Completely counterfeit AMD CPUs discovered – only the chips are missing
A German YouTuber from Romania received a non-functional AMD Ryzen 7800X3D. The almost perfect imitation only ends under the heatspreader.
Glue instead of this – the new generation of CPU counterfeits is barely recognizable, at least on the outside.
(Image: Roman "8auer" Hartung, Screenshot und Bearbeitung: heise online)
The quality of counterfeit processors has reached a new dimension: counterfeiters are now replicating the entire product except for the silicon. In August 2024, a viewer of the renowned hardware channel "der8auer" contacted its operator Roman Hartung because he had purchased a supposed AMD processor on a Romanian platform for private sales. However, once it was installed, the motherboard did not start. All attempts to rectify the error failed, so Hartung bought the chip from the person concerned for the price of a new 7800X3D for more detailed analysis.
Hartung is regarded as one of the world's best overclockers and has been developing accessory products for all kinds of hardware for years, including devices that allow the heat spreader of a CPU to be removed without risk. It quickly became clear that the metal cover was only covered with adhesive to hold it in place on the circuit board of the CPU fake. Unlike previous counterfeits, this was not a relabeled processor of inferior quality, where the labeling of a cheaper product had simply been replaced with that of a more expensive CPU.
Perfectly imitated packaging
The counterfeiters also messed up the labeling, which is not in the same places as the original and uses a slightly different font in one line. The circuit board also has oddities that are more or less noticeable. The color differs slightly from a real Ryzen 7000 and the SMD capacitors are not secured with adhesive against damage. When sellers use pictures of real processors in online ads, this is also not apparent. Just like the fact that the fake, with a PCB thickness of less than one millimeter, is much thinner than the approximately 1.3 millimeters of the real Ryzen. However, this is only noticeable during installation because the processor socket bracket is much easier to close.
The fraudsters obviously put more effort into the packaging, which looks like the original in terms of printing, colors and features in the video images. Even the serial number on the seal is the same as on the Ryzen fake. The counterfeiters apparently had the box, the heat spreader and the circuit board manufactured very professionally. This suggests that a group with large technical and financial resources is at work here, producing such fakes in series.
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While great caution is generally required in the case of private sales where the product is not directly visible, the quality of this counterfeit may be on a larger scale. Fake CPUs have already been offered by large platforms such as Amazon. Although this offers the buyer a certain degree of protection, it ultimately does not save them from trouble. In the future, retailers should also be doubly careful where they source their goods from. The exchange of individual products in bulk packaging on their way through the supply chain has already happened. Now that the packaging is also being deceptively counterfeited, incoming goods inspections will be even more difficult.
(nie)
