# Researcher unlocks 80GB memory on Nvidia mining cards with voltage glitches

_Published Thursday, November 12, 2026 at 5:39 AM EST · AI, Security · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

![Female electronics engineer — Primary](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QaaiweaJKxjDDJTGrtCSU5-2048-80.jpg)

A researcher named Kate used voltage glitches to unlock disabled memory and computing features on Nvidia CMP-170HX mining cards, Tom's Hardware reported. Nine modified cards had 80GB of working memory, while one had 64GB usable after testing across multiple workloads.

The technique disrupts voltage supplied to the GPU to bypass protections on the controller that manages permanent chip configuration. It enabled features beyond an existing software modification, including PCIe 4.0 and server capabilities such as error-correcting memory and NVLink.

Kate reported FP16 FMA performance 20% beyond a regular A100 on unlocked hardware and informed Nvidia of the vulnerability. The modification changes physical fuses permanently; she kept shader modules marked defective disabled.

## Sources

- [Tom's Hardware](https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/techie-turns-usd2-500-cmp-170hx-8gb-mining-card-into-a-full-fat-a100-80gb-with-voltage-glitching-carefully-blowing-onboard-fuses-to-unlock-entire-vram-and-shader-modules)

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Canonical: https://techandbusiness.org/newswire/OE2Yr8BD2zr2DSd2R6X-on
Published: 2026-11-12T10:39:11.047Z
Story chronology: 2026-11-12T10:30:00.000Z
Retrieved: 2026-11-12T13:01:46.683Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)