The rumored Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti may follow the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 as the next Nvidia graphics card to be intentionally performance-impaired in digital currency mining.

GPU spec leak regular @kopite7kimi tweeted that the upcoming card will include "ETH mining nerf" along with 12GB of video memory.

This suggests that the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti will receive the same treatment as the RTX 3060: a limit will be imposed on the GPU's "hash rate," making it ineffective for mining the digital currency Ethereum.

Just before the RTX 3060 was released, Nvidia announced both a hash rate limit and its own series of GPUs built specifically for mining, the Cryptocurrency Mining Processor (CMP) series. Unfortunately, this did not have the inventory-saving effect we had hoped for, as the RTX 3060 sold out almost within two weeks of its launch.

Nevertheless, Nvidia is maintaining this line. It has already hinted that future GeForce RTX 30 series cards may receive the same hash rate reduction as the RTX 3060. [For example, Nvidia spokesperson Bryan Del Rizzo clarified that it is "not just due to the driver" specific to the RTX 3060 and that future cards may have similar countermeasures built into their firmware.

VideoCardz also reported that Nvidia has released a firmware update to its board partners, specifically adding a hash rate limit to the as yet unannounced RTX 3080 Ti. Older cards like the RTX 3080 are also less attractive to miners The same measure may be applied to the rumored Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, although it is unclear if it will be updated to make it less attractive.

Not much is known about this particular card, which sits between the RTX 3070 and RTX 3080, but the RTX 3080 Ti is still favored for an April release.