Chinese factories dismantle thousands of RTX 4090 gaming graphics cards and change them into versions suitable for AI use – Computer King Ada

China has officially banned the sale of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards last week. It can only be purchased as a complete machine, which means that there is no way to buy a single card. Although this news was announced a few weeks ago, it is obvious that the quantity is not enough, even if it is called It is not easy to buy for more than 2,000 yuan. The RTX 4090 was originally a graphics card designed specifically for games, so the cooling system it is equipped with is very large and takes up a lot of space, making it not suitable for use in AI servers. In order to solve this problem, someone on a Chinese forum recently shared first-hand photos taken at the factory. A large number of RTX 4090 graphics cards are being modified.

Image source: Wccftech

Chinese factories disassemble thousands of RTX 4090 gaming graphics cards and change them into versions suitable for AI use

According to the news, before the ban took effect, in order to meet the massive AI demand in the Chinese market, NVIDIA had prioritized sending a large number of AD102 GPUs and GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards from its partners to China. This may also be the reason why there is currently a shortage in many places around the world. goods (also in Taiwan), and prices continue to rise.

Most RTX 4090 graphics cards need to occupy 3 or 4 slots, which is no problem for gamers, but the AI ​​server is different. The space is not so large, so there are factories in China responsible for modifications.

Recently inChina Baidu TiebaIn the video, a netizen named “Yi Ge Graphics Card” shared photos of an inspection at a Chinese factory and wrote: “Regarding chip disassembly is already a public matter, but many people still can’t believe it and can’t figure it out due to their narrow cognition. Today I went to the factory to take pictures of the chip disassembly process, not to prove anything, but to share it with those who are willing to understand the real world.”

These hundreds of graphics cards are all from the PALIT brand, and they are all from the same series. It is said that not only this brand, more RTX 4090s are expected to be sent. In addition, in this discussion thread, ASUS ROG STRIX and Gigabyte are also seen RTX 40900 version of Gaming OC:

And the modification process is not very easy. First, take apart the casing of each card and remove the preloaded cooling system. Then remove the GPU and GGDR6X memory and other components from the PCB, and transplant them to another dedicated The designed PCB is equivalent to becoming another new graphics card concept:

Then install a blower fan cooling system to achieve the effect of reducing the size. These blower fans are adjusted for large servers to ensure that heat energy can be effectively discharged:

After the modification, they will also conduct detailed tests, such as running Fumark, 3DMark, and a large number of AI applications, which can be said to be quite professional:

It’s really a bit exaggerated that the RTX 4090, which costs a lot of money, has been transplanted and modified like this:

And these disassembled original RTX 4090 accessories are now appearing in large numbers in the Chinese market. It is said that PCB motherboards and fans are sold very cheaply, less than 50 US dollars:

The above graphics cards were all delivered before the ban, so they did not violate the regulations. They should not be able to do so after that. Seeing this series of photos appear, it is certain that the RTX 4090 will be hard to buy for some time.

Source: Wccftech