Nvidia could be making a cut-down RTX 4090 GPU – but you won’t be able to buy it
Nvidia has a new version of its RTX 4090 graphics card in the works, which will be significantly shortened somehow, the rumor goes – and the GPU is related to the situation in China.
The alleged RTX 4090 D – with the ‘D’ referring to the Year of the Dragon, most likely, considering that this is a new flavor aimed at the Chinese market – was first reported by Wccftechand then a leak on
As noted by Tom’s hardware, leaker MEGAsizeGPU notes that the RTX 4090 D will reportedly be built around the AD102-250 chip, while the full-fledged RTX 4090 is AD102-300 (and AD102-301). The latest 301 variant indicates a small change, but a shift to a ‘250’ chip obviously suggests this is going to be a seriously cut-down GPU.
Add your own flavor to all this speculation, but the rumor makes sense in light of the US import ban that prevents Nvidia from selling the RTX 4090 (and other heavy AI cards) to China.
What Team Green could do here is create a flagship GPU variant that is just below the performance threshold, blocking cards from export to China, and reducing them by at least 10% or more to be safe.
What we would end up with is a chip with fewer CUDA cores, and possibly overclocking limits as well (to prevent enterprising folks from making up for the core deficit by boosting the clocks via high-performance cooling solutions).
Analysis: Don’t get excited about this theoretical GPU
MEGAsizeGPU doesn’t have any details on the exact specs of this RTX 4090 D, saying nothing has been confirmed yet, so Nvidia could still decide how to play this one. Or of course, it could just be a rumor that will evaporate into thin air, but it seems likely that Nvidia wants to keep sales flowing in a huge area like China.
What Nvidia must ensure, however, is that such an RTX 4090 D does not clash with the upcoming RTX 4080 Super. (Although the graphics card is also only rumored at this point, but it is very strongly rumored and it is possible that this card will be revealed in 2024 – and a potential spot on our list of the best GPUs).
If you’re thinking that the RTX 4090 D could be an attractive purchase, you might want to think again. As the name ‘Dragon’ (and the aforementioned Wccftech report) suggests, this is likely to be a China-only graphics card, and furthermore, it will likely be offered at the same retail price as the RTX 4090.
Again, since you can no longer buy the full-fledged 4090 GPU in China, that makes sense, and Nvidia will be able to charge a premium for the new, more limited flavor – demand is huge for high-end graphics cards right now. (And prices for the RTX 4090 have also skyrocketed outside of China due to inventory pressure created by the glut of inventory shipped to Asia).