ASUS Launches RTX 3070 Series Cards With Feature Limiting Ether Mining

Multinational computer company ASUS has launched a fresh batch of its RTX 30 series graphics processing units (GPUs) with a feature designed to limit its use for mining ether.

According to the company's updated product page, the TUF, KO and DUAL versions of its RTX 3070 cards have been installed with a feature known as "lite hash rate" (LHR). The company's 3060s and 3080s are expected to contain the feature in future launches later this year.

LHR is the industry's answer to the global supply shortage of GPUs caused by cryptocurrency miners hoping to cash in on the recent bull market fervor. The feature essentially halves the ethereum mining hashrate down to 25 MH/s.

Hashrate or hashing power is the speed and efficiency at which a mining device can operate. The greater the speed, the easier it is to solve a cryptographic puzzle, add it to the block and then collect a reward.

U.S. multinational tech company Nvidia, along with its OEM partners, announced last month the new feature for existing RTX GPUs would be rolled out in a bid to increase supply for gamers.

It is unclear whether the latest feature will address the shortage issue, but ASUS says the card's gaming prowess remains unaffected.

See also: Nvidia Revenue Outpaces Q1 Forecasts, Partly Driven by Crypto Chip Demand

Nvidia already attempted to curb crypto miners' demand in February through software limitations that detect when people are mining and then throttling mining hash rates, but without much success.