AMD rumored to be working on RDNA cryptocurrency mining cards

AMD's new Navi 10 'Blockchain' cryptocurrency mining card reportedly on the way, would compete with NVIDIA's new crypto cards.

Published
Updated
1 minute & 17 seconds read time

It looks like AMD is working on RDNA-based cryptocurrency mining cards, with new information coming through Linux kernel patches with a new Navi 12-based GPU for crypto mining.

AMD rumored to be working on RDNA cryptocurrency mining cards 03

The new GPU does not support DCN (Display Core Next) and VCN (Video Core Next) that would see the new Navi 12 GPU without the ability of display output. The headless GPU would be the perfect compute acceleration card for working in clusters of GPUs, or in crypto mining farms.

It was back in October 2020 when the first tease of AMD working on a blockchain GPU first started, but that was with a Navi 10 part -- this is a new Navi 12 GPU. The Navi 12 GPU was only made for Apple and its Mac with the Radeon Pro 5600M, which had HBM2 memory. It would be interesting to see the Navi 12 with HBM2 memory as the Navi 10 chip has GDDR6.

Michael Larabel from Phoronix explains: "Handle new NV12 SKU" - This change is in reference to Navi 12 coming to market and doesn't support Video Core Next (VCN) video support as it's going to be a headless SKU. Details on this headless Navi 12 SKU remain light and haven't heard anything about it recently from AMD. This may be similar to the previously reported on Navi 10 "Blockchain" graphics card. That "blockchain" SKU added to the Linux driver at the end of last year also disabled the DCN and VCN driver paths since it's obviously headless. Given NVIDIA just announced their CMP mining cards perhaps AMD will soon be announcing these Navi 1x Bitcoin mining SKUs...".

Buy at Amazon

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-core, 16-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor (AMD Ryzen 7 5800X)

TodayYesterday7 days ago30 days ago
$202.26$207.67$219.31
* Prices last scanned on 3/18/2024 at 12:12 am CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

Anthony joined the TweakTown team in 2010 and has since reviewed 100s of graphics cards. Anthony is a long time PC enthusiast with a passion of hate for games built around consoles. FPS gaming since the pre-Quake days, where you were insulted if you used a mouse to aim, he has been addicted to gaming and hardware ever since. Working in IT retail for 10 years gave him great experience with custom-built PCs. His addiction to GPU tech is unwavering and has recently taken a keen interest in artificial intelligence (AI) hardware.

Newsletter Subscription

Related Tags