Manufacturers artificially limiting their products to maximize profit is nothing new – this works particularly well with integrated memory, be it Apple&s iPads and iPhones or graphics cards. The extra memory costs manufacturers relatively little, but the memory-rich products can be sold for many times this price.
However, there is a way to circumvent these artificial limits – as early as 2021, enthusiasts managed to mod a GPU – a GeForce RTX 3070 was upgraded from 8 GB to 16 GB VRAM by replacing all eight 1 GB chips with 2 GB chips.
Nvidia RTX 4090
In China, a small underground industry has even developed, with experts specializing in retroactively upgrading products. For example, in the legendary Huaqiangbei district in Shenzhen, you can upgrade the memory of iPads or GPUs for little money. Here, for example, is a report about an upgrade of a 6th generation iPad from 32 to 128 GB – for only about 40 euros. This makes particularly good sense with graphics cards, whose VRAM size is crucial for many functions, especially in the field of AI. But manufacturers charge a high price for this VRAM.
Nvidia RTX 4090 with 48 GB VRAM
The currently high demand for GPUs for AI calculations (deep learning, generative AIs) in China created a market for graphics cards with extra memory – further fueled by American sanctions on high-end GPUs in China. Some Chinese companies and modding teams have started to equip GeForce RTX 40 cards with more memory to use them as a cost-effective alternative to expensive professional GPUs like Nvidia&s A100/H100.
Thus, since 2023 there have been upgraded models of the Nvidia RTX 4090, which have been upgraded from the standard 24 GB to 48 GB, or RTX 4080 to 32 GB – these unofficial variants are marketed under names such as “RTX 4090D 48G” or “4080 32G”. These modifications are not officially supported by Nvidia – they are creative solutions from Chinese modders.
Nvidia RTX 4090 with 48 GB
An RTX 4090 with 48 GB can probably match or even surpass the much more expensive RTX A6000 in terms of performance. It would even surpass Nvidia&s extremely expensive top models A100/H100 with 80 GB (which cost over 22,000 or 30,000 euros) in terms of memory – although it has a lower memory bandwidth, large AI models would fit into the VRAM just as they do in the latter.
Nvidia H100 with 80 GB
Nvidia RTX 4090 with 96 GB VRAM
Now severalsources on Twitter have reported that there is a 96 GB Nvidia version – buyers of the 48 GB version are even being offered an upgrade in April/May. How this is done is unclear, as there are officially no 4 GB GDDR6X chips yet (retroactive VRAM upgrades are often simply done by replacing the memory chips with twice as large versions – alternatively by adding additional memory chips). So it will be interesting to see how the Chinese tinkerers managed the upgrade to 96 GB anyway. Even a price has already been rumored; the modded RTX 4090 with 96 GB is said to cost 3,700 dollars, which is a lot of money, but on the other hand, dealers in this country are already charging at least 3,200 euros for the unmodded RTX 4090 with 24 GB.
Nvidia RTX 4090 with 96 GB
Why is VRAM so important?
The size of the VRAM on a GPU determines how much (and how large) data can be held and processed simultaneously in the graphics memory. Especially with computationally intensive applications (e.g., 3D rendering or AI models), large amounts of data and models are necessary. If the VRAM is not sufficient, this data must be constantly exchanged between the GPU and main memory – this significantly slows down performance.
Nvidia RTX 4090 with 48 GB
How does the modding work?
Upgrading the VRAM of an Nvidia graphics card is technically very complex, as the memory is soldered directly onto the board. The conversion requires the selection of compatible VRAM chips, the precise desoldering of the old memory chips, the soldering in of new chips, and an adjustment of the BIOS so that the additional memory is correctly recognized. Finally, extensive tests and possible fine-tuning follow to ensure stable performance.
However, such a retroactive VRAM upgrade also always carries risks. In addition to the loss of the manufacturer&s warranty, it requires specialized equipment and expert knowledge, as even small errors in the soldering or BIOS adjustment process can irreparably damage the card. Compatibility problems can also occur, and stability problems can arise under heavy load or prolonged operation.
So anyone who is envious of the RTX 4090 96 GB should be aware of these risks before embarking on a trip to Shenzhen ;-)
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