Nvidia’s Crypto Mining GPU Repurposed into a Gaming Graphics Card: Is It Worth the Effort?
Expert modders attempted to repurpose one of Nvidia’s dedicated crypto mining GPUs into a gaming graphics card, and the results were lackluster, to say the least.
The conversion of an MSI CMP 50HX graphics card into a gaming model was highlighted by VideoCardz and Professional Review. The hope was that, with some clever modifications, this mining GPU could perform similarly to Nvidia’s highly-rated RTX 2080 Ti. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
The primary issues with repurposing the CMP 50HX were its lack of monitor output, the need to be connected to a system with integrated graphics, and the use of a blower-style cooler which was not ideal. Additionally, the GPU was not recognized by Nvidia’s GeForce driver, requiring the modder to tinker with modified driver binaries to make it work.
Despite eventually getting the GPU to function as a converted GeForce model, the performance was disappointing due to the CMP 50HX being restricted to 4 PCIe lanes, a limitation that the modder could not work around. As a result, the repurposed GPU did not perform as expected.
In conclusion, the process of repurposing a mining graphics card into a gaming GPU is highly impractical and not worth the effort. The cost of buying a second-hand mining GPU, the complexity of modifying drivers, and the other issues involved make it a less sensible option than simply purchasing a used GeForce GPU.
Although it was an interesting experiment, the results show that repurposing a mining graphics card into a gaming GPU is not a practical approach to obtaining a cheap graphics card, especially when there are more reliable and cost-effective options available in the market.
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