• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Special Chinese Factories are Dismantling NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Graphics Cards and Turning Them into AI-Friendly GPU Shape

Joined
Jan 5, 2006
Messages
18,584 (2.69/day)
System Name AlderLake
Processor Intel i7 12700K P-Cores @ 5Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-U12A 2 fans + Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme + 5 case fans
Memory 32GB DDR5 Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 6000MT/s CL36
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio
Storage Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Evo 500GB + 850 Pro 512GB + 860 Evo 1TB x2
Display(s) 23.8" Dell S2417DG 165Hz G-Sync 1440p
Case Be quiet! Silent Base 600 - Window
Audio Device(s) Panasonic SA-PMX94 / Realtek onboard + B&O speaker system / Harman Kardon Go + Play / Logitech G533
Power Supply Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W
Mouse Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Laser wireless
Keyboard RAPOO E9270P Black 5GHz wireless
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R23 (Single Core) 1936 @ stock Cinebench R23 (Multi Core) 23006 @ stock
Voiding Warranty doesn't matter it seems....:nutkick:
:peace:
 
Joined
Sep 15, 2011
Messages
6,725 (1.39/day)
Processor Intel® Core™ i7-13700K
Motherboard Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15
Memory 32GB(2x16) DDR5@6600MHz G-Skill Trident Z5
Video Card(s) ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 3080 AMP Holo
Storage 2TB SK Platinum P41 SSD + 4TB SanDisk Ultra SSD + 500GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD
Display(s) Acer Predator X34 3440x1440@100Hz G-Sync
Case NZXT PHANTOM410-BK
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium PCIe
Power Supply Corsair 850W
Mouse Logitech Hero G502 SE
Software Windows 11 Pro - 64bit
Benchmark Scores 30FPS in NFS:Rivals
Palit might get the hammer for selling engross cards to the Chinese market...
 
Joined
Jun 22, 2015
Messages
76 (0.02/day)
Processor AMD R7 3800X EKWB
Motherboard Asus Tuf B450M-Pro µATX +MosfetWB (x2)
Cooling EKWB on CPU + GPU / Heatkiller 60/80 on Mosfets / Black Ice SR-1 240mm
Memory 2x8GB G.Skill DDR4 3200C14 @ ----
Video Card(s) Vega64 EKWB
Storage Samsung 512GB NVMe 3.0 x4 / Crucial P1 1TB NVMe 3.0 x2
Display(s) Asus ProArt 23" 1080p / Acer 27" 144Hz FreeSync IPS
Case Fractal Design Arc Mini R2
Power Supply SeaSonic 850W
Keyboard Ducky One TKL / MX Brown
I wouldnt say its wasteful.
Those coolers can be repurposed, maybe to 4080 cards, on the cheap.
The boards though will probably have to be recycled, i dont see that many 4090 users requiring a replacement board, but with the 4090 burnouts happening, maybe they could be sold on that market.
These AI boards are going to be resold to Chinese AI companys for a profit, enough to offset the costs of making them.
AI companies are throwing cash at anyone that can sell them decent, or even half-decent, AI gpu's...
Its just another sanction that wont have the impact that was expected...
 
