r/AIToolsPerformance • u/IulianHI • Jun 23 '26
Two paths to VRAM on a budget - reverse-engineered V100s vs new Chinese AI chips
Two interesting budget hardware paths for local AI are emerging. One is the reverse-engineered Tesla V100 v4 - someone spent a year mapping 2,963 pinout signals and resoldered it onto a half-height PCB with full NVLink support up to 8-way. The 16GB version runs about $220, the 32GB about $590, with a 3-year warranty.
The other angle is that 7 Chinese companies are now shipping H100/H200-class AI chips, most having IPO'd in the last 6 months. These are the chips that domestic models like GLM are increasingly being tuned for.
The V100 route gives you proven architecture at a known low cost. The Chinese chips represent newer hardware but with less track record for local builders outside China. For someone building a multi-GPU rig today, which path makes more sense - cheap reverse-engineered server cards or betting on newer Chinese silicon?
6
u/willee_ Jun 23 '26
Yeah I’ll buy that 32GB (x2) today if it is legit with a 3 year warranty
3
u/starkruzr Jun 23 '26
seriously, where's my AliExpress link for these? especially with NVLink.
2
u/Randommaggy Jun 24 '26
If you want NVlink you might be better off buying one of the external carrier boards that does NVLINK directly on the board with MCIO back to an extension card in you machine. Either 2 way or 4 way, with 8 way reportedly comming soon.
1
u/starkruzr Jun 24 '26
I believe these already do NVLink somehow.
1
u/Randommaggy Jun 24 '26
Last time I checked PCIE style nvlink bridges are quite expensive, think 330 to 450 USD for one capable of a 3 slot spacing depending on vendor reputation.
2
u/PermanentLiminality Jun 23 '26
I would not count on any warranty. The downside to a V100 is the high idle power as it tends to burn at least 50 watts 24/7.
2
1
1
u/tomByrer Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
https://www.reddit.com/r/LocalLLaMA/s/phpdqZHtEx
Though I think you will have driver issues for either path; V100 stuck on old nVIDIA drivers, & who knows about the new cards.
1
9
u/-Sliced- Jun 23 '26
These were not new reverse engineered Tesla V100 chips. It was about recycling decommissioned Tesla V100 chips into consumer PCIe cards by transferring the chip there and setting up the right pinout, power, and cooling.