Chinese hackers reverse-engineer NVIDIA Tesla V100, create V100 v4 with NVLink
After a year, a $590 32GB V100 clone with 8-way NVLink hits the market.
Deep Dive
Chinese hackers reverse-engineered NVIDIA's Tesla V100, decoding all 2,963 pin signals over a year. They built a custom half-height PCB with full NVLink support (up to 8-way) and named it Tesla V100 v4. Pricing: 16GB at $220, 32GB at $590, with a 3-year warranty. NVLink adapters cost $29–$118. The hacker's op: https://t.bilibili.com/1211458176581369862 The engineer: https://space.bilibili.com/1560089206
Key Points
- Decoded all 2,963 pin signals from the Tesla V100 over a 1-year reverse-engineering effort.
- Custom half-height PCB with full NVLink support, enabling up to 8-way GPU scaling.
- 16GB version at $220 and 32GB at $590, both with a 3-year warranty—a fraction of NVIDIA's price.
Why It Matters
Democratizes high-end GPU computing with $220 V100 clones, challenging NVIDIA's pricing and control.