Nvidia never saw fit to release a version of its previous generation GeForce RTX 2070 with 16GB of video memory, albeit leaked schematics suggest it had been both possible and planned at some point. Proving the previous, someone took matters into their own hands and punctiliously modded a GeForce RTX 2070 with twice the memory.
It was the aforementioned schematic that prompted the modder, who goes by “VIC-on” on his YouTube channel, to aim the fragile memory-doubling mod. Even better, he posted a video of the entire mod, which is embedded above.
The card shipped with 8GB of GDDR6 memory made by Micron. However, the schematic indicates the GeForce RTX 2070 also supports both 1GB and 2GB of Samsung-brand GDDR6 memory chips. Armed thereupon information, VIC-on tracked down a package of 8 Samsung 2GB GDDR6 memory chips on Aliexpress, paying just over $200.
That is a pricey upgrade, but a mod like this extends beyond the realm of practical and falls squarely into proof-of-concept territory. It’s never like upgrading the RAM on a desktop PC or laptop, either. instead of simply pluck out any modules, VIC-on had to use a heat gun to loosen the particular memory chips surrounding the GPU and pried them off with tweezers.
Before installing the upgraded 2GB Samsung chips he purchased, VIC-on had to relocate a group of resistors on the backside of the computer circuit board, Which meant busting out the hand tool. He then plopped the Samsung chips into place, powered up his PC with the modified card installed, and presumably crossed his fingers off camera.
It booted into Windows without issue. And when he fired up GPU-Z, the utility recognized the 16GB of Samsung GDDR6 memory. So far, so good. Unfortunately, it had been not smooth sailing from there on out.
He tested the modded card with FurMark, a utility that stresses graphics cards. It seemed to run fine, but after exiting, the PC crashed to a black screen. VIC-on notes that this happens after any quiet load is placed on the cardboard, including gameplay.
There is a mess of reasons why this might happen. However, he suspects the culprit is that the BIOS. Specifically, VIC-on surmises the cardboard trips up because the frequency and voltage table within the BIOS doesn’t match up with what’s now installed.
Regardless, VIC-on deserves major props for doing what Nvidia never did, which is double the memory on the GeForce RTX 2070. Even the present generation GeForce RTX 3070 only has 8GB of GDDR6 memory, and he intends on eventually modding one among those also.
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