Leaked videos circulating on social media have revealed that factories across China are systematically dismantling thousands of brand-new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards, desoldering their core processors and memory chips to convert them into compact accelerators for artificial intelligence data centers.
The footage, initially highlighted by specialized outlets like HKEPC, exposes large-scale industrial assembly lines operating within the grey market. In these specialized workshops, technicians handle massive shipments of retail graphics cards that are not even officially distributed in the country. The hardware being stripped down includes custom board partner models as well as NVIDIA's own highly sought-after Founders Edition units.
Technical conversion into blower designs
The driving force behind this teardown process lies in the physical constraints of dense enterprise server racks. High-end consumer gaming graphics cards typically rely on massive triple or quad-slot coolers that exhaust hot air sideways into the computer case. That thermal approach makes them practically impossible to fit inside multi-GPU compute servers or standard 4U chassis.
To bypass this limitation, factory technicians completely strip away the original bulky cooling shrouds and heatsinks. Using precision heating tools, they desolder the flagship GB202 silicon die and the surrounding GDDR7 memory modules directly from the original printed circuit board. Both critical components are then transplanted onto custom-built PCBs fitted with dual-slot copper-base blower cooling solutions. This industrial layout directs exhaust airflow straight out the rear of the chassis, allowing data centers to install multiple graphics processors side by side without thermal throttling.
After reassembly, the modified units undergo rigorous quality control. The workshops feature rows of open-air testing benches where dozens of converted blower cards are benchmarked simultaneously under heavy graphical and computing workloads. Cards that pass stability validation are carefully boxed up and shipped directly to enterprise clients, primarily consisting of AI research facilities and specialized data centers.
Severe impact on stock and market pricing
This aggressive repurposing operation has taken a heavy toll on normal retail supply for gamers worldwide. Grey-market middlemen actively hunt down retail inventory across international channels to feed these conversion facilities, where thousands of flagship cards are reportedly overhauled every day.
As a consequence, the graphics card has virtually vanished from standard retail shelves in major regions. The severe shortage has driven secondary market rates to eye-watering figures, with custom partner cards starting at 8,500 dollars and some transactions nearing the 10,000-dollar mark. This unprecedented market imbalance has even created bizarre scenarios where purchasing an entire prebuilt gaming desktop can be cheaper than buying a standalone graphics card at scalper rates. As long as the global appetite for AI computing hardware outpaces dedicated server supply, consumer flagships will likely remain the target of these large-scale conversion factories.