China-modified Nvidia RTX 5090 with massive 96GB of memory appears on Alibaba for less than $4,000 — 3x more VRAM at 65% the cost of the original

The GeForce RTX 5090 is already at the pinnacle of the best graphics cards. However, Shenzhen Suqiao Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., a Chinese OEM/ODM, has reportedly made it even more powerful by outfitting the Blackwell flagship with 96GB of memory, 3X more than the original. The company is already selling these modified GeForce RTX 5090 96GB on Alibaba for $3888, 35% less than the vanilla GeForce RTX 5090 in the U.S.

You can say whatever you want about China, but you cannot deny that factories there have produced some of the most interesting modified graphics cards, including the GeForce RTX 5080 32GB, the GeForce RTX 4090 48GB, and the GeForce RTX 3090 48GB. While some of these projects are fueled by pure curiosity, most of them are a result of the recent AI boom that has stimulated Chinese factories to think outside the box and give existing and even past graphics cards a memory upgrade so consumers can repurpose them for AI workloads. While we have seen a fair share of absurd rumors, such as the GeForce RTX 5090 128GB, the conjuration of the GeForce RTX 5090 96GB seems more plausible from a technical standpoint, and there is precedent for a Blackwell-based graphics card with 96GB of memory.

Before diving into the GeForce RTX 5090 96GB, it is worth noting that the Alibaba listing is from Suqiao, a Chinese manufacturer with over 10 years of experience making graphics cards, motherboards, and servers. So it is not a random Chinese chop shop but rather an established OEM/ODM, which lends some credence to the existence of the GeForce RTX 5090 96GB. Needless to say, the Alibaba listing is full of questionable specifications, such as GDDR6X memory or memory speeds of 14 Gbps.

The RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell, which has 96GB of GDDR7 memory, uses the same GB202 silicon as the GeForce RTX 5090, but with more enabled Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs). Therefore, a 96GB configuration is possible on GB202; however, the GeForce RTX 5090 96GB likely uses a custom PCB, allowing the manufacturer to install the memory chips in clamshell mode, which doubles the total memory on the PCB. The vendor could either procure the GB202 silicon individually or extract it from mainstream GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards and reball it onto the custom PCB.

Even in clamshell mode, with memory pads on both sides of the PCB, there are only 32 of them. The RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell has 32 GDDR7 chips, each 24Gb (3GB) in capacity. The problem we have with the GeForce RTX 5090 96GB that raises a red flag about its authenticity is the mention of GDDR6X. Micron only produced GDDR6X memory chips in 16 Gb (2GB), so the maximum capacity would be 48GB in clamshell mode. Plus, GDDR6X operates between 19 Gbps and 24 Gbps, much higher than the listed 14 Gbps, which corresponds to standard GDDR6.

Modified firmware and software-level hacks are necessary to run Nvidia graphics cards with modified memory capacity. For instance, the GeForce RTX 4090 48GB was possible because modders modified Nvidia's firmware to get these graphics cards running. However, rumors on the street suggest that a leaked firmware for the GeForce RTX 5090 has been available for a few months, which could explain why we are starting to see these GeForce RTX 5090 96GB graphics cards surface.

Suqiao listed the GeForce RTX 5090 96GB for $3,888, significantly lower than other Alibaba merchants who have it closer to $5,900. For reference, custom GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards start at $6,000 in the U.S. market. After the latest price hikes, Nvidia is selling the RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell for $16,000, although it can go up to $17,999, depending on which variant you pick up. If the GeForce RTX 5090 96GB is real, even at $6,000, it would be a steal for anyone running AI models.

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