Gigabyte has followed in Galax’s footsteps with the launch of new RTX 3060 graphics cards that feature Nvidia’s hash-rate liming tech.
As spotted by Twitter tipster @momomo_us, Gigabyte has released a second revision (Rev. 2.0) of its entire GeForce RTX 3060 portfolio, including the RTX 3060 Gaming OC 12G, RTX 3060 EAGLE 12G, RTX 3060 EAGLE OC 12G, RTX 360 VISION OC 12G, and RTX 3060 ELITE OC.
The company’s official website confirms that all of the GPUs arrive as ‘Lite Hash Rate’ (LHR) variants, which means the graphics cards' hash rates will be crippled in a bid to make them less appealing to cryptominers - and easier for PC gamers to get their hands on.
GigabyteGeForce RTX 3060 LHR (Lite Hash Rate) versionAORUS GeForce RTX 3060 ELITE 12G (rev. 2.0)https://t.co/oARXVHYGwzGeForce RTX 3060 GAMING OC 12G (rev. 2.0)https://t.co/spKzNm4M6UGeForce RTX 3060 VISION OC 12G (rev. 2.0)https://t.co/0OSeCnJl6g pic.twitter.com/pB6l5z6NkCMay 17, 2021
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Gigabyte hasn’t confirmed the GPUs’ exact hashing rate, but if anything like Galaxy’s RTX 3060 LHR cards, it will likely be limited to 50%, making them unprofitable to mine Ethereum.
Beyond the cryptomining curbs, Gigabyte’s latest RTX 3060 graphics cards feature all of the specs you’d expect. Each card boasts 12GB of memory on a 192-bit bus, and they all have GA106-302 GPUs, 3,584 cores, 112 TMUs, and 48 ROPs.
Gigabyte and Galax are unlikely to be the only board partners that plan to refresh their RTX 3000 GPU lineups in a bid to make them less appealing to cryptominers. According to reports, MSI, for example, is planning to launch a Plus-monikered series, which will also include a refresh of its Radeon RX 6000 series lineup.
However, it seems likely that branding could get confusing. While Galax has equipped its latest GPUs with an “LHR” differentiator, Gigabyte has opted for simple “Rev 2.0” branding, which could make things confusing for those after a new GPU.
TechPowerUp notes that it’s unlikely there will be any packing differences either, as Nvidia would apparently prefer for the cards’ hash-rate limiters to remain unclear in a bid to prevent would-be miners from purchasing any graphics cards from channels that aren't specifically mining-oriented.
