- A water-down Nvidia RTX Pro 6000 is still powerful enough to keep China’s AI ambitions alive.
- NVIDIA work -round is not the top level, but it may still flood China’s data centers
- Export rules slow performance, but they cannot stop AI scaling by Chinese CSP
In response to the US export sanctions launched in April 2025, Nvidia is allegedly preparing a special version of its RTX Pro 6000 GPU for the Chinese market.
A report from Trendforce Claims that this new version will switch to the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) slow but more accessible GDDR7.
The switch will allow the chip to follow the new rules that restrict the GPU with HBM-level memory bandwidth or advanced interconnect capabilities, resulting in a scale-down GPU, but there is no shortage of anyone.
Not best, but decent AI is enough for work
RTX Pro 6000 is a powerful chip. Even after being under water, Trendforce It is estimated that its performance will be between NVIDIA’s old L40s and L20 China Edition. It keeps the chip well within the GPU limit that is capable of meaningful AI workload.
What is driving interest, it is not only availability, but ability, even with downgrade. Critics have reported that the cut-down version of a very powerful card is still very capable, especially if it costs higher.
As a result, Chinese cloud service providers (CSPS) are expected to be horizontally scale, more units buy and adapt to large node deployment.
Yes, this approach will be more expensive and consume more power, but it is just a number game – CSPS will need to increase infrastructure investment and manage high power demands. Of course, the negative side is that such workarounds are naturally disabled.
However, if the price per unit is correct, the total performance may still be fulfilled, or even more than the current requirements.
This may not be traditionally the fastest setup, but in a parallel environment, the performance difference may be narrow. That said, Chinese chipmakers such as Huawei and Cambricon are working to fill the gap left by restricted access to top level Nvidia GPUS.
If the special version RTX Pro 6000 is successful, it can delay home adoption of homegron options. If it fails, it can speed up them.
The NVIDIA strategy can help navigate current US restrictions, but it is an open question whether it will be sufficient in the long run.
A weak chip may still be one of the fastest GPUs on the market, and is very powerful to ignore, especially when the line between compliance and capacity is so finely drawn.
