Nvidia is expanding its line of graphics cards with built-in computing power limits when used for mining. New video cards will be labeled with Lite Hash Rate or LHR identifiers.

One of the world-leading GPU producers Nvidia announced it would extend restrictions on mining to other models of video cards. This limitation will be implemented in GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3070 and RTX 3060 Ti video cards. Cards with built-in limited processing power will be labeled with the identifier "Lite Hash Rate" or "LHR" so that potential buyers could be aware of the limited capabilities of the product.

“This reduced hash rate applies only to newly produced LHR cards, not to cards already purchased,” said Matt Webbling, head of marketing for Nvidia GeForce. “We believe this extra step will allow gamers everywhere to get more GeForce cards at better prices.”

As the cryptocurrency market grew, the same growth was demonstrated by the demand on GPU for mining. But this growth coincided with supply interruptions and suspensions of manufacturing process due to the pandemic, that provoked a shortage of GPUs on the world market. The shortage is still existing and shows no signs it is about to end in the near term.

In February, Nvidia announced for the first time that it would begin to limit GeForce RTX 3060 GPUs when used in mining.

At the same time, the company announced plans to release special video cards (Crypto Mining Processor) for Ethereum mining. These processors do not support video acceleration technology, so they are useless for gamers. CMP processors, which will be more compact than their gaming counterparts, will not have displays, which will allow the device to maximize resources when mining cryptocurrency. Energy efficiency of mining will be increased by lowering the peak voltage of the core and its frequency.

NVIDIA's revenue from hardware sales to Ethereum miners in the fourth quarter ranged from $100 million to $300 million, revealed NVIDIA CFO Colette Kress, calling the figure "relatively small."