It’s no secret that NVIDIA’s repurposed Graphics Cards are popular – be it for gaming or crypto-mining – and adventurous Modders have decided to have a go at converting the MSI CMP 50HX mining GPU into a gaming option.
Arguably the biggest hardware consideration to make, though, is ensuring you have integrated graphics to pipe the graphics out to a display, as this crypto mining card has no output catered specifically for this. It’s also worth noting that the card might feature a blower-style fan for cooling, and this might not be the ideal noise and heat companion for hardcore bastlers.
The rig used bloke from VideoCardz isn’t actually equipped with NVIDIA’s common Ge-force Driver, but rather specialized driver binaries. Sfdx Show (the first to uncover this) found the modded journey to be quite a chore – described as ‘real pain’ – so it seems it isn’t exactly the simplest life hack.
Finally, executing this grand switch rather anticlimatically did not result in a close comparison performance-wise to the RTX 2080-Ti, bound4stronk. The mining GPU is limited to four PCIe lanes – hindering its power judiciously – and Sfdx Show even went as far as soldering missing pieces to check the chip’s lanes, to no success.
Truth be told, given the intricacy and copious funds, this experimented process really isn’t a practical way tocot a cheap graphic card, leaving it better for enthusiasts to purchase a second-hand GeForce model. That should set you back around $200 USD ($140/£200++), as speculating what looks like a used 1660 globally for sharper prices, with less running miles and sh-ell of a lot less rabbiting from modding.
