Nvidia lists RTX 5880 Ada GPU, presumably a downgraded replacement for the RTX 6000 Ada in China

Nvidia's latest Version R535 U9 driver (537.99) for professional graphics cards lists an unannounced RTX 5880 Ada Generation graphics card, as noticed by HXL. Given the fact that the model number of the product is so close to the flagship RTX 5880 Ada Generation board for professional visualization, it's reasonable to speculate that this is based on the AD102 GPU, but with reduced performance.

As Nvidia can no longer ship high-performance AD102-based graphics cards to China due to the latest U.S. export rules, a logical assumption would be that the RTX 5880 Ada is a cut-down version of the RTX 6000 Ada specifically tailored for the Chinese market. However, it may not be the case as Nvidia hasn't commented on the matter, and . The R535 U9 driver with the RTX 5880 Ada is available both from Nvidia China and Nvidia Global websites.

Based on the AD102 GPU with 18,176 CUDA cores and 48 GB of 384-bit GDDR6 memory, Nvidia's RTX 6000 Ada Generation graphics card is extremely powerful and its shipments to China are now restricted (though it's still listed at Nvidia's Chinese website). Meanwhile, the company's second most powerful graphics board for professional visualization market is the RTX 5000 Ada Generation board — an AD102-powered product with 12,800 CUDA cores with 32 GB of 256-bit GDDR6 memory.

The gap between the range-topping RTX 6000 Ada, which sells for $6,800, and the second-best RTX 5000 Ada, which has an MSRP of $4,000, is perhaps just a bit too wide for Nvidia to leave it unfilled, so the RTX 5880 Ada Generation could be that filler not only for the Chinese market, but for the global market as well.

For now, neither Nvidia's global nor the company's Chinese websites list the RTX 5880 Ada Generation graphics card. You can see the above specifications, and pay particular note to the "Total Processing Power" (TPP) and "Performance Density" (PD) rows. Those are key elements in the latest U.S. export restrictions. Any GPU with more than a 4,800 TPP score is now subject to export controls, and the RTX 6000 Ada obviously falls into that category with a TPP of 5,828.

The second aspect of the restrictions, PD, doesn't come into play as these are not technically data center parts. However, it's interesting to note that if the regulations were to change and begin considering that factor — because the U.S. Department of Commerce clearly isn't done tweaking its rules — the RTX 4500 Ada and above all have a PD rating of more than 6.0.

We don't have any detailed specifications for the RTX 5880 Ada yet, so for now we can only wonder whether this is a China-only device, or a product that will sit between the RTX 5000 Ada and the RTX 6000 Ada. Either way, Nvidia is preparing to release yet another AD102-based ProViz graphics board.