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NVIDIA To Launch Graphics Cards Specifically Designed For Digital Currency Mining (cnbc.com)

Digital currency mining is in high demand, causing GPU prices to skyrocket. Nvidia is planning to capitalize on this trend by releasing graphics cards specifically designed for cryptocurrency. From a product listing on ASUS' website: "ASUS Mining P106 is designed for coin mining with high-efficiency components -- delivering maximum hash-rate production at minimum cost. ASUS Mining P106 enhances the megahash rate by up to 36% compared cards in the same segment that are not tailored for mining. The new card is also engineered to be seriously durable, enabling 24/7 operation for uninterrupted coin production." The ASUS Mining P106 uses an Nvidia chip, according to the specifications page on the website. CNBC reports: Nvidia, AMD and ASUS have not officially announced the digital currency mining cards, according to their website press pages. It is not certain when the cards will be available for sale. Nvidia is likely making the cards designed for this use so that the surging digital currency demand doesn't affect its ability to serve the lucrative PC gaming market.

21 of 105 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What a pain in the ass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Selling shovels to gold miners is a much better and more profitable business than gold mining.

  2. NVidia is too slow - All mining will end soon by Karganeth · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Cryptocurrencies are moving towards being mineless. Most of the newer cryptocurrencies can't be mined and bitcoin and ethereum and moving towards an upgrade that will remove mining to a much more efficient system (that uses less than 1/1000th of the energy mining does). They are moving to a "Proof-of-stake" system from a "Proof-of-work" system.

    1. Re:NVidia is too slow - All mining will end soon by AnonGCB · · Score: 2, Informative

      You have no idea what you're talking about.

      Proof Of Stake is garbage and bitcoin will not be moving to it

      --
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    2. Re:NVidia is too slow - All mining will end soon by TeknoHog · · Score: 2

      Cryptocurrencies are moving towards being mineless. Most of the newer cryptocurrencies can't be mined and bitcoin and ethereum and moving towards an upgrade that will remove mining to a much more efficient system (that uses less than 1/1000th of the energy mining does). They are moving to a "Proof-of-stake" system from a "Proof-of-work" system.

      Ah, proof-of-stake, the new fancy cryptocurrency tech introduced with Peercoin in 2012.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    3. Re:NVidia is too slow - All mining will end soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      you have no idea what you are talking about if you think that bitcoin has even a percentage of a percentage of a chance of moving to proof of stake. everyone who knows anything knows that proof of stake is worthless. the only reason vitalik is championing it is because he loves silver bullet solutions to perpetual motion problems. we will "solve the mining problem" with proof of stake. we will "solve the scaling problem" with sharding. this is coming from the guy who before ethereum he was executing a scam whereby he was seeking out investors to fund a quantum computer to mine bitcoin

  3. Not going to help for long... by Mal-2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It is the nature of cryptocurrency mining that the more people mine, the less each one gets in actual value. Making the hardware cheaper will let more people in, but will also reduce the payoff.

    I understand why nVidia would want to "protect" its graphics cards from being snapped up for off-label uses, and I imagine AMD would like to do the same, and this should work -- for them. But for the miners (especially the ones who already bought hardware), it's going to dilute the value of mining significantly.

    --
    How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
  4. Pure marketing by locater16 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is pure marketing on the part of ASUS, all they did was cut out all the display ports and call it "Mining oriented!" It doesn't really do anything beyond a normal GTX 1060. It should be noted that AIBs have almost no control over GPUs, they are there to slap branding on it and take over warranty duties. They're a bit like car dealerships, in that they're middle men and I'm not sure why they exist anymore. Which isn't to say AMD and Nvidia won't be putting out newer GPU types that'd get more out of AI/Sim/Mining etc. eventually. Just that they haven't yet, and so any claim that an AIB has is bullshit.

    1. Re:Pure marketing by Woldscum · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not true. They are using chips that would have been shit canned because of bad display controllers. It is a Win Win If the prices are low enough. The clocks are slower because they are compute only now. Sapphire is making a 470 also.

      https://www.pcper.com/news/Gra...

  5. Joe Kennedy moment by Spy+Handler · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In 1929 when Joe Kennedy (JFK's dad) was getting his shoes polished, the shoe shine boy told him a tip about some hot stocks to buy. That's when he realized it was time to GTFO of the market, and so he remained a rich man and later was able to finance his son's career in politics.

