someone doubled a five-year-old GPU's memory to 20GB for cheap AI — I wouldn't plug it in

Modders in China are selling RTX 3080s with double the stock VRAM for about $445. Here's the real math on whether that's a shortcut or a way to fry… Aliteq Ravi Malhotra · Hardware Editor

Modded RTX 3080s with VRAM doubled from 10GB to 20GB GDDR6X are selling for roughly $445 in China's secondhand market.

The core specs are unchanged: 8,704 CUDA cores, 320-bit memory bus, ~320W power draw.

There is no manufacturer warranty on the modification, and no DLSS Frame Generation since Ampere doesn't support it.

The card still gets current Nvidia drivers and full CUDA support, so software compatibility isn't the problem — reliability is.

A new RX 9060 XT 16GB at roughly $423–459 gets you an official warranty and modern efficiency for barely more money.

Skip it unless you're already comfortable soldering and RMA-free by choice. The extra 4GB of VRAM over a new 16GB card doesn't offset zero warranty, higher power draw, and older, slower inference…

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