Rise in Ethereum: May disrupt the launch of RTX 4000 and RX 7000
The explosion in the cryptocurrency Ethereum could also raise the prices of the graphics cards RTX 4000 and RX 7000 to the extreme.
To digitally mine the Ethereum cryptocurrency, you need a lot of computing power that gaming graphics cards also offer. This was supposed to change a long time ago due to the new system behind it, but now this change to version 2.0 has been delayed again. More precisely, it’s about moving from a computationally intensive proof-of-work method to a proof-of-stake method.
We reported on the exact background more than a year ago. According to a recent tweet from Ethereum developer Tim Beiko, the transition will not happen in June as planned, but a few months later – and therefore probably only after the launch of new GPU generations from Nvidia (RTX 4000) and AMD (the RX 7000). ), expected by the end of 2022.
It won't be June, but likely in the few months after. No firm date yet, but we're definitely in the final chapter of PoW on Ethereum
— Tim Beiko | timbeiko.eth 🔥🧱 (@TimBeiko) April 12, 2022
Exact dates and impact uncertain
It won’t be June, but it remains open for quite some time for the final implementation of the process change in Ethereum 2.0, probably a few months after the tweet above. The fact that it has already been postponed more than once does not give hope for this to happen as soon as possible.
As a result, there are already fears of a negative impact on graphics card prices. They’ve been going downhill slowly lately. At the same time, it’s hard to predict to what extent a delayed transition to Ethereum 2.0 will also impact next-gen graphics card costs from AMD and Nvidia.
In addition to the still unanswered question about the exact timing of the change and the launch of the RTX 4000 and RX 7000, how well-suited these new models are for mining plays an important role. If this is largely the case – for example due to particularly fast video memory which is so important in mining – AMD and Nvidia may still take other measures.
What are AMD and Nvidia doing against mining?
No official announcement has yet been made about the new GPU generations and their suitability for mining. However, it can be assumed that Nvidia will offer the graphics cards of the new RTX 4000 generation as a variant of LHR (LHR stands for Light Hash Rate) with low mining performance. As with the current RTX 3000 generation, the deciding factor is how easily and largely these locks can be removed.
AMD has not taken any comparable measures so far, the only exception being the RX 6500 XT. According to the manufacturer, it deliberately only has 4.0GB of VRAM because it’s significantly less suitable for mining than models with more VRAM. Such a step is possible only for entry-level models. At the same time, we do not expect a mining ban for faster GPUs of the RX 7000 generation.
