The very poor availability of new graphics cards such as the Geforce RTX 3080 or the Radeon RX 6800 XT should not be underestimated due to miners. A possible reason why manufacturers usually do not speak openly about it is shown by a tweet from Zotac USA.
What message is it about? The corresponding post has since been deleted, but there are still numerous screenshots of it (via Notebookcheck.com):
It shows an “army” of Zotac graphics cards that are used to mine crypto currencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. The reason for the deletion of the tweet is likely to be the many negative reactions it evoked.
Shit storm with announcement
These reactions are certainly not surprising. On the one hand, gamers are annoyed about the poor availability of current hardware anyway. On the other hand, Zotac uses hashtags such as #PCGaming, #Gaming and #Gamersthat attract more attention from players.
In his column, he explains why the discussion about mining, according to our author Alexander Köpf, reveals not only a lot about the manufacturers, but also about us as players:
more on the subject
A debunking discussion for manufacturers and gamers
A statement is requested: We have already contacted Zotac to find out more about the background to the tweet and their general position on miners. Should we receive an insightful response, we’ll update this article accordingly.
Mining is a lucrative business
From a purely business perspective, it is easy to understand why graphics card manufacturers are happy to have miners as customers.
Why are miners so important to GPU manufacturers?
- You usually buy not just one, but several graphics cards
- They are potentially willing to pay higher prices because they can turn a profit on the cards
- It is logistically easier to manage fewer large customers than many individual buyers
- Due to the high level of wear and tear, miners potentially have to buy new graphics cards more often, as defects due to the heavy wear and tear caused by mining should not be a guarantee
From an economic point of view, manufacturers should generally be happy about the high demand – even if it rarely happens as openly as in this case.
