Intel Arc A380 video card was taught to mine Ethereum, but it doesn't do it very efficiently

Nanominer, a cryptocurrency mining software developer, added support for Intel Arc graphics gas pedals to its software.
This is the first such solution.
Recall that officially Intel Arc graphics cards do not support mining.Image source: Red Panda MiningAccording to VideoCardz, the new software has already been tested by cryptominers.
The latter confirmed that the Intel card has indeed learned to mine cryptocurrency - but not very effectively.
The Arc A380 is the only Arc graphics card officially available so far.
Its performance in Ethereum cryptocurrency mining is 10.2 Mhash/s without optimizations.
If we take into account that the typical power consumption of the card is 75W (confirmed by mining tests), the efficiency is very low - worse than, for example, the GeForce GTX 1660.It is explained that the Intel card in mining suffers from low memory bus size (96-bit), as well as a relatively small number of graphics cores (8 cores Xe).
Therefore, this Arc A380 provides an efficiency of 0.136 Mhash/s per watt of power consumption, below the average of 0.38 Mhash/s for most popular GPU models.
Intel Arc A380 in ETH miningThe Arc A380 can mine Ethereum (ETH) or Ethereum Classic (ETC) depending on the settings.
This is due to the fact that the DAG size for Ethereum is 5127 Mbytes, while the Arc A380 card has 4832 Mbytes of memory available to the user.
The card itself has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on board, but some of it is spent on operating system graphics.
Intel Arc A380 in mining Ethereum Classic (ETH) is expected to switch to Proof of Stake model in September, so mining this altcoin on any video card will not be possible.For this case Nanominer supports automatic algorithm change for Ethereum Classic (ETC) mining, as demonstrated by Red Panda Mining blogger in the video above.

Miners learned to completely remove LHR protection from GeForce RTX 3000 series video cards

The developers of NiceHash service reported the creation of an algorithm that unblocks the mining potential of LHR-mining GeForce RTX 30-series video cards by 100%.
Thus, previously introduced by Nvidia in gaming graphics cards restrictions for mining cryptocurrencies have lost any meaning.Image source: VideoCardzRemind that according to the idea of NVIDIA, the LHR algorithm built into GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards should slow them down by half when mining Ethereum cryptocurrency and other altcoins.
Initially, video cards of the said series were released without such an algorithm.
However, a little later, under pressure from gamers, NVIDIA began to artificially limit the speed of mining.
The first video card to receive LHR protection was the GeForce RTX 3060.
But some time later, NVIDIA itself mistakenly released a graphics driver that allowed to bypass all the restrictions.
So the company had to rework the LHR algorithm and add it to all GeForce RTX 3000 models.
The only exception was the flagship gas pedal GeForce RTX 3090 - in it the mining performance was not cut.The NiceHash development team was one of the first to partially unlock the performance of LHR-video cards by NVIDIA in mining, increasing their efficiency to 70% of the potential.
The corresponding software was released last August.
And now, 9 months later, they've learned how to bypass the blocking completely.
The majority of GeForce RTX 30-series LHR video cards managed to get back all possible mining performance.
The only exceptions were GeForce RTX 3050 and GeForce RTX 3080 12GB models, which probably use a more advanced version of the protection mechanism compared to other models of the series.
It has not yet been cracked.
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti LHR with the mining limiter removed.
Image source: NiceHashThe mining blocking hack only works on Windows operating system and only supports the DaggerHashimoto (Etash) algorithm used in Ethereum mining.
\"We are pleased to announce that NiceHash QuickMiner (Excavator) is the first mining software that completely (100%) unblocks LHR cards.
You can now profit more from LHR graphics gas pedals with NiceHash QuickMiner than with any other mining software.
NiceHash Miner support will be available soon\", stated the NiceHash team.
Image source: Benchmark.plThe full unlocking of LHR gas pedals has already been confirmed by the Benchmark.pl team.
They achieved from GeForce RTX 3080 Ti performance at 117 Mhash/s instead of 85-88 Mhash/s as before.
This raises the current profitability of this video card when mining Ethereum to $4 per day.

