A GeForce RTX 2080 Ti with 22 GB of Memory Has Appeared on eBay

The rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies worldwide and growing interest in various neural networks are driving the emergence of specialized hardware solutions. According to ixbt.com, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics cards with doubled memory capacity and 22 GB of video memory have gone on sale in an eBay online auction. A Hong Kong seller is offering these modified accelerators for just $500. This was reported by Ixbt.com reports .

Experts believe that devices with this type of modification are primarily designed to run large language models (LLMs) and perform artificial intelligence tasks. In such workloads, memory capacity is more important than maximum computing power. As a result, the combination of a $500 price and ample memory makes these older models considerably more attractive than newer graphics cards with 8, 12, or 16 GB of memory.

Specifications of the Modified Cards

The seller ships buyers various RTX 2080 Ti configurations produced under well-known brands such as Gigabyte, MSI, ASUS, Leadtek, and others. All of them feature cooling systems with centrifugal (blower-style) fans. Based on reviews on the eBay platform, dozens of buyers have already received these accelerators and confirmed that the operating system correctly detects the memory capacity and that the cards perform at the advertised level.

Amid the ongoing artificial intelligence boom, such offers are attracting the attention of specialists and enthusiasts. For comparison, the NVIDIA Titan RTX with 24 GB of memory costs around $800, while the Quadro RTX 6000 is priced at nearly $900. The GeForce RTX 3090 with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory may cost buyers almost $1,200.

Architecture and Risks

Although the Turing architecture was first introduced in 2018, graphics cards from this generation have not lost their relevance. Artificially increasing the memory capacity is giving older GeForce RTX 2080 Ti models a second life of sorts. While this approach may seem convenient for building budget artificial intelligence workstations, it is important to remember that these are unofficial hardware modifications.

Such graphics cards do not have a factory warranty from NVIDIA or its official partners. Their reliability and service life depend directly on the quality of the refurbishment work, creating a certain level of risk for buyers.