Intel Will Not Restrict Cryptocurrency Mining On New Arc GPUs

Intel’s decision differs from the policy of its competitor – the largest developer of GPUs Nvidia, which limits the hash rate of its GPUs.

The manufacturer of central processing units and other microchips Intel intends to supply new Arc graphics processors (GPUs) to the market from 2022.

According to Roger Chandler, manager in charge of Intel’s client graphics products and solutions, Intel is not going to set limits on the mining of cryptocurrencies in the new Arc-series GPUs.

In an interview with Gadgets 360. he said:

“As far as like software lockouts and things of that nature, we’re not designing this product or building any features at this point that specifically targets miners.”

He added:

“As far as actions we’re taking to avoid or lock them out, it’s a product that will be in the market and people will be able to buy it. It’s not a priority for us.”

The lack of mining restrictions on Arc GPUs puts Intel on a par with chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Intel’s common competitor, Nvidia, has imposed hash rate caps on their latest-generation flagship GeForce GPUs to make the product more accessible to gamers. However, earlier in 2021, Nvidia released a separate series of Cryptocurrency Mining Processors (CMPs) specifically for Ethereum miners. In parallel, Nvidia began shipping GPUs with reduced mining hash rates.

Graphics processors (GPUs) began to gradually fall in price this summer against the background of a decrease in the rate of Ethereum and the complexity of its mining.

Unsurprisingly, Q2 sales of chips for cryptocurrency mining fell short of Nvidia’s forecasts. Instead of the planned revenue of $400 million, the company earned only $266 million from the mining chips.