Almost perfect forgery: Old GPUs on newer graphics cards
A repair specialist received a rather unusual non-functional graphics card for repair: an RTX-3000 GPU was mounted on the board of an RTX 4090.
RTX-3000 GPU with a fake designation for a 4090 and sanded and relabeled memory chips – an elaborate fake.
(Image: Northwestrepair / Screenshot und Bearbeitung: heise medien)
For years, a man from the USA known as “Tony” has been humorously posting videos of his work on his YouTube channel “Northwestrepair”. He primarily repairs graphics cards. However, he recently failed on an order because the card sent to him by a customer simply couldn't work. Presumably with fraudulent intent, someone had placed an RTX-3000 series GPU on the actual board of an Asus RTX-4090 Strix. It is wired differently, and the combination only looks like a functional graphics card.
Even the very experienced Tony, who can also transplant GPUs and memory modules from one card to another – for example, due to a broken board – did not immediately notice the forgery. The card did not display an image, and some measurements on the board showed numerous short circuits. This is often an indication of cards where the GPU and RAM have been removed to be placed on other boards. However, the supposed Strix showed none of the usual signs, such as a discolored board due to excessive heat or adhesive to disguise sloppily mounted chips. However, a small spot of glue and some missing passive components were revealed under the microscope.
Relabeled GPU and memory chips
This also made it clear that the labels on both the GPU and the memory modules do not correspond to the factory state. This is a common practice among fraudsters; they install random chips that are only meant to withstand a fleeting glance. In this case, even the label on the GPU itself had been altered to “AD102-300-A1.” This is the correct designation for an RTX-4090 chip. However, some other components, such as the capacitors on the GPU package, revealed it to be a representative of the 3000 generation. The memory modules had also apparently been sanded down and relabeled for GDDR6X. Tony did not investigate further what was actually hidden under the plastic.
Forgery at graphics card manufacturer is likely
Graphic card forgeries are not new; just over a year ago, supposed 4090s with 3090 GPUs were discovered in China. In the current case, however, the effort involved was particularly high, including, presumably, a laser marker for the GPU. The mounting of the falsified chips is also nearly perfect. As Tony writes in a comment to his video, he is now sure that such work could only be done in a graphics card factory with this quality. He considers it unlikely that a single person could achieve this even with a well-equipped workshop.
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For years, defective gaming graphics cards have been repurposed, for example, to make them usable with new boards for AI data centers. The export restrictions for particularly fast GPUs have created a gray market here. The “quasi-empty“ graphics cards without GPU and RAM – which are the most valuable – are then sometimes also sold. This is immediately noticeable upon disassembly of the cooler, but not in this case, not even by experienced technicians.
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Source allegedly an Amazon return
The fake graphics card was purchased on Ebay from a person who claimed to have received it via a “pallet deal” from Amazon's shipping returns. Even with such statements, all alarm bells should ring. Professional dealers who buy Amazon returns in large quantities usually sort out particularly valuable goods like smartphones and graphics cards before they end up in “mystery vending machines”. And Amazon also sells returns of valuable goods itself. It is highly unlikely that a graphics card costing around two thousand euros – which a good RTX-4090 can still fetch today – would end up in a “pallet deal”. Especially since the card is no longer manufactured.
To protect yourself from such perfidious fakes, the only option is to buy devices like graphics cards from trustworthy sources. New Ebay accounts and sellers who insist on advance payment or payment as “Family and Friends“ via Paypal are always warning signs. If an offer looks too good to be true, it typically is.
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