NVIDIA has announced it will throttle the performance of its upcoming RTX 3060 GPU for Ethereum cryptocurrency mining.

Graphics cards have increasingly found widespread adoption far beyond their intended target. Because of their programmable nature and high performance, GPUs are used in artificial intelligence, gene sequencing, cryptocurrency mining and more. The downside is that gamers are having a hard time getting their hands on the latest, greatest GPUs, especially with cryptocurrencies at all time highs.

To alleviate the situation, NVIDIA is artificially throttling the performance of the RTX 3060 — solely for Ethereum cryptocurrency mining. The company says the GPU’s performance will reduce to roughly 50% when it detects mining activity. The company has no plans to limit the performance of existing GPUs.

At the same time, NVIDIA is announcing the release of the NVIDIA CMP (Cryptocurrency Mining Processor).

CMP products — which don’t do graphics — are sold through authorized partners and optimized for the best mining performance and efficiency. They don’t meet the specifications required of a GeForce GPU and, thus, don’t impact the availability of GeForce GPUs to gamers.

That last statement is of particular note, as any impact to GPU production would negate any benefit of discouraging miners from buying them.