Nvidia says “gamers come first” as it moves against cryptocurrency miners

NO MORE BULK ORDERING GPUs.

AS CRYPTOCURRENCY MINERS once again push the prices of graphics cards up — and even drive some GPUs out of stock — Nvidia is asking retailers to sell a maximum of two graphics cards (of the same model) per person in an effort to cut back on bulk orders. In a comment to German tech site ComputerBase, the company said: “For Nvidia, gamers come first. All activities related to our GeForce product line are targeted at our main audience.” While this limitation is just a suggestion for retailers, the GPU manufacturer is hoping the request will help address supply and pricing issues with the cards, which are climbing to prices as high as twice the RRP in some instances. While there are dedicated systems available now for mining certain cryptocurrencies (particularly Bitcoin), in order to harvest the likes of Etherium and other emerging currencies, people are still building their own rigs in which GPUs play a crucial role due to their capacity for labour-intensive operations. For more on cryptocurrency, head to page 36.