The bane of PC Gaming – GPU mining – is drawing to an finish. The upcoming transfer of Ethereum to proof of stake and away from power intensive proof of labor means bulk mining GPU purchases have ended. We will see that is mirrored within the plummeting costs of latest graphics playing cards and the flood of second-hand gross sales, together with some that have been stay streamed. (opens in new tab)
In the course of the peak of the mining growth, it was very tough to get a brand new high-end card at a value that didn’t contain some non-essential organ harvesting. Miners alternatively, had no downside shelling out huge bucks for playing cards in bulk when Ethereum was at its all-time highs, making it simpler to recoup their outlay prices.
In order for you a card or two, you’d go to a retailer. Should you wished 100, strive a distributor, however if you happen to wished a thousand, corporations will surely have been blissful to take your name. MSI seems to be one such firm. Based on footage posted by @hongxing2020 (opens in new tab) (through Videocardz (opens in new tab)), MSI offered unreleased RTX 3080 20GB playing cards on to miners.
Again in time, there have been rumours that Nvidia was contemplating promoting 20GB RTX 3080’s (opens in new tab). It made sense as 10GB feels a bit on the skinny facet in comparison with a 16GB RX 6×00 card or the RTX 3090. It seems the cardboard went far past the starting stage and truly made it to manufacturing.
Curiously, the playing cards have been FHR variations, that means they delivered a greater hash charge than the patron LHR variations. Unhealthy luck for you small time miners who needed to take care of the hash charge block on retail 3080’s. Cash talks it appears, and if there’s one factor huge miners don’t lack, it’s cash.
Based on @hongxing2020 (opens in new tab) there are at the least 100 out there they usually’re promoting for ‘over 3,000 RMB’ or above US$400. That seems like a cut price, proper? However don’t purchase one. Nvidia by no means launched the cardboard so there is no such thing as a driver assist. So, until you propose to mine for just a few extra weeks, this card will find yourself as little greater than a novelty collector’s version.
And even if you happen to might purchase one for gaming, it wouldn’t have made sense in comparison with the RTX 3080 12GB (opens in new tab) which options extra cores and a wider reminiscence bus. Meaning the 3080 20GB can be a downgrade over a 3080 12GB, and few video games make use of greater than 12GB of vRAM anyway.
A 3080 20GB would made a good selection for a prosumer working with massive information units, however why would Nvidia promote it in that market when it may push them in direction of a 3090 with 24GB? So whereas a 3080 20GB appears good on paper, the cardboard would have been relatively pointless when in comparison with its sibling playing cards.
The truth that the cardboard exists goes to point out simply how a lot market energy miners had. At a time when players needed to pay exorbitant costs for playing cards, the GPU makers have been quietly very happy to promote to miners behind the scenes. All hail proof of stake!
