Intel confirms Arc GPUs will NOT have mining restrictions

With the launch of Intel’s dedicated gaming graphics cards (Arc Alchemist), which will possibly be released at CES 2022 (which kicks off in January), there is definitely a lot of buzz around the long-overdue third player is finally entering the GPU market. One of the biggest consumer hopes was that Intel may have been able to bring the models to market in decent numbers, however, following the Videocardz report, the news is not encouraging as they just confirmed that Arc Alchemist will not contain any mining restriction technologies!

What you can see in this article:

• Intel-Arc Alchemist has no mining protection technology!
• Where did the video cards go?
• Pros and cons of mining

Intel-Arc Alchemist has no mining protection technology!

At first glance, this news is disappointing, since, although not the only factor, the boom in cryptocurrency mining has certainly become a noticeable factor in the overall shortage of video cards. However, you must consider what effect this technology actually has. Nvidia has revamped (pretty much) its entire 30XX lineup to include LHR (Lightweight Hash Rate) technology, but have the supply levels gotten any better?

The unequivocal answer is no.

With that in mind, you can probably understand why Intel isn’t going to worry. However, the cynic in me cannot help but see this as a reluctance to alienate an extremely lucrative market.

Where did the video cards go?

The growing popularity of cryptocurrency mining has led to the fact that powerful video cards have practically disappeared on the shelves and in online stores, and prices for the remaining sellers have increased by 2-3 times. Reports of a shortage of video cards in Europe began to appear from the beginning of June 2021.

Thanks to the jump in Ethereum rates, which has grown from literally a few dozen to $ 400, video cards available in retail sales have been practically swept off the shelves.

Experts recommend using the following video cards for mining: 

• AMD Radeon RX 470; 

• AMD Radeon RX 480; 

• Nvidia Geforce GTX 1060; 

• Nvidia Geforce GTX 1070.

All major video card manufacturers announced that, in addition to the main line of video cards available to all users, they are also going to produce special video cards for mining, which should be on sale in the near future.

Pros and cons of mining

To understand the full picture of this business, we will analyze the positive and negative aspects. So, the pros of mining.

• Undoubtedly, this is “making money without doing anything.” Install the program, and it works itself.

• Integrity of personal data on the computer.

• Affiliate programs – we earn by inviting new members.

• Ease of transferring bitcoins into real money.

• Money is withdrawn at any time and in any amount.

• Income stability.

Cons of making money on video cards.

• To receive permanent income – the computer must be in working mode all the time.

• Sufficiently strong overheating of the video card. Take care of good cooling to avoid damage.

• Perhaps the main disadvantage is that the more you set the intensity of the video card, the more difficult it will be for you to work at the computer. The risk of wanting to earn more and set the intensity to the maximum is that all the power is squeezed out of the video card, and this can lead to its breakdown.