Joined
Mar 1, 2021
Messages
489 (0.36/day)
Location
Germany
System Name Homebase
Processor Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard Gigabyte Aorus X570S UD
Cooling Scythe Mugen 5 RGB
Memory 2*16 Kingston Fury DDR4-3600 double ranked
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 6800 16 GB
Storage 1*512 WD Red SN700, 1*2TB Curcial P5, 1*2TB Sandisk Plus (TLC), 1*14TB Toshiba MG
Display(s) Philips E-line 275E1S
Case Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Power Supply Corsair RM850 2019
Mouse Sharkoon Sharkforce Pro
Keyboard Fujitsu KB955
It is the same procedure that we had in the mining and covid craze. The companies will probably send out statements that they don't encourage others to buy or use such cards, while they sold them straight from factory into the trucks. :D
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2019
Messages
12,341 (5.75/day)
Location
Midlands, UK
System Name Nebulon B
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard MSi PRO B650M-A WiFi
Cooling be quiet! Dark Rock 4
Memory 2x 24 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5-4800
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT 12 GB
Storage 2 TB Corsair MP600 GS, 2 TB Corsair MP600 R2
Display(s) Dell S3422DWG, 7" Waveshare touchscreen
Case Kolink Citadel Mesh black
Audio Device(s) Logitech Z333 2.1 speakers, AKG Y50 headphones
Power Supply Seasonic Prime GX-750
Mouse Logitech MX Master 2S
Keyboard Logitech G413 SE
Software Bazzite (Fedora Linux) KDE
Who didn't see this coming besides the US government? :rolleyes:
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2012
Messages
6,881 (1.47/day)
Location
Florida
System Name natr0n-PC
Processor Ryzen 5950x-5600x | 9600k
Motherboard B450 AORUS M | Z390 UD
Cooling EK AIO 360 - 6 fan action | AIO
Memory Patriot - Viper Steel DDR4 (B-Die)(4x8GB) | Samsung DDR4 (4x8GB)
Video Card(s) EVGA 3070ti FTW
Storage Various
Display(s) Pixio PX279 Prime
Case Thermaltake Level 20 VT | Black bench
Audio Device(s) LOXJIE D10 + Kinter Amp + 6 Bookshelf Speakers Sony+JVC+Sony
Power Supply Super Flower Leadex III ARGB 80+ Gold 650W | EVGA 700 Gold
Software XP/7/8.1/10
Benchmark Scores http://valid.x86.fr/79kuh6
Those sobs are shady geniuses.
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2020
Messages
985 (0.69/day)
Processor E5-4627 v4
Motherboard VEINEDA X99
Memory 32 GB
Video Card(s) 2080 Ti
Storage NE-512
Display(s) G27Q
Case DAOTECH X9
Power Supply SF450
How is it friendlier. Can't place them too close to each other.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jan 3, 2021
Messages
3,501 (2.46/day)
Location
Slovenia
Processor i5-6600K
Motherboard Asus Z170A
Cooling some cheap Cooler Master Hyper 103 or similar
Memory 16GB DDR4-2400
Video Card(s) IGP
Storage Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
Display(s) 2x Oldell 24" 1920x1200
Case Bitfenix Nova white windowless non-mesh
Audio Device(s) E-mu 1212m PCI
Power Supply Seasonic G-360
Mouse Logitech Marble trackball, never had a mouse
Keyboard Key Tronic KT2000, no Win key because 1994
Software Oldwin
How is it friendlier. Can't place them too close to each other.
Unfortunately there are no pics or descriptions of the "end product". Those might be half-slot-wide PCIe cards packed closely together and immersed in braking fluid at -10°C, which is cooled by hacked air conditioners, or some other cheap solution just good enough to barely work (like all those antminers we've already forgotten about).
 
Joined
Apr 12, 2013
Messages
7,532 (1.77/day)
It is the same procedure that we had in the mining and covid craze.
The entire AI fad is like the crypto craze except with at least 10-100x more money backing it than what BTC had back in the day. I'm not talking about the value of BTC but real companies making & baking hardware for AI like there's gonna be no tomorrow!

This bubble will also pop & probably leave a bunch of plebs unemployed/broke in the end :shadedshu:
 
Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Messages
2,198 (0.43/day)
Sanctions.
They can't buy 4090 chips direct from Nvidia right now, but they can buy 4090 cards from Asia-based manufacturers not under the same sanctions as US-based Nvidia.

And they are repurposing 4090's to put these on a AI type of PCB and resell them to consumers or businesses in China?

I guess a big profit.
 
Joined
Mar 10, 2010
Messages
11,878 (2.21/day)
Location
Manchester uk
System Name RyzenGtEvo/ Asus strix scar II
Processor Amd R5 5900X/ Intel 8750H
Motherboard Crosshair hero8 impact/Asus
Cooling 360EK extreme rad+ 360$EK slim all push, cpu ek suprim Gpu full cover all EK
Memory Corsair Vengeance Rgb pro 3600cas14 16Gb in four sticks./16Gb/16GB
Video Card(s) Powercolour RX7900XT Reference/Rtx 2060
Storage Silicon power 2TB nvme/8Tb external/1Tb samsung Evo nvme 2Tb sata ssd/1Tb nvme
Display(s) Samsung UAE28"850R 4k freesync.dell shiter
Case Lianli 011 dynamic/strix scar2
Audio Device(s) Xfi creative 7.1 on board ,Yamaha dts av setup, corsair void pro headset
Power Supply corsair 1200Hxi/Asus stock
Mouse Roccat Kova/ Logitech G wireless
Keyboard Roccat Aimo 120
VR HMD Oculus rift
Software Win 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores 8726 vega 3dmark timespy/ laptop Timespy 6506
Just watch this clip yesterday, Chinese made a frankenstein desktop 3060 out of 3060 mobile chips, and they came out superior to the original desktop ones in term of efficiency
Binning, it's not new and the most efficient chip obviously goes in the Lowest power device, always has.
Like founder's edition cards typically get the Best bins with aib getting the next bin down.

This isn't a good use of resources IMHO.

Kinda funny,, , quite the sign for how caught up China's fabs and GPU tech is that this is the solutionthey have.
 
