Chinese Firms Equip GeForce RTX 5090D with Blower-Type Coolers for AI Workstations

[AleksandarK]

Chinese hardware enthusiasts and AI researchers are rolling out custom versions of NVIDIA's latest flagship GPU, the GeForce RTX 5090D "Blackwell" variant for China. Originally intended as a special model that complies with US export regulations, the RTX 5090D is proving to be an excellent choice for smaller AI labs. Building on the trend set by specialist firms modifying the RTX 3090 and RTX 4090, these teams have taken the GB202 chip and mounted it on new PCBs with blower‑style coolers better suited to AI server racks than gaming rigs. Instead of large fans and complex heatsinks, each card uses a dual‑slot blower design that pushes hot air straight out the back of the chassis.

The power connector has also been moved to the rear bracket, making it easier to stack cards in clusters without cables getting in the way. Each unit still packs 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, although the maximum power draw remains unconfirmed. While previous "D" series cards topped out around 450 W, with Blackwell, this figure might approach 575 W, similar to the regular RTX 5090. This blower cooler could be undersized for a near‑600 W TDP, but with undervolting and underclocking, it may operate with stability over long workloads. Given that Chinese AI labs are struggling to acquire enough GPU capacity, some smaller labs and university researchers are possibly far away from getting enough compute resources for their work. So, repackaging these GPUs into workstation bodies is the only choice to get some acceleration in the hands of the masses.



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[Tomgang]

Unless this has some very special cooling. A blower style cooler on a 575 watt card sounds like the recipi for a vakuum cleaner in your pc.
Now this is meant for at AI workstation where noise might not be a big problem. But i don´t think i wanted that thing in my own pc.

 

[colossusrageblack]

Unless this has some very special cooling. A blower style cooler on a 575 watt card sounds like the recipi for a vakuum cleaner in your pc.
Now this is meant for at AI workstation where noise might not be a big problem. But i don´t think i wanted that thing in my own pc.

It's meant for AI work more than likely, which means that most of the time it's just VRAM being utilized with not a lot of compute happening until it gets told to do something.

 

[MentalAcetylide]

Unless this has some very special cooling. A blower style cooler on a 575 watt card sounds like the recipi for a vakuum cleaner in your pc.
Now this is meant for at AI workstation where noise might not be a big problem. But i don´t think i wanted that thing in my own pc.

AI workstations are typically located in an isolated room where ambient temperature is constantly regulated(usually at 65 F or 18.33 C). So no, its not something you want to have sitting right next to you on a desk. The blower-type coolers would work fine on a 5090, but I don't think anyone would be comfortable sitting in a room with ambient temps 10+ degrees lower than anywhere else in the house, and as you said, noise would be a big problem.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Unless this has some very special cooling. A blower style cooler on a 575 watt card sounds like the recipi for a vakuum cleaner in your pc.
Now this is meant for at AI workstation where noise might not be a big problem. But i don´t think i wanted that thing in my own pc.

Agreed, this seems like foolishness.

AI workstations are typically located in an isolated room where ambient temperature is constantly regulated(usually at 65 F or 18.33 C).

Even so, those types of coolers are not good enough for the power level of the heat coming off those GPUs. Unless those rooms are kept at 10C or less, those cards are going to burn themselves up.

It's meant for AI work more than likely, which means that most of the time it's just VRAM being utilized with not a lot of compute happening until it gets told to do something.

That's a bit of a misunderstanding of how AI works. It's not the same kind of workload as cryptocoin mining. There is a significant compute workload. Heat will be a problem.

 

[freeagent]

I am surprised they didn't name it 5090 Big D.

 

[Carlyle2020hs]

So basically you need a special case that would fit and work well in hell

I ... have a remedy for that

 

[R-T-B]

Even so, those types of coolers and good enough for the power level of the heat coming off those GPUs. Unless those rooms are kept at 10C or less, those cards are going to burn themselves up.

Nah. The fans are just going to wear fast sure, but thats about it. Datacenters like this generally don't care about noise so balls-out 100% fanspeed is not only an option, but expected. This gives the coolers a bit more ability with granted some serious compromises, but only ones a consumer would really mind, not a datacenter. Noise being the obvious one.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Nah. The fans are just going to wear fast sure, but thats about it. Datacenters like this generally don't care about noise so balls-out 100% fanspeed is not only an option, but expected. This gives the coolers a bit more ability with granted some serious compromises, but only ones a consumer would really mind, not a datacenter. Noise being the obvious one.

Even at full speed, I have my doubts about the fans/coolers being able to keep the GPUs from overheating without serious ambient room temp adjustments. I'm betting those cards will last 14 to 16 months at most without it.

 

[R-T-B]

serious ambient room temp adjustments.

Yeah my statement is certainly dependent on them using a strictly managed inbuilding climate.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Yeah my statement is certainly dependent on them using a strictly managed inbuilding climate.

If they do, then yeah they've got something good going.

 

[Macro Device]

I have my doubts about the fans/coolers being able to keep the GPUs from overheating without serious ambient room temp adjustments

The card's X and Y dimentions are approximately 315 by 115 mm; the blower fan used in this "vehicle" is not your regular 70 mm fan from 1080 Ti FE, no, it's almost maxing out the GPU's width. Which means it's theoretically capable of removing 230*110*110/70/70=567 W worth of heat at 471 sqmm die size at ambient temp of +15C (59F) assuming the fan blows at 7K RPM. 5090 and D both have it at 750 sqmm which makes the task easier.

I haven't seen the heatsink but with this fan at 7K RPM, it's technically doable without making the room cold. Just not comfortable for most people.

//The number 230 W is 1080 Ti's die-only power at a serious OC, 471 sqmm is also 1080 Ti's die size. I tested this exact model under these exact conditions in a room which was roughly 60 to 65 °F. 6500 or so RPM was barely enough for it to stay sane. 7K kept it under the boiling point indefinitely. Loud as heck but it worked.

