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- «LHR is not a doom! How to identify if a GPU is LHR? How to mine on LHR GPUs?»
Jan. 20, 2022, 11:39 a.m.
Kryptex unlocks LHR cards by 100% since version 4.20.0
- Update your Nvidia driver to version 512.15
- Enable "Maximum performance" mode in the Nvidia panel.
- Update Kryptex to the stable version 4.20.0 or newer
- Start mining with NBMiner, Gminer or T-Rex (tick them in the Kryptex settings, or untick miners you don't need)
2021 brings mining to its records, and only lazybones is not mining with Kryptex!
Video cards snapped off the shelves like hotcakes, and GPU manufacturers inflated prices.
But not only with the prices of GPUs, manufacturers decided to fight mining!
Nvidia has taken the most challenging steps by releasing a series of RTX 3000 graphics cards with a mining limitation LHR
LHR (Lite or Low Hash Rate) is a hardware or software limitation of a video card that reduces its performance in mining. Most of all, this affected the mining of the popular algorithm Ethash. Only Nvidia 3000 series graphics cards have the LHR lock.
Are all new Nvidia 3000 graphics cards LHR locked?
No. Not all RTX 3000 series cards have LHR lock.
For example, the top card RTX 3090 does not have LHR protection; you can safely buy this GPU without being afraid of performance loss.It has no limitations and is ready to run up to 125 Mh\s on the Dagger Hashimoto ETH algorithm, but don’t forget to cool it down😅
Mobile (laptop) graphics cards RTX 3000 family also do not have LHR protection (for a while).
All RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti graphics cards have LHR lock with no exceptions!
Video cards RTX 3080, RTX 3070, RTX 3060 Ti may have or may not have LHR lock.
All RTX 3060 video cards are LHR versions only, but this lock can be of two types.
- RTX 3060 LHR v1 (also called RTX 3060) — software lock.
- RTX 3060 LHR v2 (also called RTX 3060 LHR) — hardware lock.
How to determine if the video card LHR is locked?
When buying an Nvidia RTX 3000 series graphics card, you probably want to understand what kind of graphics card you will get?There are several ways to determine, and now we will tell you about them!
All Nvidia GPUs without LHR snapped up at the start of sales, and it is almost impossible to find an RTX GPU without an LHR lock. If you see one of these cards on a store shelf: RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070, or RTX 3080 — with a chance of 95%, it is LHR locked.
Method one — look at the naming!
- All RTX 3090 graphics cards are non-LHR.
- All RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 3080 Ti graphics cards are LHR only.
- For RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 video cards, the manufacturer could mention LHR on the box or in the name of the video card itself.
- All RTX 3060 graphics cards are LHR only, with different LHR blocking types.
If the card naming didn't say that it is not LHR, or there is no such mention at all — that doesn't mean it's not LRH! It can be either an LHR or a regular video card without LHR.
We can only guess whether they do it on purpose or not 🤷♂️
The second way — look at the product code.
All video cards have their unique number or product code.
Each manufacturer has its own habit for labeling video cards.
You can always find these designations on the video card's box or the GPU itself. In addition, the same tag is indicated on the websites of computer stores.
All manufacturers have released new revisions of video cards with the release of LHR modifications.
- ASUS — marks their LHR GPUs with the index V2 or V3
- Gigabyte — marks their LHR GPUs with the index Rev. 2.0 or Rev. 3.0
- MSI and Zotac — just mentions that GPU has LHR
- Palit and Gainward — marks their LHR GPUs with V1, V2
- EVGA — LHR GPUs code end with KL, KR
- KFA2 — LHR GPUs code end with KCK
- Inno3D — LHR GPUs code end with H
Such companies as ASUS, Gigabyte, Palit, Gainward can hide both LHR and non-LHR cards behind the product code. As a result, the chance of getting an LHR-locked video card with revision V2 or V3 is much higher.
The third way — by the serial number and the release date.
Each GPU has a serial number used to determine the release date of this video card.
The manufacturing of LHR GPUs started at the end of May 2021 (week 22), which means that all video cards released before this date have no mining limitations.
Therefore, the video card could be an LHR if the release date ends in May 2021 or later.
Here are some examples:
ASUS:M2N0CX00Y334569
M — 2021 year; 2 — month February — GPU without LHR.The 2020 marked with the character L, months from January till September marked with the numbers 1...9, next А — October, B — November, С — December.
Gigabyte:SN212641020375
2126 it’s 2021 year and 26 week. Most probably, it's a GPU with the LHR.
Palit:BO200162355
O — October; 20 — year. This is a GPU without LHR, manufactured in 2020. Palit indicates months from January to September by numbers 1...9, next by characters O — October, N — November, D — December.
