Chinese workshops strip RTX 5090 cards for AI server parts, leaving US shelves bare
Buyers outside the big AI labs are now paying far more for the card or turning to prebuilt PCs that cost less than the graphics card alone.
A leaked video shows industrial workshops in China taking brand-new GeForce RTX 5090 cards apart to reuse their GB202 chips and GDDR7 memory in blower-style boards for AI servers. The GeForce RTX 5090 is not officially sold in China, so these grey-market conversion lines depend on cards bought elsewhere, and the report says thousands may be processed daily. Nvidia has reportedly halted production of the card and may be shifting silicon toward higher-margin professional GPUs such as the RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell. The result has been near-empty US retail shelves and custom cards starting at $8,500, which has pushed some buyers toward prebuilt gaming PCs that can cost less than the card alone.
Why it matters
For gamers and individual buyers, the effect is practical: the GeForce RTX 5090 is hard to find at retail and the custom versions that remain cost far above its listed price. Reports that Nvidia has halted production suggest the shortage may not ease soon, and the redirected silicon points to professional GPUs as the company's priority. Anyone who wanted the card for personal use now has to weigh waiting, paying a steep premium, or buying a complete system instead.
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