communications relay login

ASUS Launches Its RTX 30 Series GPUs with Lite Hash Rate

Hoping to thwart miners and scalpers, ASUS releases new GPUs with reduced hash rates

By Pedigo Sat 19 Jun, 2021 1:08 PM - Last Updated: Wed 21 Jul, 2021 1:46 PM
PC Building has never been more popular or difficult than it has been over the course of the last year. Spikes in cryptocurrency prices, raw materials shortages, and opportunistic scalpers have depleted availability of most modern video cards for months with supplies expected to be limited well into 2022.

In an effort to combat limited stock, ASUS has announced new 30 series SKUs “featuring” Lite Hash Rates (LHR). This “feature” is designed to make these GPUs less desirable for cryptocurrency miners, hopefully landing more of these GPUs into the hands of gamers. ASUS added six LHR models ranging from different GPU series like ASUS's DUAL, TUF, KO, and TURBO GPU series.

ASUS has followed NVIDIA's guidelines as closely as possible, adding the LHR tag to the product page and packaging. Besides the branding and the addition of the LHR verbiage, none of the technical specs have changed. Each card still features the same number of cores, TMUs, ROPs, and clock speeds (both boost and base). This means that while these cards may feature a lowered hash rate compared to the original cards, they should still feature the same performance in-game.

Besides the LHR feature, the overall design of each card remains the same. An LHR variant should look and perform no different (outside of cryptomining) when compared to the original version of the card making them more desirable for gamers who have had a tough time upgrading or building their PC during the GPU shortage.

At the time of writing, ASUS has added six total models, including the ASUS RTX 3070 LHR 8 GB DUAL OC V2, ASUS RTX 3070 LHR 8 GB KO V2 OC, and ASUS RTX 3070 LHR 8 GB TUF X2 OC graphics cards. Sadly both the RTX 3080 LHR and the RTX 3060 Ti LHR aren't listed, although many expect them to be announced within a few days.

It’s important to note that while the cards should perform just as well as their non-LHR siblings, the resale value could be significantly impacted as many second-hand buyers are buying cards for the purpose of mining.

What are your thoughts on these GPUs? Would you be tempted to buy one? Let us know in the comments below.


WRITTEN BY Pedigo
EDITED BY Silek


IMAGES SOURCED FROM ASUS.Com
9 Comments
Sat 19 Jun, 2021 1:53 PM
Will make little to no difference till they increase chip manufacturing stock limitations will still apply
Sat 19 Jun, 2021 3:54 PM
Will make little to no difference till they increase chip manufacturing stock limitations will still apply
Let's hope this time will come soon.
Sat 19 Jun, 2021 4:28 PM
Will make little to no difference till they increase chip manufacturing stock limitations will still apply
The GPU shortage is the result of a perfect storm of issues. The pandemic causing worker shortages and shutdowns, record amounts of people building computers, crypto-currency spikes, and opportunistic scalpers. I think NVIDIA's hope is that by eliminating one of those issues, crypto miners in this case, the supply will slowly fill back up.
Sun 20 Jun, 2021 9:09 AM
Do not like one bit. basically punishing those of us who'd like to do a little mining on the side with this, oh and it's gonna skyrocket the cost of non-lhr cards, just watch.
Wed 23 Jun, 2021 2:56 PM
Speaking of GPU shortage.... Just saw a GT710 1GB VRAM for 129€ at my local tech store... So sad.

That being said, I really liked your article, friend. It's very well written ☺️
Thu 24 Jun, 2021 2:06 AM
There seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel now. With Etherium about to switch to proof of stake and China clamping down on mining for realzies the prices of cards in China are dropping fast. With companies in panic mode in China they've got two options: Move outside of China or sell their mining gear before the government seizes it. In many cases the choice will be the latter, flooding the second hand market with fairly new graphic cards maybe under msrp. So my advice is to wait a month more. Anyone looking for a good graphic card has waited for this long, one extra month won't kill them.
Fri 25 Jun, 2021 1:36 PM
Speaking of GPU shortage.... Just saw a GT710 1GB VRAM for 129€ at my local tech store... So sad.

That being said, I really liked your article, friend. It's very well written ☺️
Thank you very much! Sad to see such opportunism from retailers but not surprising.

There seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel now. With Etherium about to switch to proof of stake and China clamping down on mining for realzies the prices of cards in China are dropping fast. With companies in panic mode in China they've got two options: Move outside of China or sell their mining gear before the government seizes it. In many cases the choice will be the latter, flooding the second hand market with fairly new graphic cards maybe under msrp. So my advice is to wait a month more. Anyone looking for a good graphic card has waited for this long, one extra month won't kill them.
It seems to be improving for sure. Yesterday, I saw a 3080 available at Best Buy for sale... very briefly. But I haven't seen them have any in stock for months. And eBay prices have been dropping finally. But I think I'm just going to skip this generation. I'll probably buy into AMD's next line as they'll have ironed out some of their ray tracing issues.
Fri 25 Jun, 2021 1:43 PM
I hope to god this mess ends soon, I was planning on getting a new laptop this summer but the ones I had on my list are sold out, and don't get me started with my cousin, he ordered a new pc back in February and he's still waiting.
Fri 25 Jun, 2021 1:47 PM
Well I'm sitting on my GTX 1050 TI Mobile, honestly it performs well in most of games that I play but I still want to upgrade it due to the VRAM and performance are dying very quickly, I was hoping for the AMD FSR to give it a little boost but on Brazil the price of GPUs are insane, not only because of mines and scalpers, but due to the dollar price being absurd, still if I'm going upgrade I'm probaly going for a laptop with RTX 2060, it should be future proof even thought laptop GPU's have a bit less performance than desktop GPU's.

Great article by the way!