  6. If only.... by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If all the graphics card used by the miners were put to use for folding@home or SETI, we would have cured cancer, Parkinsons, and Alzheimers by now.. .... AND we would have found aliens.

    But oh no.... gotta waste the world's resources on make believe instead for personal greed.
    Humanity sucks.

    --
    READY.
    PRINT ""+-0
  7. Not NVIDIA.... by iCEBaLM · · Score: 2

    NVIDIA isn't launching shit, ASUS is making mining cards from both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs.

  8. Re:bootlegger by desdinova+216 · · Score: 2

    there is a high probability that he did both.

  9. I think it's much more likely by rsilvergun · · Score: 3, Interesting

    that the political family connections he had tipped him off so he could get out of the market before it crashed. But hey, the shoe shine story sounds much happier and lets go on us pretend we're not an oligarchy where privilege and nepotism are weighted more than good sense. I suppose if I was going to pass a story down I'd pick it instead of "nepotism".

    --
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    1. Re:I think it's much more likely by snickers · · Score: 2

      That's why he was appointed by Roosevelt. Joe Kennedy knew all the tricks about insider trading and hence how to regulate the stock exchange.

  10. Re:What a pain in the ass by Dunbal · · Score: 2

    Only during a gold rush. They don't last forever. Eventually you do run out of fools. For a while.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  11. The drugs Bitcoin buys are real by rsilvergun · · Score: 2

    as are the ransom payments, which is why both currencies exist as more than a curiosity. Wanna stop both? Legalize drugs, implement Nordic style drug rehab everywhere and take care of your poor (especially the well educated ones that can't get jobs) so they stop looking to shady ways to make a living.

    --
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  12. Re:Nomenclature. by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Are they really graphics cards if you can't do graphics on it?

  13. Proof of stake fails, Proof of Useful work wins by goombah99 · · Score: 2

    As I understand it proof of stake always fails because nothing prevents double spending by devious miners/minters.

    The real problem is that the work done by bitcoin is useless work. What one needs is to convert it to useful work. And not just useful work in the public interest, like say SETI at home, but useful work that have actual value, and hopefully value close to the energy input.

    I've listened to the Etherium tech talks and while it seems like a bunch of smoke and mirrors as described by it's enthusiasts, I do get a hint that etherium will at some point actually compute on paid computational program submissions.

    maybe I have that wrong about etherium, but that's what wil win in the end.

    right now the only way to win with bot coin is to find some use for 100KW of heat that is worth the value of 100KW of electricity. Like maybe growing weed or orchids or shrimp.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
  14. a fool and his money are soon parted... by swell · · Score: 2

    So, if one of these cards costs $500, and it can generate $500 in Bitcoin in 6 months, why are they selling it instead of using it? They should stop retail sales immediately and focus on making Bitcoin!

    OTOH, if the card can't pay for itself, why would anyone invest in it? This is a conundrum.

    It sounds very much like the TV huckster who wants to show us how to make millions in real estate. If he knows this secret, why is he wasting time with us?

    --
    ...omphaloskepsis often...
  15. CNBC Headline is VERY misleading! by zifn4b · · Score: 2
    This article is bullshit. In the beginning it says:

    Nvidia will release graphic cards specifically designed for cryptocurrency mining through its partners, according to a source familiar with the matter.

    Name your source or it didn't happen. Then further down in the article it contradicts itself by saying:

    Nvidia, AMD and ASUS have not officially announced the digital currency mining cards, according to their website press pages. It is not certain when the cards will be available for sale.

    It also clearly says ASUS __ONLY__ has announced a specific card with this purpose in mine, specifically the MINING-P106-6G. The more logical explanation for this is that modern graphics cards contain APU's not GPU's that can be used for high speed general purpose computing like Physics calculations. We already know this. Because ASUS decided to use it for this purpose doesn't say anything about AMD or NVIDIA endorses this or created reference boards for this purpose. The article is clickbait GARBAGE! I'd be highly skeptical of CNBC for having poor journalism at this point.

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    We'll make great pets
  16. Re:What a pain in the ass by thegreatbob · · Score: 2

    Sometimes shovel handles break. Sometimes ASICs don't exist for a given coin yet.

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    There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...