The RTX 5090 Isn’t Gone, It’s In Chinese Labs, Where Technicians Rip Off Its Die And 32GB VRAM For AI Servers - Wccftech
Hundreds of RTX 5090 graphics cards have been discovered in a Chinese factory, where technicians are dismantling the consumer hardware to repurpose its components for artificial intelligence servers.
The RTX 5090, a flagship Blackwell-series card marketed for its AI capabilities, is not reaching gamers despite reports of its discontinuation. A video shared by HKEPC shows hundreds of the cards from various vendors sitting on shelves in a Chinese lab.
Technicians in the facility are stripping the cards of their GPU dies and 32GB of fast GDDR7 memory. These components are then transferred to custom printed circuit boards (PCBs) that use a dual-slot blower-style cooler to fit inside the cramped racks of AI server machines.
The operation is a large-scale, fully automated process. The report notes that even premium cards like the ROG Astral RTX 5090, which sells for $10,000, are being processed alongside Founders Edition models.
AI Focus Over Gaming
NVIDIA markets the RTX 5090 heavily for its AI performance, making it a popular choice for data centers. The company reportedly turns a blind eye to the stock of these cards entering China, where they are being converted into dedicated AI accelerators.
The GPU die and VRAM chips are then deployed on a custom PCB, which is coupled with a dual-slot blower-style cooler. This is to accommodate the cards easily inside AI server machines where there are space constraints.
This diversion of hardware appears to be more profitable for NVIDIA than selling the cards to the consumer gaming market. The company is unlikely to halt the production of these AI-focused components anytime soon.
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