Since the US imposition of sanctions prohibiting the sale of high-performance GPUs to China, indigenous manufacturers have taken it upon themselves to mitigate these limitations by modifying existing solutions. One of the results of these modding endeavors is an RTX 4090 with 48GB of GDDR6X memory, which is now becoming commonplace among local circles. Russian YouTuber Мой Компьютер (My Computer) obtained a blower-style edition RTX 4090 48GB, later taking it apart to examine the PCB among other design features.
Эта карта лучше RTX 5090 | Обзор RTX 4090 на 48 ГБ | Сколько памяти нужно играм в 2025? – YouTube
Both the RTX 4090 and RTX 3090 Ti’s PCBs carry 12 available memory slots, which equate to 24GB of VRAM with one 16Gb IC populating each slot, and that’s not the configuration we’re looking for. The base RTX 3090, on the other hand, offers 24 memory slots (12 on each side of the PCB), suggesting a modified version of it could be used as a foundation here. It’s hard to be certain, however. Either way, the RTX 4090 48GB we’re examining today features a board design that strongly resembles RTX 30 series PCBs.
Matching the cooler’s design, the YouTuber links this card to Peladin, a Chinese mini-PC/GPU manufacturer. The reviewer asserts the GPU’s PCB is well-designed, with robust VRMs, and the added memory on the backside is covered with high-quality thermal pads and a backplate to keep temperatures in check. Unlike workstation-grade RTX 6000/5880 Ada GPUs, which stick with GDDR6, this RTX 4090 is equipped with GDDR6X memory, which is faster but also runs hotter.
Surprisingly, the GPU was recognized in Windows, and you can even use traditional GeForce drivers instead of relying on potentially risky third-party options. The YouTuber mentions a breach at Nvidia where hackers obtained internal tools, including MATS and MODS. Modders can employ these utilities to modify VRAM, disable non-working channels, and even flash new volumes on the GPU’s firmware without violating any checksums or digital signatures.