MSI:602-V389-122SB2106000014
21 — 2021 year, 06 — June.
If a GPU is released after the 22 (May) 2021, it does not mean that it is a 100% LHR because the manufacturer could have some old chips in stock and can use them in manufacturing. The later the release of the GPU, the higher the chance to buy an Nvidia video card with the LHR.
The fourth method — look at the chip ID.
It's one of the most reliable ways to check!
You will need CPU-Z and GPU-Z to check the ID.
Most likely, when buying a video card in an online store, you will not have such an opportunity ( but you can try to negotiate 😉)
This method is suitable when buying a video card in the secondary market or in a local store where you can return the goods in the first days after purchase!
Thanks to this table, you can quickly identify which GPU you got; let's take a look at some examples:
1.Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti. Start the CPU-Z program, open the Graphics tab, find the Code Name value. The value is GA104-200, which means it's a video card without LHR — congratulations!
2.But the owner of another Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti graphics card was less fortunate. The value of Code Name is GA104-202 — GPU with the LHR.
3.Another example is the RXT 3060 card. Code Name value GA106-300 — video card with software LHR v1 (can be unlocked)
4.Let's look at the same RXT 3060 card using the GPU-Z program. The GPUs chip is GA106 (LHR). Device ID — 10DE 2503 — The GPU can be unlocked with such ID!
The fifth method — empirical.
If there are no other ways how to determine whether it is an LHR GPU or not:
1.Put the GPU into your PC.2.Start Kryptex. Open the settings and scroll down to the "Misc" tab. Tick the box "Show miner windows”
3.Start mining in Kryptex algorithm Dagger Hashimoto ETH (Ethereum) using one of the miners Trexminer, Gminer, or NBMiner4.In the miner's window, look at the identification of the card.
- If you see the mentioning LHR like
GPU #1: (LHR 74.0<>)— the GPU is LHR locked, and the miner will try to unlock it by itself.
Unlocking the LHR restrictions
Miners' developers have managed to bypass hardware blocking. Now the LHR cards can squeeze out up to 74% of the performance of GPUs without the LHR.
Almost any miner in Kryptex can do this automatically; no additional settings need!
Gminer, Trexminer, NBMiner - will automatically unlock your card.
In each new version, miners' developers better polish their algorithms, and they manage to squeeze out an additional 1-2% of performance.
But, who knows, maybe a year later, no one will remember the difference between LHR and non-LHR cards?
The Two-Faced RTX 3060
All RTX 3060 video cards are LHR versions only, but this lock can be of two types.
- RTX 3060 LHR v1 (also called RTX 3060) — software lock.
- RTX 3060 LHR v2 (also called RTX 3060 LHR) — hardware lock.
RTX 3060 LHR v1 can be totally unlocked and get 47+ Mh\s that we love so much!
You will need:
1.Plug the GPU to the motherboard via PCI-E x16 3.0 slot that works in a mode of x16 or x8 minimum.2.You mustn't use a riser unless it's x16 to x16 rizer.
3.You must use only 470.05 drivers. Only this driver version will unlock the GPU!4.You should always use the monitor connected to this GPU or use the monitor emulator.
Only if all these conditions are met will you be able to unlock the Nvidia RTX 3060 LHR v1 The Nvidia RTX 3060 LHR v2 cannot be unlocked yet.
Using 470.05 drivers, all other graphics cards of the RTX 3000 series may not work! Driver version 470.05 is suitable for 3060 LHR v1 and the GTX 1000, GTX 1600, RTX 2000 series.
What miners should do with all this?
We've tried to cover the most popular scenarios, but it's nearly impossible to cover them all.
Manufacturers change the logic of naming video cards every time, adding new revisions, versions, labels, and designations.
They manufacture cards from new components, by which it is difficult to determine which video card you got.
Gainward and Galax reported a new upcoming RTX 3060 based on a chip GA104-150.
The manufacturers release new GPUs that have not been tested in mining yet — RTX 3050, RTX 3090 Ti
Ad who knows, maybe they will add mining protection for mobile video cards?
The most important thing:Kryptex is always with you!Whatever video card you get, you can always mine profitably with Kryptex!
- We are monitoring the GPU market, so you know the latest news and events!
- We regularly monitor miners' updates to provide you with the best performance in time!
- We monitor the market and add new coins for mining!
- We are launching our geo-distributed pools to make your mining stable!
- We created the list of the best mining cards for you and updated it regularly so that you always know what your card is capable of!
- We made the overclocking database so that you shouldn't dig through the entire Internet searching for the best settings!
🖤 Kryptex Community
- Found a new, unfamiliar card?
- Don't know how to fix up a farm?
- What overclocking settings to choose from?
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