I_Leak_VN on X (formerly Twitter) has shared some pictures of a dual-slot RTX 4090 graphics card cooled by a blower-style fan. This is a design adapted for server and multi-GPU workstations which packs many cards side by side in tight spaces.
So much for the best graphics cards in China. The US banned exports of AD102 GPUs to the region on November 17, but not before Nvidia rushed through a load of RTX 4090s first. Since then, factories in China have disassembled these gaming cards to extract the valuable chip, and resolder them onto other PCBs. Specifically, they fashioned dual-slot AI-driven cards using a single-fan blower to fit in the tight spaces of a server.
The pictures shared by I_Leak_VN show generic, yet completely new cards. In other words, this is not a small project done by a bunch of friends on the weekend. It’s clearly a professional operation. The new design keeps the S-like frame that surrounds Nvidia’s RTX 4000 Founders Edition cards but swaps the angled fin stacks for a shiny plastic shroud to direct air towards the vents. While the piano black finish could be a fingerprint magnet, the cards will probably be put inside servers, so looks don’t really matter.
You better be far from these fans when they attempt to cool the RTX 4090’s 450W, though. Even AMD Radeon HD 4890 with its 190W TDP was already annoying. Now, imagine double the heat output.
Lastly, factories have relocated the power connecter to the card’s rear to fit within servers’ chassis height clearances. That said, instead of the usual 8-pin headers found on server cards, it keeps the 12VHPWR. We don’t know whether it uses updated cables or a simple adapter.