Joined
Feb 20, 2019
Messages
8,283 (3.93/day)
System Name Bragging Rights
Processor Atom Z3735F 1.33GHz
Motherboard It has no markings but it's green
Cooling No, it's a 2.2W processor
Memory 2GB DDR3L-1333
Video Card(s) Gen7 Intel HD (4EU @ 311MHz)
Storage 32GB eMMC and 128GB Sandisk Extreme U3
Display(s) 10" IPS 1280x800 60Hz
Case Veddha T2
Audio Device(s) Apparently, yes
Power Supply Samsung 18W 5V fast-charger
Mouse MX Anywhere 2
Keyboard Logitech MX Keys (not Cherry MX at all)
VR HMD Samsung Oddyssey, not that I'd plug it into this though....
Software W10 21H1, barely
Benchmark Scores I once clocked a Celeron-300A to 564MHz on an Abit BE6 and it scored over 9000.
And they are repurposing 4090's to put these on a AI type of PCB and resell them to consumers or businesses in China?

I guess a big profit.
Businesses, probably state-owned - though that's speculation on my part.

China is buying all the AI-capable hardware they can because the sanctions mean they can't obtain them directly from the US and Europe. There's huge money in AI right now and I wouldn't be surprised if businesses are paying $5000 per GPU. There's zero official supply and tons of business demand.

Wealthy gamers might be buying them too, but realistically if the 4090 is selling for the equivalent of $5000 and a $7900XTX or 4080 is 1/5th of that, you're probably just going to buy one tier down where there's still plenty of inventory and nowhere near as much scalping / price-gouging.
 

Xebec

New Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2021
Messages
17 (0.02/day)
The pic showing the test systems running looks AI generated. Is this real news?
 

Count von Schwalbe

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 15, 2021
Messages
3,082 (2.78/day)
Location
Knoxville, TN, USA
System Name Work Computer | Unfinished Computer
Processor Core i7-6700 | Ryzen 5 5600X
Motherboard Dell Q170 | Gigabyte Aorus Elite Wi-Fi
Cooling A fan? | Truly Custom Loop
Memory 4x4GB Crucial 2133 C17 | 4x8GB Corsair Vengeance RGB 3600 C26
Video Card(s) Dell Radeon R7 450 | RTX 2080 Ti FE
Storage Crucial BX500 2TB | TBD
Display(s) 3x LG QHD 32" GSM5B96 | TBD
Case Dell | Heavily Modified Phanteks P400
Power Supply Dell TFX Non-standard | EVGA BQ 650W
Mouse Monster No-Name $7 Gaming Mouse| TBD
Joined
Mar 16, 2017
Messages
2,115 (0.75/day)
Location
Tanagra
System Name Budget Box
Processor Xeon E5-2667v2
Motherboard ASUS P9X79 Pro
Cooling Some cheap tower cooler, I dunno
Memory 32GB 1866-DDR3 ECC
Video Card(s) XFX RX 5600XT
Storage WD NVME 1GB
Display(s) ASUS Pro Art 27"
Case Antec P7 Neo
I suspect they have people in other markets buying up the cards and shipping them back to China. I've noticed a few times the buyer for PC stuff I've sold on eBay was Chinese but their location is in a west coast port city. They have lots of ratings for purchases, but never for any sales. I kinda wonder if they just go to some big mill that strips them down and they get rebuilt, like all those Machinist X79/99 motherboards out there. Same goes with sellers. They've figured out to ship their stuff to the US and then sell it though a US account. I guess this way they can work more easily with customs? Might be easier to ship a crate of 4090s to China than to do it in small batches. The sale happens in the US, and the goods are then transferred to China by the owner. I'm not a customs expert by any means, so I could be way off here.
 

jonanddy

New Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2023
Messages
1 (0.00/day)
Well it's at least a small surprise they're not being escorted directly from the factories, or maybe not o_O

Pretty sure if CCP wants these chips/parts they can get them almost any way possible, after all most(?) of them are "assembled" in China!
They’re not assembled in China, they’re assembled in Taiwan
 
Joined
Mar 10, 2010
Messages
11,878 (2.21/day)
Location
Manchester uk
System Name RyzenGtEvo/ Asus strix scar II
Processor Amd R5 5900X/ Intel 8750H
Motherboard Crosshair hero8 impact/Asus
Cooling 360EK extreme rad+ 360$EK slim all push, cpu ek suprim Gpu full cover all EK
Memory Corsair Vengeance Rgb pro 3600cas14 16Gb in four sticks./16Gb/16GB
Video Card(s) Powercolour RX7900XT Reference/Rtx 2060
Storage Silicon power 2TB nvme/8Tb external/1Tb samsung Evo nvme 2Tb sata ssd/1Tb nvme
Display(s) Samsung UAE28"850R 4k freesync.dell shiter
Case Lianli 011 dynamic/strix scar2
Audio Device(s) Xfi creative 7.1 on board ,Yamaha dts av setup, corsair void pro headset
Power Supply corsair 1200Hxi/Asus stock
Mouse Roccat Kova/ Logitech G wireless
Keyboard Roccat Aimo 120
VR HMD Oculus rift
Software Win 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores 8726 vega 3dmark timespy/ laptop Timespy 6506

HMNN Defence force definitely required.


the coincidences mount up.

