Due to the recent US sanctions against China, a lot has begun to change, including the prices of the GeForce RTX 4090 in the US.
According to a Chinese insider, new companies are being created in China whose sole purpose is to dismantle GeForce RTX 4090 cards and turn them into devices designed to work with AI.
This process is now running on an industrial scale in China, using a huge stock of GeForce RTX 4090. The process starts by extracting the most expensive components from them, which are then used in new boards with a fan cooler.
Chinese companies are choosing fan coolers for their efficiency in multi-GPU environments, which were previously used in dedicated cryptocurrency mining rigs. But now it is more correct to call them AI farms.
After inspection, the GPUs are packaged and shipped to AI manufacturing facilities in China. Lacking their own GPUs and memory chips, Chinese suppliers are offering leftover parts, such as coolers and blank boards, to users needing replacement components.
Currently, the ban in China only applies to certain Nvidia cards, including the A100, A800, H100, H800, L40, L40S, and RTX 4090. While it will hit Nvidia directly, its competitors will likely benefit in the coming years.
For example, AMD said it sees an opportunity to develop an AI chip for the Chinese market that would comply with US export restrictions.