NVIDIA says video card market will return to normal very soon

CFO Colette Kress said at a quarterly earnings call yesterday that retail finished goods inventories in the first fiscal quarter are almost at normal levels, and will remain so in the second quarter.
The improved availability of graphics cards has been helped by a decline in miner activity and NVIDIA's own efforts to combat shortages.Source image: Getty ImagesJust recall that the book value of inventory at the end of April reached $3.16 billion compared to $1.99 billion a year earlier to appreciate the extent of the company's efforts to reduce the shortage of graphics processors.
NVIDIA's financial liabilities to component suppliers reached $9.59 billion last quarter compared to $3.46 billion a year earlier, largely due to an increase in advance payments under long-term agreements from $1.84 billion to $3.06 billion.According to Colette Kress, the observed decrease in the speed of Ethereum mining network performance now may indicate lower activity by miners using video cards.
It is known that in August the participants of the process may switch to the \"proof of stake\" model, which does not require the previous computing resources for the cryptocurrency ecosystem to function.
If we talk about the supply of gas pedals CMP professional miners, in the first quarter, they were so modest that NVIDIA representatives have decided not even to name specific amounts of core revenue, stating only that it is far from the $155 million that was received a year ago.Demand for graphics cards may temporarily decrease due to lockdowns in China, the events in Ukraine and the approaching announcement of the new generation graphics solutions, which is scheduled for the second half of the year.
All of these factors were also mentioned by NVIDIA CFO in her comments, explaining the reasons for the rebalancing of the gaming graphics cards market.
At the same time, company founder Jensen Huang said at the quarterly conference that \"the fundamental dynamics of the gaming industry remain stable.\" According to him, over the past two years the audience of PC gamers has increased by 100 million people.NVIDIA representatives were not shy during the quarterly event several times to say that the company's customers are still limited in their abilities by the continuing shortage of server components.
There will also be a gradual improvement in the availability of network solutions by the end of this year.
It is in the networking segment that NVIDIA feels the problems with the supply of components the strongest, but the company is making enough efforts to systematically eliminate them.

Chinese increased production of mining GeForce RTX 3060 and RTX 3070 on mobile GPUs - NVIDIA not noticing anything

Enterprising Chinese OEMs have established mass production of GeForce RTX 3060 and RTX 3070 graphics gas pedals based on GPUs from mobile versions of these graphics cards.
As it turned out, this is the easiest way to bypass the Lite Hash Rate protection, which is equipped with desktop versions of these GPUs.
In other words, such solutions are aimed precisely at miners, not at ordinary gamers.Image source: TaobaoA similar practice has been previously reported, but now, according to VideoCardz, it has gained a much larger scale.On the one hand, it is not quite clear why OEM manufacturers decided to release such graphics cards in general, especially now that LHR-protection on desktop versions of gas pedals has been completely disabled by special applications for mining.
Perhaps, graphics chips for mobile versions of video cards turned out to be much easier to get.
Such \"Frankenstein monsters\", writes VideoCardz, have been built for months, right under NVIDIA's nose.
But NVIDIA either doesn't know about it or doesn't want to.
In the end, gamers will suffer again, because there will be fewer gaming laptops equipped with GeForce RTX 30-series graphics gas pedals.
Consequently, the price of the available ones might go up.
Offers of GeForce RTX 3060 and RTX 3070 based on mobile GPUs have already flooded the online shopping site Taobao.
All sellers of such graphics cards advertise them as a mining, offering them as a separate product, or immediately as part of a ready-made mining farm.
For the same \"mobile desktop\" GeForce RTX 3070 performance is claimed to be 60-65 Mhash/s.

New NVIDIA driver restores protection against LHR mining on 30-series GeForce RTX cards, but there's nothing wrong with it

The fresh GeForce Game Ready 512.95 WHQL video driver restores LHR protection against mining on video cards that use special software to bypass it, VideoCardz writes.
When the new driver is installed, all bypassing means stop working, and the hash rate of GeForce RTX 30-series video cards goes back to the standard - limited to half of the possible.Image source: VideoCardzWhen the GeForce Game Ready 512.95 WHQL driver is installed, the algorithms to bypass the LHR protection don't work.
However, this is not a problem for miners, as they can simply uninstall the new driver and install an old GeForce Game Ready 512.77 WHQL version with which the LHR protection bypassing mechanism is still working at 90-100%.
Here we have to choose: either to mine cryptocurrency with maximum efficiency, or to make a choice in favor of optimizing the new games.
Obviously, most miners will choose the first option.No matter how hard NVIDIA tries with its LHR (Lite Hash Rate) protection algorithm, miners continue to find ways to bypass it.
Initially, cryptocurrency mining software developers managed to increase the efficiency of video cards in mining from 50% to 70%.
However, about two weeks ago, mining software was released to unlock the full potential of gas pedals in mining the same Ethereum.
Image source: YouTube / Juliano CajuThe restoration of LHR protection after installing the new drivers has already been confirmed by some YouTube users.
For example Portuguese Juliano Caju notes that hash rate on his GeForce RTX 3060 returned to its usual value of 25 Mhash/s in Nbminer after installing the new driver.
On the old driver, which supported LHR protection bypass, the hash rate was 46 M hash/s.

