Nvidia’s latest drivers for Microsoft’s Windows and Linux operating systems have disabled the company’s LHR (Lite Hash Rate) mining hash rate capping technology introduced last year, unlocking the mining potential of GeForce RTX 30-series LHR graphics cards. Essentially re-enable. Meanwhile, GPU mining seems unlikely to make a comeback now that Ethereum, the most popular GPU-mined cryptocurrency, has moved to a proof-of-stake concept.
According to Reddit users, Nvidia’s recently released Windows driver version 522.25 and Linux driver version 520.56.06 do not activate LHR technology when mining software is used. Lumber 007 (opens in new tab) (via I_Leak_VN (opens in new tab)). As a result, all of Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 30-series LHR and GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, RTX 3080 Ti, RTX 3090 Ti boards are once again available for mining at their combined hashrate.
To curb demand for its GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards by Ethereum miners, Nvidia announced its LHR-series products with reduced hash rates in May 2021. It was limiting the appeal of his GeForce RTX 30 series boards from Nvidia for miners.
Ethereum now requires proof of stake, making GPU mining less attractive for the cryptocurrency. However, other algorithms such as Autolykos (used on the Ergo platform) can take advantage of graphics processors and are ASIC tolerant. Technically, Ergo has LHR unlock functionality built in, but it needs to be launched as administrator (for Windows) or root privileges (for Linux), which can be complicated.
Since Ethereum is no longer suitable for GPU mining, it makes sense for Nvidia to disable the LHR hash rate capping technology. But the removal of the LHR limit has made Nvidia’s GPUs suitable for mining again. The question is whether someone can come up with a suitable algorithm or cryptocurrency and revive the GPU mining boom.
