Leaked video exposes how industrial-scale Chinese factories are dismantling RTX 5090s by the thousands to fuel AI servers
- ID
- 39017
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 24 Oct 2026, 7:15 PM
- Fetched
- 24 Oct 2026, 7:30 PM
- Provider
- Tom's Hardware
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/leaked-video-exposes-how-chinese-factories-are-stripping-rtx-5090s-to-fuel-ai-custom-partner-cards-to-nvidia-founders-editions-on-the-chopping-block
- Source URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/feeds/all
Summary
- Score
- 4.0
- Created
- 24 Oct 2026, 7:31 PM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersai_ml_learners
What happened
Tom's Hardware reports on a leaked video showing Chinese factories stripping RTX 5090 cards at industrial scale — desoldering the GPU die and memory and transplanting them onto blower-style boards for AI servers. The report claims the practice reaches thousands of units and that both add-in-card partner models and Nvidia Founders Edition cards are being dismantled. The excerpt provides no pricing, volume figures beyond "thousands," named sources, or verification of the video.
Why it matters
If a 5090-class GPU's die and memory can be pulled and remounted on a different board, the card you buy second-hand or from a small local reseller may not match its original cooler, serial, or warranty — so inspect form factor, serials, and warranty transfer before paying for used AI hardware, and treat unusually cheap 5090 supply as a question to ask rather than a deal. Beyond that, the item offers no verifiable numbers on price or availability, so don't re-plan budgets or procurement on it yet.
Discussion angle
Would you buy a used or remanufactured high-end GPU for local model work — and what would you check first, given that dies and memory are reportedly being moved between boards?