NVIDIA mining blocker defeated - now all GeForce RTX 30-series are capable of 90-100% performance

The NiceHash development team has released a new version of QuickMiner mining software that can almost completely unblock the mining performance of GeForce RTX 3000 graphics cards with the LHRv3 protection algorithm.
The only video cards using this algorithm are the desktop GeForce RTX 3050 and GeForce RTX 3080 with 12GB.
And these are some of the most in-demand models on the market.Image source: NiceHashRemind that the LHR protection algorithm approximately halves the theoretically possible performance of GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards in mining the cryptocurrency Ethereum and several others.
NVIDIA first introduced LHR technology in February 2021, with the release of the GeForce RTX 3060 gas pedal.
In summer of the same year followed the release of updated versions of GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3070, RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3060 with a more sophisticated LHRv2 algorithm.In GeForce RTX 3050 and RTX 3080 12GB video cards released this year, the company has applied an even more sophisticated LHRv3 protection algorithm.
On the packaging of gas pedals this information is not specified.
Manufacturers simply use the LHR nameplate next to the card model name without specifying the version.
However, with the release of the new version of QuickMiner application all GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards can now show 90-100% of the theoretically possible performance in mining.Note that earlier NiceHash team and later NBMiner team released their applications, which fully unlock the mining performance potential of GeForce RTX 3000 graphics cards with the LHRv2 protection algorithm.
Below is a table with the current performance level of gas pedals in mining, taking into account the latest news.In the requirements of the NiceHash QuickMiner mining application version 0.5.4.2 RC, it is stated that it requires an NVIDIA video driver version 512.15 or newer to work.

Video cards return to RF stores at affordable prices

Earlier we could observe the complete disappearance from the windows of online stores most video cards, in particular RTX with LHR blocking.
This is related to the last statement from NiceHash mining service, which said about the complete unlocking of this very limiter.
Having realized that now LHR cards are not worse than standard ones, but cost much cheaper, miners immediately started ordering equipment, but then the crypto-industry disaster happened, Ethereum was sinking below $1,700 per coin.  RTX 3080 10GB and RTX 3060 TI models disappeared from the catalog for a few days, given the most favorable price ratio per 1 Mh/s, the options were the most in demand.
Apparently during the delivery period, like an avalanche, cryptocurrency rates collapsed, which seriously changed the payback period.  Combined with the strengthening of the ruble to the dollar to the mark of 64 per 1 dollar, the payback for example the same RTX 3080 10gb leaves in 26 months.
Actually this very fact has discouraged the customers, who have made orders during this period, and refused the goods, seeing the red bars on the chart.  This material was written by a visitor of the site, and a reward was accrued for it.

Another way to fully unlock NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards for mining - now for Linux

Another way to fully bypass NVIDIA's protection against mining is created.
The NBMiner team has reported the development of an algorithm to completely bypass the LHR protection of the 30-series GeForce RTX graphics gas pedals.
It works not only with Windows operating system, but also in Linux environment.
Earlier it was reported that a similar solution was developed by NiceHash service team, but only for Windows.Image source: VideoCardzThe developers of NBMiner note that their crypto mining software NBMiner version 41 will fully unblock the mining potential of LHR video cards.
The functionality was tested using NVIDIA graphics drivers version 512.15 (for Windows) and 510.60 (for Linux).
There may be compatibility issues with other versions of graphics drivers.
Image source: NebuTechThe NBMiner team has published all the necessary software in the GitHub repository.
According to VideoCardz, its readers confirm the performance of the new algorithm.According to VideoCardz, there is beginning to talk in the network that NVIDIA could in some way help both teams to develop appropriate algorithms that completely bypass the LHR-protection in order to increase sales of its graphics cards.
Obviously, the availability of gas pedals on the market has increased and many of them are likely to fall into the hands of miners.
However, this is just a rumor, which, I would like to believe, will remain so.