Feb 20, 2024 20:00:00

NVIDIA 'RTX 2080 Ti' is sold in China with VRAM capacity modified from 11GB to 22GB without permission

It has been discovered that a modified version of

the RTX 2080 Ti with upgraded VRAM capacity from 11GB to 22GB is being distributed in the Chinese market. As the AI boom unfolds, desperate attempts are being made to secure GPUs in China, which is subject to semiconductor regulations by the United States.

Chinese workshops recondition Nvidia's old flagship gaming GPU for AI — RTX 2080 Ti upgraded to 22GB for $499 | Tom's Hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/chinese-workshops-recondition-nvidias-old-flagship-gaming-gpu-for-ai-rtx-2080-ti-upgraded-to-22gb-for- dollar499

Since the United States has banned the sale of NVIDIA's enterprise GPUs 'A100' and 'H100' and the personal flagship 'RTX 4090' in China, it has been difficult for Chinese companies to obtain these GPUs. It has become. Under these circumstances, attempts are being made to smuggle GPUs from other countries to China, and domestic factories to recycle older generation GPUs such as ``RTX 3090'' and ``RTX 3080''.

According to technology media Tom's Hardware, the trend for 2024 is RTX 2080 Ti. The RTX 2080 Ti is a 'quite old' GPU released in 2018, but it seems that the vendor has doubled the VRAM capacity of the existing RTX 2080 Ti from 11GB to 22GB and modified it to run AI processing without any problems. .

If you check

the information posted on the Chinese flea market service ``Goofish'', you can see that the RTX 2080 Ti, which was independently modified by a company called Aisawk, is being sold for 860 yuan (about 18,000 yen). According to Aisawk, this product can be used to install NVIDIA's official drivers without any bugs.

The 22GB RTX 2080 Ti is also sold outside China, and on eBay, a California seller was selling a similar product for $499 (about 75,000 yen). According to the seller's website, more than 500 units of the RTX 2080 Ti 22GB have been sold.

Tom's Hardware commented, ``The RTX 2080 Ti 22GB may not be a bad purchase, but because it is a modified product, there is a possibility that you will receive an inferior product or a product without warranty.''