Ordered a Used RTX 4090, but the Chips are Plastic Replicas

High-end graphics card scams continue to multiply, and the latest case emerging from China shows an even higher level of sophistication. A purported NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 purchased on the second-hand market for just 1,500 RMB (about 222 dollars) turned out to be completely fake.

The card was analyzed by the Chinese repair specialist channel Brother Zhang, which documented the disassembly of the product. From the start, it was hard to imagine that a GeForce RTX 4090 could genuinely function at such a low price, but the inspection still highlighted a new pattern used by scammers.

The card had markings designed to mimic an NVIDIA AD102-300-A1 GPU, the graphics processor that powers the RTX 4090. However, some details immediately raised suspicions. The date code indicated "30," a reference that would imply production in 2030, a circumstance incompatible with a graphics card already on the market.

The substrate of the chip also displayed evident anomalies. The traditional QR code in the lower-left corner was missing, and the layout of the components around the graphics processor did not match that of a real RTX 4090.

The most surprising aspect emerged during a more in-depth inspection. The alleged GPU die was not made of silicon: instead, there was a simple plastic element onto which false markings had been applied to simulate the graphics chip. The memory modules were also unusable. The alleged GDDR6X memories were actually scrap components placed on the board solely to make the PCB look complete. In fact, the card did not have either a functioning AD102 GPU or any usable memory.

In the past, several cases of counterfeit RTX 4090s have emerged, some lacking the graphics processor and others equipped with modified and remarketed GPUs from GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3080 Ti, or RTX 3090. However, this method takes counterfeiting to almost comical levels: instead of a recycled graphics chip, there was simply a piece of plastic.

Naturally, the suggestion remains unchanged from the past: if the price is too good to be true, especially in the current context, it simply isn’t true. It is still preferable to buy from official channels, even for second-hand products, but if you do venture into the jungle of the used market, pay as much attention as possible – especially if buying from the East.