China Gets an Exclusive Nvidia RTX 4090 D; Here’s How It’s Different
Dec. 30, 2023RTX 4090 is the best graphics card from Nvidia and also themost performant. However,it was so powerfulthat it was part ofbanned GPUs in China(and several other countries) due to recently imposed sanctions by the Biden-led US government. To counter just that Nvidia has launched an exclusiveRTX 4090 Din China. Here is what is different about this new GPU, including a specification comparison to the earlier banned model.
NVIDIA Launches GeForce RTX 4090 D for China
To catch you up, the US had imposed sanctions on many countries to limit their innovation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) essentially. When Nvidia’s best graphics card got banned in China, we first heard news of an ‘RTX 4090 D‘coming to the country.
Despite the ban, it was found that thousands of RTX 4090s were received in various China-based factories fordisassembly & repurposing into fresh GPUswith new coolers.
“The GeForce RTX 4090 D has been designed to fully comply with U.S. government export controls. While developing this product, we extensively engaged with the U.S. government,” – NVIDIA Spokesperson told Reuters
On the officialChina websiteof Nvidia, the newRTX 4090 Dmodel has replaced the previous model. Many gamers in China will be quite happy about this video card’s existence. With RTX 4090 D on the market, gamers can still purchase the high-end Nvidia GPU, albeit withslightly lower performance.
Comparing the RTX 4090 D vs 4090, we can see the CUDA core count has been reduced by 10.9%, and peak GPU power has been reduced by 5.8%. These are quite minor nerfs to anextreme performancegraphics card.
Essentially, as far as gaming goes, RTX 4090 D is just as capable. The 5% difference in performance should not affect things much. However, the most disappointing thing is no support forGPU overclocking. These high-end cards are usually unlocked for tweaking. But reportedly,RTX 4090 Dis locked on the hardware level and cannot be overclocked at all.
Nvidia has also shared performance comparisons against the RTX 3090 Ti. When using DLSS frame generation, RTX 4090 D is up to 3.5X faster in Alan Wake 2 (4K, Ray-Tracing on). This new model is Nvidia’s attempt at releasing their top-end graphics card, which flies right under the radar of US sanctions. It isn’t too powerful to break them, and it cannot be overclocked manually, either.
The RTX 4090 D will costCNY 12,999, which is equal to$1830. For now, RTX 4090 D has launched in China. Many other countries were included as part of US Sanctions. So, Nvidia could launch this GPU in those countries as well. This price is pretty much the same as the launch price of RTX 4090 in China.
What are your thoughts on the RTX 4090 D? Do you think the slight nerf to its specifications is acceptable? Let us know in the comments below.
Highly passionate about technology. Major expertise in PC hardware, the VR industry, esports-centric gear, and other gadgets. In my spare time, I’m usually researching exciting hardware breakthroughs or playing competitive games.
