Nvidia Develops RTX 5090 DD: A New GPU Variant for China Amid Export Restrictions

Nvidia planning new RTX 5090 'DD' variant for China -- 24GB card with tweaked GPU latest attempt to comply with strict export restrictions

Reported specifications suggest a 25% cutback in GPU bandwidth. It appears the recent U.S. export restrictions, initially targeting H20 accelerators, have now been extended to Nvidia's consumer-grade RTX 5090D for China. As such, the company is reportedly developing a further cut-down option, the RTX 5090DD, as an alternative. Reported details from MEGAsizeGPU and specifications by Kopite indicate a significant reduction in GPU bandwidth, which is a trend that might extend to other finer aspects as well, like ROP counts and AI TOPs. Last month, reports alleged that Nvidia is halting deliveries of its RTX 5090D GPUs to China, following the recent ban on the export of its H20 chips. Washington's primary concern stemmed from the potential of these GPUs, particularly their high GPU bandwidth, to be used in China's supercomputing efforts. On the server side, Nvidia is reportedly pivoting to a Blackwell-based design with GDDR7 memory as the successor to the H20, though specific details remain under wraps. The RTX 5090D launched just before the Chinese New Year, with 'D' referring to last year's 'Dragon' Chinese Zodiac. However, with the current year being the Year of the Snake, the RTX 5090DD's naming feels a bit behind the times, perhaps an RTX 5090DS would've been a better fit, but I digress. Kopite claims the RTX 5090DD will feature the PG145 board as a reference design for board partners, as opposed to Nvidia's compact PCB (PG144A) for its FE (Founders Edition) class models. Specifications-wise, according to the leak, we're looking at the GB202-240 chip, a tier below GB202-250 that was found on the original RTX 5090D. The core count remains similar, at 21,760 CUDA cores, or 170 Streaming Multiprocessors. The memory-bus width takes a significant hit, shrinking from 512 bits to a 384-bit interface. This reduction also slashes the available memory from 32GB to 24GB, and consequently also lowers the GPU bandwidth to 1344 GB/s, 25% slower than the original RTX 5090 and RTX 5090D. The TDP remains similar at 575W, with power likely to be supplied by the same 12V-2x6 connector. The leaker suggests a 'surprise', likely hinting at further cutbacks on other hardware specifications, such as ROP units or AI TOPs (probably via firmware). We'll wait for the official announcement or reviews for further details on pricing and performance.

Nvidia could have a new take on its fastest GPU that will reportedly pack a 'surprise' - but I wouldn't get your hopes up

A leaker says it'll pack a 'surprise', but the truth could be more mundane Nvidia is rumored to be planning a new variant on its Blackwell flagship graphics card, potentially an RTX 5090 DD model - and it could come with a 'surprise' according to one leaker. Tom's Hardware flagged up two separate mentions of this potential GPU (add seasoning with all this) on X, the first of which came from MEGAsizeGPU, who mentioned the RTX 5090 DD and how it will be for China only. So, the theory is that this is a follow-up to the RTX 5090 D (single D, not double D) for China, a different spin on the standard Blackwell flagship which was produced for that country to get around US export regulations. Except the goalposts on those restrictions have been moved, and now rule out the RTX 5090 D itself as too powerful (for AI usage) to be shipped to China. It looks like the idea now is to further cut down the graphics card to again make it feasible to supply to Asia, and call it the RTX 5090 DD. The purported cut-down specs were supplied by another regular on the GPU leaking scene on X, Kopite7kimi, as you can see below. The key changes are a slightly lower-tier GPU chip (GB202-240, rather than GB202-250 as seen in the original 5090 D), and the video RAM has been dropped to 24GB with a narrower 384-bit memory bus. That means a 25% hit on the memory bandwidth compared to the RTX 5090 D, but the core count and TDP remain the same (the latter is interesting, and I'll return to why shortly). Tom's Hardware takes it as read that these two rumors are fully aligned - and they are from what we can see spec-wise - but note that Kopite7kimi has a question mark heading up their post on X, which begins: 'RTX 5090 DD?' However, this is likely referring to questioning the name, and whether this will really be called the RTX 5090 DD, rather than doubting whether this is actually a new spin on a China-only graphics card. Although we should never take anything for granted from the rumor mill, and maybe the latter could be the case. At any rate, the most intriguing bit here is Kopite7kimi's mention of a "surprise" from Nvidia with this GPU. When it comes to the name, yes, making it 'DD' sounds rather implausible, but remember - this is the company that brought you the RTX 4070 Ti Super graphics cards (and similarly clunky bouts of unimaginativeness in the past besides). As mentioned, the surprise is what we really want to know about, and Kopite7kimi doesn't elaborate on what that might be with any kind of a vague hint, even. So, we're left to guess on that score. Tom's Hardware theorizes that the surprise could be further cut-backs to the AI powers of the graphics card delivered via the firmware, and that sounds entirely possible. But equally it sounds entirely dull, and the way the leaker teases that "there's a surprise" feels like it's phrased to stoke a bit of excitement here. A minor chop to AI capabilities hardly qualifies in that respect, but what else could Nvidia possibly have up its sleeve here? For me, this hints that Nvidia is planning a move like cutting the price of the RTX 5090 DD. Or perhaps, most excitingly, offering it outside of China, too? Yeah, okay, that seems unlikely (although as noted, with that question mark, it could be that Kopite7kimi isn't fully sure this is the mentioned Chinese variant). Perhaps more realistically, we could be looking at a fair old bump in clock speeds (hence the TDP staying the same, with the spec being cut down in some key areas). Hopefully, we'll find out soon enough what Nvidia might be up to here, if anything, as this could all turn out to be so much smoke from the rumor mill (or plans from Team Green that never come to fruition).

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 DD teased, more than a handful in terms of GPU performance

NVIDIA reportedly working on a new GeForce RTX 5090DD for China with 24GB GDDR7 memory at 28Gbps, 575W TDP, same GPU core count as RTX 5090. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. TweakTown may also earn commissions from other affiliate partners at no extra cost to you. NVIDIA is reportedly working on another custom GPU for the Chinese markets, with rumors pointing to a GeForce RTX 5090DD -- replacing the RTX 5090D which is under a "full sales ban" in the country. In a new post on X by leaker @MEGAsizeGPU we're hearing that NVIDIA is preparing a GeForce RTX 5090DD with the same GPU core count with 21760 CUDA cores and the tweaked GB202-240-K-A1 GPU. In a follow up post, leaker @kopite7kimi noted that but the memory is scaled down to 24GB (down from 32GB on the RTX 5090) on a 384-bit memory bus clocked at 28Gbps and the same 575W TDP but the leaker teases "and there's a surprise". NVIDIA launched its cut-down GeForce RTX 5090 back in January 2025, tweaked to meet US export controls, but its AI TOPs power was sliced down, but the GPU retained its same GB202 GPU with 21760 CUDA cores and 32GB of GDDR7 memory. This new RTX 5090DD has the VRAM cut down from 32GB to 24GB, a big difference, but retains all of its gaming power. The original RTX 5090D featured the GB202-250 GPU, the RTX 5090 uses the GB202-300, while the new RTX 5090DD uses a newer GB202-240 GPU. We should expect the new RTX 5090DD to use a newer PCB design -- PG145 SKU 40 -- which is required because of the changes to the VRAM and GPU layout.