax has listed eight FG graphics cards, all of which feature LHR silicon. While Galax has not revealed what FG means, “For Gamers” seems like suitable marketing.
For their RTX 3080 FG/LHR models, Galax listed these models as featuring a lowered Ethereum mining hash rate of 43MH/s, which is around half of what a standard RTX 3080 would offer. For Nvidia’s RTX 3070 LHR silicon, Galax lists a lowered hash rate of 25MH/s, which is a little less than half of what a normal non-LHR RTX 3070 typically offers.
At this time, it is unknown when these new LHR gaming GPUs will make their way onto the consumer market, and when Nvidia’s other AIB partners will launch anti-Ethereum RTX 30-series models.
Is Nvidia’s Hash Limiter a good thing?
While many gamers want to see cryptocurrency mining eliminated, many PC users see Nvidia’s hash limiter as a bad thing. A removed feature is a removed feature, and Nvidia’s Hash Limiter could be seen as a cash grab from Nvidia, who plan on selling dedicated cryptocurrency mining products to miners at premium prices. Nvidia has removed a feature from their gaming products to sell it as a premium product. Let’s be clear here, that’s what Nvidia’s CMP lineup is all about.
Optics aside, Nvidia are committed to adding a hash limiter to their Geforce products. While this will have positive side effects for the pure gaming market, it removes a valuable feature from Nvidia’s Geforce product stack. Whether or not this is a good thing is a topic that’s up for debate.
You can join the discussion on Galax’s LHR RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 graphics cards on the OC3D Forums.
