HARDWARE CRUNCH

GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit) are a crucial piece of equipment at Mid-Atlantic Science; everything from password recovery to creation of virtual environments hinges on having GPU power on tap.

If you’re in the market for a new computer, no doubt you’ve noticed the lack of availability coupled with soaring prices, particularly for GPUs. Why is this happening, and is there any relief in sight?

Why So High?

Multiple factors have driven prices up. First, component manufacturers faced a massive drought (silicon production is extremely water intensive), then production slowed further once COVID arrived. People forced to stay home demanded entertainment, causing a run on electronics in general, and GPUs in particular. Next, our old friend cryptocurrency rears its head again. $Crypto miners unfortunately use the same GPUs we do. Anytime there’s a spike in $Crypto, availability suffers for traditional users.

One example, a Vega 56 GPU, introduced in 2017 MSRP $399, is now selling used for $800 - $1200. It should be a $200 card on the used market by now. GPU manufacturers are trying to help on the hardware and sales fronts. On the hardware side, they have implemented changes to the GPU BIOS, which will dramatically reduce performance once detected mining activity reaches a certain threshold. On the distribution end, they are still losing the fight against bots and scalpers. Neither effort has made a dent. Analysts expect the shortage to last well into 2023.

What Can I Do?

If you need more GPUs than the retail vendors’ household limits allow, you have to talk to a distributor. I have found no success there, as the relatively tiny amounts I’m dealing with are dwarfed by bigger customers, ensuring their orders are filled first.

Truth be told, I am too cheap to buy a 2017 GPU, at twice its original price, in 2021; so I’ve been forced to look elsewhere for performance gains.

The folks who win password cracking contests don’t pack a lot of hardware. It’s experience and knowing how to craft attacks that puts them in the lead. In that spirit, I’ve been spending time with Netmux’s excellent HASH CRACK password cracking manual. There are parallels to jiu jitsu here, regarding brute force (sheer number of GPUs) vs. finesse and technique (fine-tuning your attack). With a more educated, refined attack, it is possible to extract even more performance from your existing hardware.

The collection of low-hanging fruit (instant or rapidly cracked) has grown more productive and efficient, with zero hardware upgrades. Now I’m extracting more data, faster than ever before. This also results in less work the cluster has to do once the low-hanging fruit have been processed on an intake workstation. And of course these skills will apply to any future upgrades. It’s a win win.

In writing this I am reminded to always look for ways to upgrade my skillset before reaching for the latest hardware. At first, I was gnashing my teeth and lamenting the lack of new hardware. Now that I’m extracting much more value from existing hardware, I no longer feel that rush to run out and upgrade.

But ask me how I feel once prices come back down. 😀