This is how SCUM do business(AND OFTEN HAS DONE), and supporting such harms the PC ECOSYSTEM they serve and you all love, wise up.
before you have to rent your game off nvidia who choose what your game is.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 4, 2017
Messages
706 (0.27/day)
Location
France
Processor RYZEN 7 5800X3D
Motherboard Aorus B-550I Pro AX
Cooling HEATKILLER IV PRO , EKWB Vector FTW3 3080/3090 , Barrow res + Xylem DDC 4.2, SE 240 + Dabel 20b 240
Memory Viper Steel 4000 PVS416G400C6K
Video Card(s) EVGA 3080Ti FTW3
Storage XPG SX8200 Pro 512 GB NVMe + Samsung 980 1TB
Display(s) Dell S2721DGF
Case NR 200
Power Supply CORSAIR SF750
Mouse Logitech G PRO
Keyboard Meletrix Zoom 75 GT Silver
Software Windows 11 22H2
I'm guessing they need as much AI brain power as possible so it can hopefully find a solution to the financial wildfire the country is heading into./s
Believe me if that was the case NVIDIA would be selling all those 4090s towards the US :roll:!
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2021
Messages
377 (0.32/day)
Believe me if that was the case NVIDIA would be selling all those 4090s towards the US :roll:!
When Ever Grand collapsed it was an issue now Country Garden is in trouble it's 4 times bigger. I mean take you pick from countries leavin BRI with Italy being the latest, brand new homes being torn down because no one can afford them, infrastructure projects like high speed train going massively over budget and open sections loosing massive amounts of money. Run's on banks, province income over estimation proping up the yen. Just because other probably state owned businesses are still spending like the cash will never stop flowing doesn't mean everything is ok. Look at 07 the signs where there most chose to ignore.
 
Joined
Jun 18, 2021
Messages
2,547 (2.02/day)
Unfortunately there are no pics or descriptions of the "end product". Those might be half-slot-wide PCIe cards packed closely together and immersed in braking fluid at -10°C, which is cooled by hacked air conditioners, or some other cheap solution just good enough to barely work (like all those antminers we've already forgotten about).

I'd be curious about that too, how much convenience can they be gaining to be worth manufacturing entire new boards (and all the components those require) and coolers!? Doesn't make sense to me, seems like more a marketing/info op designed for spectacle to show sanctions are not working - well they're doing something if this is what it takes lol
 
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
21,469 (3.40/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 9950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage Intel 905p Optane 960GB boot, +2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software Gentoo Linux x64 / Windows 11 Enterprise IoT 2024
but real companies making & baking hardware for AI like there's gonna be no tomorrow!
This happened with BTC too. Heck even Intel got in on it and made a BTC ASIC at one point.

Yes, it'll pop someday.
 
Joined
May 31, 2016
Messages
4,437 (1.43/day)
Location
Currently Norway
System Name Bro2
Processor Ryzen 5800X
Motherboard Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite
Cooling Corsair h115i pro rgb
Memory 32GB G.Skill Flare X 3200 CL14 @3800Mhz CL16
Video Card(s) Powercolor 6900 XT Red Devil 1.1v@2400Mhz
Storage M.2 Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500MB/ Samsung 860 Evo 1TB
Display(s) LG 27UD69 UHD / LG 27GN950
Case Fractal Design G
Audio Device(s) Realtec 5.1
Power Supply Seasonic 750W GOLD
Mouse Logitech G402
Keyboard Logitech slim
Software Windows 10 64 bit
Nvidia the way it meant to be scammed.
US gov restricts sales for top end graphics chips so NV sells 4090 as low end AI chips to bypass restrictions. Classic scam just to get profit :)
I wonder how much is that one in the Chinese market. Maybe you can buy for peanuts now in China with shipping.
 
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
Messages
483 (0.12/day)
Nvidia the way it meant to be scammed.
US gov restricts sales for top end graphics chips so NV sells 4090 as low end AI chips to bypass restrictions. Classic scam just to get profit :)
I wonder how much is that one in the Chinese market. Maybe you can buy for peanuts now in China with shipping.
Nvidia should be fined a billion dollars. This was illegal. The restrictions are there for a reason. Throw Jensen in jail!
 
Top