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creating a fake 4090 by repurposing 3080/3090 die is nothing new. whats new, however, is that this specific example uses plastic to imitate the silicon die. there is no "glue"/"adhesive" surrounding the silicon.furthermore, the markings are completely incorrect. afaik a "30"… pic.twitter.com/QSFOszlkMt June 17, 2026
As expected, you're receiving a dud for that price, and it's usually a gamble these vendors are willing to take in order to repair the GPU and flip it for profit. Or, in this case, produce educational content for spreading awareness. At first, the PCB inside the graphics card looked normal, but upon closer inspection, the die already had irregular markings. It said it's an "AD102-300-A1" die, which is what the RTX 4090 actually uses.
However, the "TW 3043E2" above it indicates the card was somehow manufactured in 2030, which is not possible unless you're a time traveler. There was no QR code engraved at the corner of the die either. All the componentry surrounding the chip also didn't look authentic, as if it had been replaced. When the technician touched the core, it felt unusually smooth, and, sure enough, it turned out to be plastic; there was no silicon inside.
The VRAM wasn't made out of plastic, which is a real possibility , but all the chips were "scrap" and only put there to fill up the PCB. So, neither the GPU nor the GDDR6X memory was real. Brother Zhang essentially got a $200 paperweight that looks kind of cool if you're a hardware geek. Thankfully, this card didn't belong to any customer, and the fact that it ended up with a repair shop means it can serve as a precautionary tale.
Always remain vigilant when making secondhand purchases, especially for expensive parts like a graphics card. In this day and age, just benchmarking a GPU isn't enough because scammers have been known to swap RTX 4090 dies for RTX 3090 or 3080 silicon. If a deal looks too good to be true, it more than likely is. Unless you can open up the card to check its PCB, make sure to tally the benchmark results with the performance you see for it online.
RTX 4090 sent in for repair turns out to be sophisticated fake with laser-engraved core and VRAM
Modders use jumper wires and a custom BIOS to save a damaged RTX 4090 from the trash
Scammers are selling fake DDR5 with empty plastic chips relabeled to pass as legit
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/scammers-in-china-sell-usd222-rtx-4090-with-fake-gpu-die-made-out-of-plastic-instead-of-real-silicon-marked-with-2030-production-dates-the-card-didnt-even-have-working-vram#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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