Chinese hardware enthusiasts and AI researchers are customizing NVIDIA's newest flagship GPU, the GeForce RTX 5090D "Blackwell" variant for the Chinese market. Originally designed to meet US export regulations, the RTX 5090D is now being utilized by smaller AI labs due to its performance. Following the trend of specialist companies modifying the RTX 3090 and RTX 4090, these teams have taken the GB202 chip and placed it on new PCBs with blower-style coolers more suitable for AI server racks than gaming setups. Instead of traditional cooling systems, each card features a dual-slot blower design that expels hot air out of the chassis.
The power connector has been relocated to the rear bracket, allowing for easier stacking of cards in clusters without interference from cables. Each unit still boasts 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, although the exact power consumption is not confirmed. While previous "D" series cards typically had a power draw of around 450 W, the Blackwell variant may reach up to 575 W, similar to the regular RTX 5090. Although the blower cooler may be small for a nearly 600 W TDP, it can potentially operate stably under heavy workloads with undervolting and underclocking.
Due to the shortage of GPU capacity in Chinese AI labs, some smaller labs and university researchers are struggling to access enough computing resources for their projects. Repackaging these GPUs into workstation bodies has become the only solution to provide acceleration to a wider audience.
