Even the rarest Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPUs are being sold for crypto mining

Even the rarest Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPUs are existence sold for crypto mining

(Paradigm credit: @I_Leak_VN)

As hard as information technology is to find where to purchase the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, some express edition models are even rarer than the mass-produced variants. And nevertheless, even these sectional graphics cards are still beingness marketed and sold to crypto miners over regular PC owners.

As spotted by VideoCardz, a Vietnamese computing shop has been photographed cramming multiple Asus RTX 3080 ROG Strix Gundam cards — some of the rarest GPUs around — into mining rig-gear up racks.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards are all of a sudden cheaper
Cyberspace world speed record cleaved in Japan — now this is fast
Just in: Valve'southward Steam Deck is getting one of the PS5's most exciting features

The Asus Gundam series, a crossover with the iconic Japanese sci-fi franchise, only had a express product run in Asia. The serial' graphics cards are therefore both highly sought-after and extremely expensive, even past the bloated standard of generic GeForce RTX 30-series pricing: prices every bit high equally $iii,000 accept been listed on eBay.

Yous'd think a combination of vast expense and even greater scarcity than usual would make Asus Gundam cards a less attractive target for miners. But apparently there's no GPU prestigious enough that it can't be put to work mining cryptocurrency. Peculiarly not when these item models launched before Nvidia started calculation hash rate limiters to its cards, intentionally crippling mining functioning for sure currencies.

Asus 3080 and Gundam mining again... 🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/cXwhzYZjs6July 13, 2021

It'due south a plush workaround, then, but evidently not an entirely unappealing ane. Twitter user I_Leak_VN posted the original photos, showing up to 8 RTX 3080 ROG Strix Gundam units squished into a rack. These announced to be designed and then that they tin can slot easily into a pre-existing, big-scale mining functioning; you can see the fan mounts for adding ventilation, given the cards themselves volition exist as well close together for their onboard coolers to be effective.

Over in China, a government crackdown on crypto mining has been and then forceful that miners are selling off their graphics cards at listing price or lower. In Vietnam and elsewhere, though, the depict of Ethereum or other crypto riches will likely continue proving potent, making the latest graphics cards even harder to purchase for personal use.

More: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Super GPUs could ability PCs and laptops next year
Another view:Steam Deck is an oddball gaming machine — and I dearest information technology
Learn how to criterion your graphics card

James is currently Hardware Editor at Rock Paper Shotgun, but before that was Audio Editor at Tom's Guide, where he covered headphones, speakers, soundbars and annihilation else that intentionally makes noise. A PC enthusiast, he as well wrote computing and gaming news for TG, ordinarily relating to how hard it is to find graphics menu stock.