Der8auer takes TITAN ADA apart
Der8auer has an interesting graphics card related video almost every Sunday, and this weekend was no exception. Roman takes a closer look at the TITAN Ada prototype, a graphics card we have covered on this site extensively , despite it never being official. Multiple leaks from various sources, showing coolers, PCBs, and other unofficial material, have now led to a full teardown of a working prototype. As far as we know, Der8auer has one of the few confirmed working TITAN Ada cards, based on the AD102 GPU, that never reached retail.
In earlier videos, he benchmarked the card against GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 5090, then followed up with a look at NVIDIA’s custom power adapter. The adapter converts six 8-pin PCIe plugs into dual 12VHPWR inputs and was presented as a 900 W design for this prototype.
Source: Der8auer
TITAN ADA Prototype Specs
- CUDA Cores : 18432
- Memory : 48GB GDDR6X
- Power : 2x 12V-2×6 connector, special 6x 8pin to dual 12V-2×6 power adapter (up to 900W)
- Design :
- Cooler: Quad-slot & Triple-Fan
- Display Outputs: 3x DP + 1x HDMI
- PCB: 90° angled PCB design
This time, Roman finally takes the card apart. The cooler is a quad-slot class design with a full metal exterior, and the I/O matches the Founders Edition style layout with three DisplayPort outputs and a single HDMI. He also points out small details that suggest it has been opened before, including mixed screw types on the I/O side and signs of wear on a few fasteners.
After removing the outer pieces, he compares what he sees to the RTX 4090 Ti prototype teardown from Gamers Nexus , noting that the TITAN Ada’s backplate assembly uses extra heat pipes and a different surface finish than the other prototype.
Source: Der8auer
The teardown also confirms how unusual the internal layout is. The mai n PCB that carries the GPU and memory sits parallel to the motherboard, while a separate PCIe PCB handles the slot interface and links to the main board. Once the core PCB is out, the memory layout becomes clear: 12 GDDR6X packages on the front and 12 on the back, for 24 total ICs and 48 GB capacity.
Power delivery is also handled in an uncommon way, with contact pads and solid copper conductors integrated into the cooler, feeding the dual 12VHPWR inputs rather than using a traditional connector mounted directly on the main PCB. Roman reassembles the card at the end and confirms it still outputs a display signal.
Source: Der8auer
The timing is also interesting because NVIDIA’s recent driver support changes have pushed older Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta GPUs into legacy status, which affects most GeForce-branded TITAN models from that era. TITAN RTX, based on Turing, remains the last TITAN still on the current Game Ready track.
Source: Der8auer
As a quick recap, the TITAN Ada prototype is widely reported as a full AD102 configuration with 18,432 CUDA cores and 48 GB of GDDR6X, which lines up with what Der8auer has shown on camera. With that spec, it would have sat uncomfortably close to NVIDIA’s workstation stack, while also demanding top-bin silicon and a costly mechanical design, which helps explain why it never became an official product. It was just too powerful and too close (or faster) to RTX 6000 Ada, one might think.
Source: NVIDIA
Worth adding that NVIDIA confirmed this design in a promotional video when they discussed the double flow-through design for its RTX 5090 Founders Edition. These images match perfectly with what Der8auer has shown here.
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