The Chinese market apparently has no problem with a steady supply of the GeForce RTX 5090, which is banned due to US export policies.
NVIDIA RTX 5090 is Not Just Easily Available in China, but the Dual-Slot Design for Servers Reportedly Sees No Problem With the 16-pin Connector Due to a Different Location
Just a few days ago, we reported on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 smuggled to China, which is officially banned due to US export policies. The GPUs in the lab get turned into dual-slot blower-style cards, which are then deployed in the servers for AI workloads. The Bilibili channel that posted the video has provided more information about this whole process in the comments, revealing that the GeForce RTX 5090 is easier to get in China.
As per the report, the availability of the card is stable and is also available on major e-commerce platforms. This means a lot of RTX 5090 inventory is readily available to the enterprises, since the RTX 5090 offers great AI performance, unlike the RTX 5090 D, which was nerfed due to US policies. Nonetheless, the new RTX 5090 D V2 is coming next week, but enterprises won't need that due to the stable availability of the faster RTX 5090, which has superior AI capabilities and 32 GB VRAM compared to 24 GB on the RTX 5090 D V2.
According to the Bilibili channel 阿健座谈, which posted the video, the RTX 5090 in its custom design isn't ideal for server deployment. The server cases reportedly need something more compact, and since they receive the custom designs, which are often 2.5-3.0 slots thicker, they are turned into dual-slot GPUs with a blower-style cooler, but that's done after installing the GPU chip and VRAM modules on a newer PCB that has the 16-pin connector on the right.
Once again, this is done since the server cases don't have that 35mm clearance for the 16-pin connector, which is crucial for preventing any melting issues. When the connector is positioned on the right, not only does it save space, but the melting problem is almost eliminated. As per an enterprise, not a single RTX 5090 saw the connector melting so far, even after deploying nearly a thousand RTX 5090 and RTX 4090s. This also goes in line with what EVGA's Kingpin thought about the top location of the connector on these high-end GPUs.
Not only do these require more clearance for protecting the cable from a bend at the end, but it's also closer to the VRM and runs hotter than being on the right edge of the PCB.
News Source: @unikoshardware
About the author: Sarfraz Khan is a hardware reporter with a focus on PC components and the builder community. With years of experience writing about PC hardware and laptops, his work has been featured on several reputable technology publications. Sarfraz's hands-on experience is demonstrated through his first-person accounts of using and comparing different hardware configurations, providing practical and relatable insights for everyday users. His technical analysis is respected by peers in the enthusiast community and has been cited by specialized hardware sites such as Germany's Igor's Lab.
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