Overview
- Hardware technicians and social media posts in mid‑June uncovered an ASUS GeForce RTX 4090 whose GPU die was a plastic shell and whose GDDR6X memory chips were nonfunctional scrap.
- Inspectors found deliberate falsification: etched but wrong markings, an impossible ‘2030’ manufacture code, a missing QR code, and misplaced capacitors that betrayed the fake assembly.
- Scammers appear to glue fake components onto PCBs to make cards look authentic and list them on online marketplaces at implausibly low prices, for example about 1,500 yuan (roughly $220).
- Reporters and repair technicians warn buyers to verify performance against known benchmarks, compare photos of real boards, and avoid deals that are far cheaper than market value because visual checks often require opening the card.
- Experts link the tactic to high component costs and strong GPU demand for gaming and AI work, note that enforcement has been intermittent, and say counterfeit methods are evolving so buyer education and marketplace vigilance are the main defenses.