Nvidia Said We Couldn't Game On This Crypto Mining Card...
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Nvidia reportedly blocked gaming on certain cryptocurrency mining cards, and this video investigates whether a mining specific GPU can be repurposed for gaming. The host explains that some P106-class cards were designed solely for mining, lacking standard display outputs and with drivers effectively locked to mining workloads. The team purchases a Taobao listing claiming a modified firmware could enable gaming, and sets up the hardware in a live testing environment to see if the claim holds up. They compare the mining card to a baseline GTX 1060 in a single game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, to establish a before-and-after context for performance, while detailing the driver gymnastics required to get the mining card to boot and render. Throughout, the hosts stress the experimental nature of the setup and caution that this is not a recommended or officially supported use case, but an exploration of what might be possible in a worst-case e-waste scenario. The video ends with a measured verdict that the mining card can indeed run games under specific, fragile conditions, and they reiterate the potential implications for hardware recycling and consumer choice, while noting the risks of unsigned drivers and the lack of an official path forward from Nvidia.
Topics · technology · hardware · gaming · cryptocurrency
Questions answered
- Can a mining specific GPU be used for gaming with a modified driver or firmware?
- Yes, in this video a modified approach allowed a P106 mining card to run a GTX 1060-like game setup, but only under a fragile and unsupported configuration that involved disablement of secure boot, test signing mode, and unsigned drivers, which introduces stability and legal risks.
- What are the practical risks of attempting this kind of setup at home?
- The process relies on unsigned drivers and driver tweaks, can require changes to secure boot settings, and may lead to system instability or security vulnerabilities, so it is not recommended for everyday users.
- What performance did the mining card achieve compared to a genuine GTX 1060?
- The mining card achieved playable performance with small FPS differences, showing only a slight drop in average and minimum FPS compared to a baseline GTX 1060 in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, under controlled testing.
- What disclaimers do the creators give about the procedure?
- They stress that this is not an official Nvidia-supported use case, highlight the experimental and potentially unsafe nature of installing unsigned drivers, and explicitly state that viewers should not attempt this at home.