Cryptocurrency has grown significantly, given the continued growth of Ethereum, with gaming GPUs such as the GeForce RTX 3080 now being used for cryptocurrency mining. And now there are rumours that Nvidia may be creating a new, extremely powerful Crypto Mining Processor (CMP) based on the Ampere A100 GPU, the first Ampere-based model designed exclusively for computing rather than gaming.
Nvidia will not stop providing hardware to mining enthusiasts, as it recently announced an upcoming new CMP series, although these cards will be based on an older Turing architecture.
This alleged information was originally provided by Twitter user Kopite7kimi, who has provided credible leaks in the past. It claims that Nvidia will introduce a fifth CMP HX model with that GPU and that the A100 is a “mining monster”, although it has not shared any hassle or mining performance data to support its claims.
The lack of evidence does not mean that we should reject Kopite’s allegations, although as with all unfounded rumours we cannot be absolutely sure that it will happen.
However, this is not something that is unlikely, as Nvidia has once again tried to remove mining enthusiasts from its GPU gaming, having drastically limited the possibilities of extracting cryptocurrencies to graphics cards such as the GeForce RTX 3060. Currently based on the Turning architecture, some miners may still feel compelled to buy powerful cards such as the GeForce RTX 3090.
The RTX 3090 can achieve an average mining efficiency of 115-120 MH/s in 1 Ethereum using the Daggerhashimotto algorithm, while the current fastest officially announced HX CMP GPU is the 90HX with a mining efficiency of 86 MH/s. Any CMP built using the A100 architecture will likely dominate the numbers of any existing product available, but there are concerns about its availability and price. If these exclusive mining cards are unaffordable (or unavailable due to low inventory), then it makes sense for miners to get their existing GPU gaming for better performance.
