NVIDIA's RTX 5090 GPUs Fetch Up to $10,000 on Black Markets as AI Demand Surges in China

Soaring Demand for NVIDIA's RTX 5090 GPUs in China

NVIDIA's latest GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards are experiencing unprecedented demand in China, with prices skyrocketing to as high as $10,000 on black markets and online platforms like eBay. This surge in demand is primarily driven by the cards' effectiveness in running DeepSeek's AI models, creating a situation reminiscent of the crypto-mining boom 1

1

.

DeepSeek's AI Models Fuel GPU Demand

The popularity of DeepSeek's R1 AI models has significantly boosted the demand for NVIDIA's gaming chips in China's underground market. Tech firms have realized they can run these models on consumer GPUs at a fraction of the cost of specialized AI chips 2

2

. This discovery has led to a massive increase in demand for NVIDIA's consumer GPUs, particularly the RTX 50 series.

RTX 5090: A Cost-Effective Alternative to AI Accelerators

The RTX 5090, with its impressive specifications, has become an ideal replacement for more expensive AI accelerators:

• 32GB of ultra-fast GDDR7 memory
• 3,352 AI TOPS (Tensor Operations Per Second)
• 5th Gen Tensor Cores

These features make the RTX 5090 particularly attractive for running AI models like DeepSeek's R1, which has 671 billion parameters 3

3

.

Black Market Prices and Limited Availability

The demand for RTX 5090 GPUs has reached such heights that they are being sold at exorbitant prices on black markets:

• Up to $5,000 in China's black markets
• Between $5,000 and $10,000 on eBay
• Some US sellers pricing between $2,500 and $5,000

Even at these inflated prices, the availability of these cards remains extremely limited 2

2

.

Impact of US Export Restrictions

The situation is further complicated by US export restrictions, which limit China's access to high-end AI chips. As a result, Chinese companies are turning to consumer GPUs like the RTX 5090 as a workaround. China currently only has access to "stripped-down" variants like the GeForce RTX 5090D, which has intensified the demand for the full-fledged RTX 5090 1

1

.

NVIDIA's Competitive Edge

This surge in demand highlights NVIDIA's strong position in the AI computational power market. The company's consumer GPUs offer a significant advantage over competitors due to their high VRAM count and enhanced specifications, making them suitable for both gaming and AI applications 1

1

.

Industry Implications

The current situation draws parallels to the crypto-mining boom of 2020-2021, with similar challenges in purchasing graphics cards directly from retailers. This trend could have far-reaching implications for the AI industry, potentially influencing future GPU designs and market strategies for both NVIDIA and its competitors 2

2

.