The Nvidia CMP170HX graphics card appeared during the dawn of the mining era in 2021 and is a heavily stripped-down version of the AI accelerator A100. Instead of 64GB or 80GB of video memory, Nvidia artificially limited the fast HBM2e memory capacity on the mining-oriented CMP170HX to 8GB or 10GB at the software level. Until recently, CMP170HX cards were selling for as little as $200, since they were good for nothing other than mining — and mining, as we know, hasn't been thriving in 2026. Everything changed within just a few days after the appearance of the CMPUnlocker program, which removes the factory memory lock at the software level, turning the CMP170HX from 8GB into 64GB, and for the 10GB versions, owners can get the full 80GB of VRAM.
Prices for the CMP170HX skyrocketed several times over almost immediately, and the driving force is no longer mining but the boom in artificial intelligence (AI), which requires massive amounts of memory. The more memory you have, the more advanced AI models you can run locally on your own computer without limits and without the need to pay a monthly subscription
It is worth noting that Nvidia did not sell these cut-down A100s under the guise of the CMP170HX for no reason - the cards sold as CMP170HX were actually A100s that were defective in some parameters and unsuitable for sale to enterprise customers. Therefore, unlocking the full memory capacity of 64GB or 80GB is not possible on every CMP170HX unit, as part of the memory may be faulty, and you may have to settle for only 32-40GB - which is still not bad and even more than the RTX 5090, which currently sells for around $4,000–$5,000.
Another limitation could be driver-related issues, so before purchasing a CMP170HX, make sure it will work properly in your intended application.
You can download the CMPUnlocker program and try your luck on Github.
