NVIDIA CMP 220HX Crypto-Mining A100 GPU Could Crush GeForce RTX 3090 At 210 MH/s

At the time, we had some serious concerns about the possibility of an A100-based CMP HX card, mainly with its price. The PCIe version of the A100 is pushing $11,000, which puts it far out of reach for miners, even if it were to offer unmatched Ethereum mining performance. However, today's report sheds some additional light on the alleged mining GPU, including its performance.

Hardware leaker I_Leak_VN alleges that this new A100-based card will be called the CMP 220HX and that it will have a hash rate of a staggering 210 MH/s. To put this performance in perspective, the GeForce RTX 3090 in stock form can mine ETH at roughly 120 MH/s. The CMP 220HX would achieve these feat thanks to its use of HBM2 memory with 1.55 TB/s of bandwidth compared to 936 GB/s for the GeForce RTX 3090 (GDDR6X). Ethereum mining thrives on available memory bandwidth, which is why the CMP 220HX could be a highly sought-after card. The A100 in the alleged CMP 220HX has 6,912 INT32 units compared to just 5,248 INT32 units for the GeForce RTX 3090 to feed integer-heavy mining operations, which also accounts for the performance differential.

That brings us to pricing; I_Leak_VN alleges that the CMP 220HX will have a $3,000 price tag, which is a far cry from the A100's $11,000. The GeForce RTX 3090 is priced at $1,499, so the CMP 220HX's $3,000 price point doesn't seem out of line given its alleged performance. And NVIDIA wouldn't need to cram in 40GB of HBM2 memory, as is necessary with data center applications. NVIDIA could likely get away with half or even a quarter of that amount with the CMP 220HX. The A100 has a TDP of 250W compared to 350W for the GeForce RTX 3090, which makes it an even more efficient proposition for miners.

The A100 is a costly chip that probably has relatively high margins for NVIDIA. Defective A100 GPUs that would have usually been reserved for the scrap heap is an excellent way for NVIDIA to generate revenue with the CMP 220HX. Again, we should caution that these are all rumors at this time, but if true, the CMP 220HX could be a game-changer in the mining sphere.