//I would love to have a 4080 with this exact cooling. Should be easy to do it at under 4K RPM.

 

[yfn_ratchet]

Up next, 5090Ds with aftermarket passive coolers being paired up with Optimum-style 3D printed airflow guides and 5k RPM axial fans.

Still, I enjoy the idea of aftermarket cooler setups being a thing beyond the typical waterblock fare. Imagine building out a GPU by buying a reference board and pairing it up with a custom fin stack, shroud, fans... it's a fun concept, if impractical.

 

[mama]

Is this product subject to tariff/s?

 

[lexluthermiester]

The card's X and Y dimentions are approximately 315 by 115 mm; the blower fan used in this "vehicle" is not your regular 70 mm fan from 1080 Ti FE, no, it's almost maxing out the GPU's width. Which means it's theoretically capable of removing 230*110*110/70/70=567 W worth of heat at 471 sqmm die size at ambient temp of +15C (59F) assuming the fan blows at 7K RPM. 5090 and D both have it at 750 sqmm which makes the task easier.

I haven't seen the heatsink but with this fan at 7K RPM, it's technically doable without making the room cold. Just not comfortable for most people.

//The number 230 W is 1080 Ti's die-only power at a serious OC, 471 sqmm is also 1080 Ti's die size. I tested this exact model under these exact conditions in a room which was roughly 60 to 65 °F. 6500 or so RPM was barely enough for it to stay sane. 7K kept it under the boiling point indefinitely. Loud as heck but it worked.

//I would love to have a 4080 with this exact cooling. Should be easy to do it at under 4K RPM.

Well, ok. Still dubious about it.

 

[igormp]

Unless this has some very special cooling. A blower style cooler on a 575 watt card sounds like the recipi for a vakuum cleaner in your pc.
Now this is meant for at AI workstation where noise might not be a big problem. But i don´t think i wanted that thing in my own pc.

Well, you don't really need to run those at their full power limit. It's common for such endeavors to power limit GPUs to a more sane point were you can achieve maximum efficiency in terms of FLOPS/Watt.

As an example, I run my 2x3090s at 275W each, instead of their default of 370W. The best efficiency for a 3090 is around the 250~300W mark, depending on your task:

Andromeda Computer Benchmarks

AI Benchmark Results

benchmarks.andromeda.computer

For the 4090 it was around the 300W mark (don't have any easily available link for that one, sorry).

The 5090 seems to have a sweet spot at 400~450W:

https://www.reddit.com/r/LocalLLaMA/comments/1jr6wu2

 

[TheDeeGee]

GG, now everything blows about that card.

 

[Shihab]

Which means it's theoretically capable of removing 230*110*110/70/70=567 W worth of heat at 471 sqmm die size at ambient temp of +15C (59F) assuming the fan blows at 7K RPM.

*triggered*
You did not just abuse affinity law #2, did you?

Seriously, increasing the fan's diameter alone would not have such a huge effect on heat dissipation. It does to airflow and pressure, yes, but those don't linearly affect dissipation either.

 

[Hereticbar]

Well, ok. Still dubious about it.

Not sure what's so dubious about it.

These are the same people that effectively put a floor on the price of used RTX 4090 ever since the RTX 4090 China export ban. I am pretty sure they played a part in keeping the price of new RTX 4090 as high as it was for the last 18 months by ensuring that demand always exceed supply. There are buyers in Singapore and Malaysia that are actively buying up used RTX 4090, it doesn't matter the model or condition, as long as it is working they are willing to pay around USD2,500 in cash for each card no matter the quantity.

They don't just stop at putting blower‑style cooler onto the modified cards, they are also putting 48GB of VRAM onto the modified PCB to create custom RTX 4090 cards. Nothing is wasted in the process, the discarded parts of the original graphics card are then put back together in their original retail packaging and sold as for display only dummy units. Unfortunately these "corpse cards", missing GPU and VRAM, are starting to show up in places outside of China and usually involved in cases of fraud. I actually just bought a white edition Zotac RTX 4090 AMP Extreme Airo corpse card for USD30 shipped, so I can transfer over the white bits and have a white card.

For whatever reason, they are also buying up used RTX 3090. Although they are not paying as much for them, but this still help create a demand for used RTX 3090. Partly explain why I was able to sell my used RTX 3090 for USD800 in March, and in doing so made a 200 bucks profit over what I paid for it in 2022. It sure doesn't make sense to me when look through the lens of a normal consumer that is using a graphics card to play games, but apparently there is a large market and demand outside of gaming for these cards. By the looks of things, it is a big enough business because the amount of money involved is sizable.

 

[Ruru]

Funny how the D card still has the full ROP amount.

 

[Shihab]

Funny how the D card still has the full ROP amount.

D cards gimp AI performance, not rasterization performance. US regulators don't care about the framerate your typical teenager in Guangzhou gets (yet).

 

[Rightness_1]

Amazing that they can get hold of so many... Nice to see where nv's loyalties lie.

 

[Red Hood]

5090D same hardware specs as 5090 but "complies" with trade regulations

 

[phanbuey]

Amazing that they can get hold of so many... Nice to see where nv's loyalties lie.

I mean they can get it through literally any country they trade with - nvidia doesn't have a clue where they're going to end up after the initial sale. But at the end of the day it's capitalism -- there's no loyalty apart from $$$. Probably why all the chinese companies are state owned.

 

[wolf]

I mean, this seems like a card meant to sit in a server in a data centre (or similar type room), it's not meant for your at home gaming pc. Blower cards are absolutely desirable here.

Feels a touch like outrage culture to have a go at these as if enthusiast gamers want them in their study.