Nvidia gives new RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 GPUs a mining Nerf – Will LHR GPUs save PC gaming?
Nvidia gives new RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 GPUs a mining Nerf – Will LHR GPUs save PC gaming?
These new nerfed RTX 30 series variants will be differentiated from their unlimited counterparts using the LHR moniker. This means that Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti LHR, RTX 3070 LHR, and RTX 3080 LHR graphics cards will soon hit the market from Nvidia and their add-in-board partners. Nvidia’s RTX 3060 will retain in non-LHR name as its original counterpart featured a different Ethereum mining limiter. Nvidia’s RTX 3090 graphics card will not be refreshed with an LHR model.Â
With their LHR (Lite Hash Rate) series, Nvidia plans to deliver more graphics cards to gamers by making their GPUs less appealing to cryptocurrency miners. Doing this should reduce GPU demand from cryptocurrency miners and help to improve RTX 30 series availability amongst gamers. The downside of this is that Nvidia is intentionally removing a feature from its products, limiting its capabilities.Â
New LHR series GPUs will be listed as LHR series models by retailers and on GPU packaging. This should prevent LHR series GPUs from being sold to those who do not want an Ethereum mining limited graphics card.Â
Below is what Nvidia has to say about their new LHR RTX 30 series GPUs. Â
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   GeForce products are made for gamers — and packed with innovations. Our RTX 30 Series is built on our second-generation RTX architecture, with dedicated RT Cores and Tensor Cores, delivering amazing visuals and performance to gamers and creators.
Because NVIDIA GPUs are programmable, users regularly discover new applications for them, from weather simulation and gene sequencing to deep learning and robotics. Mining cryptocurrency is one of them.
  Halving Hash Rate
To help get GeForce GPUs in the hands of gamers, we announced in February that all GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards shipped with a reduced Ethereum hash rate.
Today, we’re taking additional measures by applying a reduced ETH hash rate to newly manufactured GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3070 and RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards. These cards will start shipping in late May.
  Clear Communication to Gamers
Because these GPUs originally launched with a full hash rate, we want to ensure that customers know exactly what they’re getting when they buy GeForce products. To help with this, our GeForce partners are labeling the GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3070 and RTX 3060 Ti cards with a “Lite Hash Rate,†or “LHR,†identifier. The identifier will be in retail product listings and on the box.
This reduced hash rate only applies to newly manufactured cards with the LHR identifier and not to cards already purchased.
  GeForce Is Made for Gaming
GeForce RTX GPUs have introduced a range of cutting-edge technologies — RTX real-time ray tracing, AI-powered DLSS frame rate booster, NVIDIA Reflex super-fast response rendering for best system latency, and many more — created to meet the needs of gamers and those who create digital experiences.
We believe this additional step will get more GeForce cards at better prices into the hands of gamers everywhere.
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You can join the discussion on Nvidia’s RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070, and RTX 3080 LHR graphics cards on the OC3D Forums.Â