Nvidia CMP 170HX Mining Cards Can Be Unlocked into A100s
invisibleman42 · reddit · 2026-07-16
Community discussions suggest that Nvidia's CMP 170HX graphics card (essentially an A100 with reduced compute and memory performance), designed specifically for cryptocurrency mining, might be unlocked to restore its full performance via a vulnerability.
- Technical Details: A paper published last month revealed a vulnerability in the Nvidia Falcon security processor, which could potentially be exploited to restore the card's full compute capabilities.
- Current Status: Proof-of-concept (PoC) code has successfully verified the compute unlock, but the method for unlocking the 80GB memory has yet to be reproduced.
- Cost-Effectiveness: An A100 typically costs over $5,000, whereas these mining cards previously sold for less than $200. If the crack becomes widely accessible, users could acquire powerful AI compute power at an extremely low cost.
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