RTX 3060 Launches in 3 Days, But You Can Already Buy Second-hand Options
There are a few days left until RTX 3060 cards appear in stores, meanwhile, you can already buy them from second hand. Are these offers from disappointed would-be cryptominers?
- GeForce RTX 3060 will be released on February 25... but you can already find second-hand deals on the web;
- Dedicated Nvidia HX chips, designed for cryptomining, are expected to appear in Q1 2021;
Is it possible for hardware to appear for sale online from second hand before its official launch? Certainly, as proven by GeForce RTX 3060 offers on the Belarusian auction website Onliner. You can find there several units of Eagle models by Gigabyte for 2800 rubles (about $1000, when the MSRP of this card starts from $490 ). The seller claims in the description that they are new, one was only unpacked for verification. Am I the only one who's under the impression that this "verification" was intended to check the possibility of cryptomining?
We know that miners already had the cards before the release, but must have been disappointed with the performance, as the card has a system that limits performance when "mining" use is detected. Although, according to reports from VideoCardz, thanks to the high exchange rate of Ethereum its mining can pay off even on a card with reduced hashrate. Therefore, all hope in Nvidia's HX series GPUs, designed specifically for cryptomining.
Of course, these are just guesses, it might as well be hardware obtained for profit. The seller may be a so-called scalper who managed to acquire several RTX 3060 units to sell them for profit. Unluckily for him, the serial numbers can be seen on the photos, so we can trace where they were purchased.
The exact release date of Nvidia HX CMP chips is unknown - they are expected to be available in the first quarter of this year. It is also unknown whether their presence will actually improve the situation with the availability of standard GPU on the market. RTX 3060, on the other hand, will officially hit stores on February 25.
