In the current climate, graphics cards are sought after not just by gamers but also by companies engaged in artificial intelligence algorithms. As specialized graphic accelerators are astoundingly expensive and insufficient to meet the growing demand, savvy entrepreneurs have started modifying standard old gaming video cards for AI tasks.
According to VideoCardz portal, numerous trading platforms host listings for the flagship GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Turing generation graphics cards, modified to increase their video memory from the standard 11GB to 22GB — specifically designed to cater to AI needs. Such offerings can be found not just on Chinese platforms, but also on American trading platform eBay, each modified card costing $500.
The process for upgrading the memory of graphics cards is relatively straightforward, particularly for models that have previously undergone such modifications by enthusiasts. The necessary steps include acquiring suitable GDDR memory chips and creating shortcuts on the card’s circuit board to trick the GPU into supporting higher levels of video memory. In some cases, modifications to the card’s BIOS might also be required. Such modifications can result in strange behaviour when playing games, but this doesn’t impact the enhanced computational performance for AI tasks.
According to one of the sellers of such modified GeForce RTX 2080 Ti with 22GB memory, the card does not require special software and works with regular official drivers, even in games.
The US-based company offering these modified cards on eBay claims, “this is the best available alternative to the RTX 3090 model at 1/3 of its cost” considering its intended use. The seller also affirms that these cards have been tested in several popular AI models, such as Stable Diffusion and LLAMA2, where they have demonstrated high performance. Typically, the cards are fitted with a simple tangential fan cooling system.
The source of these cards remains a mystery, although it is probable that they come from the same place where special cards for mining are converted into affordable gaming solutions.
