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Nvidia Limits RTX 3060 Hash Rate

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Re: Nvidia Limits RTX 3060 Hash Rate

#41
post #12

I'm probably going to be downvoted into oblivion but I'm genuinely curious: Does anybody else think that the "mining is bad for the environment and gamers can't buy the cards" argument is a bit weird? After all, if all these cards weren't used for mining but for gaming, wouldn't the environmental outcome be the same? I mean, is there any inherent upside to burning tons of energy for games vs burning it for a cryptocu…

> I mean, is there any inherent upside to burning tons of energy for games vs burning it for a cryptocurrency? You presume the total energy consumption would be the same whereas it'd be more likely that GPUs that are used for mining will be used 24/7 whereas gaming is likely to be performed by a human being who cannot or would not utilize the GPU nearly as many hours of the day.

On the other hand, GPUs used for mining are typically used at ~60% the power draw and more often in places with cheap and greener electricity.

Re: Nvidia Limits RTX 3060 Hash Rate

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Does anybody else think that the "mining is bad for the environment and gamers can't buy the cards" argument is a bit weird? After all, if all these cards weren't used for mining but for gaming, wouldn't the environmental outcome be the same? I never had that specific opinion, but I have another point of view. Games bring inherent value to the table. That is, if you didn't play games you would be reading a book, go…

Presumably people enjoy investing in crypto. It’s a hobby for many, like gaming.

Presumably, gaming doesn't use as much electricity globally as the entire country of Argentina.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56012952

Re: Nvidia Limits RTX 3060 Hash Rate

#43
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are removing all the display ports from the card so I can't imagine it can be used for gaming.

It can be. NVDA's stance is utter bull. It is entirely possible to render video games and stream them to another display [1,2] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY4s35uULg4 [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1nok2VlF1M [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfIibTBaoMM

It will be possible but as your third video suggests the number of cards that'll be used this way and not end up as landfill will be peanuts.

Re: Nvidia Limits RTX 3060 Hash Rate

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Does anybody else think that the "mining is bad for the environment and gamers can't buy the cards" argument is a bit weird? After all, if all these cards weren't used for mining but for gaming, wouldn't the environmental outcome be the same? I never had that specific opinion, but I have another point of view. Games bring inherent value to the table. That is, if you didn't play games you would be reading a book, go…

Presumably people enjoy investing in crypto. It’s a hobby for many, like gaming.

>investing in crypto

Crypto is an investment the same way $GME or playing the roulette is an investment. Better term would be speculating or gambling. Nothing wrong with either, but let's call it what it is.

Re: Nvidia Limits RTX 3060 Hash Rate

#45
post #17

I'm probably going to be downvoted into oblivion but I'm genuinely curious: Does anybody else think that the "mining is bad for the environment and gamers can't buy the cards" argument is a bit weird? After all, if all these cards weren't used for mining but for gaming, wouldn't the environmental outcome be the same? I mean, is there any inherent upside to burning tons of energy for games vs burning it for a cryptocu…

I would argue that gaming creates a lot more value (joy) per tflophour(?) compared to mining. How many thousands of hours of gaming equals one btc transaction?

I think that depends on when the mining took place.

Re: Nvidia Limits RTX 3060 Hash Rate

#46
post #4

I have no sympathy for miners, but purely from software freedom perspective this is maximally evil: closed-source software that decides what you can use your hardware for. The CMP version is a straight-to-landfill product. As soon as it stops being profitable for mining it will have zero resale value, and become e-waste.

I am hoping to repurpose the gpu/cmp for a hashcat rig once cards no longer provide income for miners. I fear I no longer will be able to use GPUs for this, and are crossing my fingers for cmps

Re: Nvidia Limits RTX 3060 Hash Rate

#47
post #31
post #4

I have no sympathy for miners, but purely from software freedom perspective this is maximally evil: closed-source software that decides what you can use your hardware for. The CMP version is a straight-to-landfill product. As soon as it stops being profitable for mining it will have zero resale value, and become e-waste.

On the contrary, this is the one example of a company doing something for the public good even when no one asked them to.

How so? Take this excerpt from the article:

> Nvidia does state that these GPUs "don't meet the specifications required of a GeForce GPU and, thus, don't impact the availability of GeForce GPUs to gamers." Frankly, that doesn't mean much. What does Nvidia do with a GPU that normally can't be sold as an RTX 3090? They bin it as a 3080, and GA102 chips that can't meet the 3080 requirements can end up in a future 3070 (or maybe a 3070 Ti). The same goes for the rest of the line. Make no mistake: These are GPUs that could have gone into a graphics card. Maybe not a reference 3060 Ti, 3070, 3080, or 3090, but we've seen TU104 chips in RTX 2060 cards, so anything is possible.

Combine with their after market value (see https://youtu.be/XfIibTBaoMM), this is no more than Nividia trying to spin goodwill whilst padding their bottom line.

Re: Nvidia Limits RTX 3060 Hash Rate

#48

I'm probably going to be downvoted into oblivion but I'm genuinely curious: Does anybody else think that the "mining is bad for the environment and gamers can't buy the cards" argument is a bit weird? After all, if all these cards weren't used for mining but for gaming, wouldn't the environmental outcome be the same? I mean, is there any inherent upside to burning tons of energy for games vs burning it for a cryptocu…

> After all, if all these cards weren't used for mining but for gaming, wouldn't the environmental outcome be the same?

No. Really, no.

Mining hardware is just trash when new hardware is released, pretty much immediately.

OTOH, gaming hardware very often has a second life in the form of used hardware and lower-specced gaming computers. Don't be fooled by YouTube influencers, most of the real people won't be buying the latest and greatest hardware and drop their previous hardware. IIRC, valve stats showed that 1080-era cards are still very common and in use.

And by the way: pretty much no one is running games 24/7. Mining hardware OTOH are specifically meant to be kept going 24/7.

Re: Nvidia Limits RTX 3060 Hash Rate

#49

I'm probably going to be downvoted into oblivion but I'm genuinely curious: Does anybody else think that the "mining is bad for the environment and gamers can't buy the cards" argument is a bit weird? After all, if all these cards weren't used for mining but for gaming, wouldn't the environmental outcome be the same? I mean, is there any inherent upside to burning tons of energy for games vs burning it for a cryptocu…

Gaming gives people enjoyment. They are not consuming other energy sources and to a certain degree, i think this is okay.

It also combines and supports advantages in science by making this more affordable for the rest.

You can still critizie it and there have been huge energy savings for idle GPUs which was not the case 10? years ago.

Nonetheless, one thing doesn't make the other thing better or worse. Doing bitcoin is supporting a system which requires mining to make transactions. It also doesn't free me but potentially people who benefit from this directly. Like money washing, moving their millions from left to right or other things. And while doing that, taking my graphicscard, i wanted to play with, to sit somehwere, running 24/7 for what?

What real problem solves bitcoin for me and most other people on the world?

Re: Nvidia Limits RTX 3060 Hash Rate

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably people enjoy investing in crypto. It’s a hobby for many, like gaming.

Presumably, gaming doesn't use as much electricity globally as the entire country of Argentina. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56012952

Why do you think that? Any stats or are you just guessing? I wouldn't be surprised if it's within an order of magnitude of that.
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