Consumer RTX 5090 stock in the US (and many other countries) seems to be virtually non-existent at the moment, despite Nvidia's claims that production is still ongoing. So, what's happening to all those brand new consumer cards?
A leaked video reportedly taken from inside a Chinese factory may have the answer. Posted by HKEPC on X, the footage shows what appears to be a huge number of consumer RTX 5090 cards being dismantled en masse for AI server conversion (via Tom's Hardware).
【太精彩了吧 😱】近日，社交媒體 X 上流出多段顯示卡改裝工場內部影片，可以看到大量 GeForce RTX 5090 頂級遊戲顯示卡並未流向一般消費級零售市場，而是被整批運往大型改裝工廠。廠內工人在具備完整流水線的作業環境下，進行大規模拆解與改裝，將原本針對電競設計的三風扇散熱架構全數替換為 Dual Slot 渦輪散熱器，以符合 AI 伺服器機箱的高密度排列需求。 https://t.co/2wzPmweU3s 從曝光的工廠現場畫面可見，流水線工作枱上堆滿了來自各大廠商的 GeForce RTX 5090 零售彩盒包裝與全新裸卡，甚至連 NVIDIA 自家 GeForce RTX 5090 FE 也有。工人正以熟練的工序，迅速卸除原廠龐大的風扇與散熱鰭片模組，將完整的 PCB 電路板分離出來。隨後，GPU 與 VRAM 會被「吹」出來移植至另一片 PCB 上，再統一換裝上厚度僅有 2-Slot 的厚銅底座渦輪鼓風散熱系統。 改裝完畢後，廠方隨即將顯示卡送往專門的測試檢驗產線。在多組相連的開放式測試平台上，數十張已換裝渦輪散熱器的顯示卡正同步運行圖形效能負載與穩定性跑分測試，確保每張改裝後的繪圖卡皆能正常運作。通過嚴格檢測的顯示卡將被分層整齊陳列並重新裝箱，準備直接交付給相關客戶，流程非常專業。 傳統消費級高階顯示卡通常採用三風扇大型散熱設計，厚度普遍佔用 3 至 4 個插槽，且出風方向為機箱內部側吹，難以在 4U 伺服器或多卡並聯環境中並排安裝。換裝雙槽渦輪散熱系統後，散熱器能利用鼓風風扇將廢熱直接排出機箱後方，大幅提升多卡伺服器內部的散熱效率與空間相容性。 面對 AI 運算需求持續殷切，在算力緊缺的情況下，GeForce RTX 5090 遊戲顯示卡依然是 AI 算力市場的熱門替代品。目前，GeForce RTX 5090 售價已經被炒上接近一萬美元水平，這個價位遊戲玩家根本無力負擔。October 23, 2026
Workers are shown dismantling the GPUs, removing their three-fan coolers and heatsinks, and stacking the PCBs for conversion to dual-slot cooler configurations suitable for AI server racks. The scale of the operation looks truly vast, with what looks to be hundreds, possibly thousands, of GPUs getting the chop shop treatment.
According to HKEPC, the GPU and VRAM are desoldered and transplanted to a separate PCB ready for cooler transplant. Once converted into an AI server-suitable form factor, the GPUs are then tested on vast arrays of benchmarking rigs, ready to begin their new lives as AI workhorses rather than consumer graphics crunchers.
The horror, the horror, etc. These "grey market" facilities are said to be scattered throughout the country, despite the RTX 5090 not officially being available for sale in China. Nevertheless, this facility looks to be stuffed full of the highly prized GPUs, with skilled technicians pulling them apart for repurposing.
Reports of this sort of activity are nothing new, but this footage showing the scale of a single operation is still unsettling. If facilities like this are hoovering up GPUs and converting them at this sort of rate, it's perhaps no surprise that RTX 5090 consumer cards have become so difficult to find elsewhere.
We've stopped tracking the GPU in recent months on our GPU price watch page, as the only US listings we can find are from third-party sellers for vastly inflated prices. A gaming GPU for $8,000+ simply makes no sense at all, even if it happens to be Nvidia's top-level card for this generation.
And to see them being converted for, shock horror, AI crunching instead of good old gaming purposes? Well, chalk up another way AI server demand is making 2026 a year to forget for consumer PC hardware.
1. Best overall: AMD Radeon RX 9070
2. Best value: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB
3. Best budget: Nvidia RTX 5050
4. Best mid-range: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
5. Best high-end: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090
