YouTuber der8auer bought «second-hand» an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D chip, which turned out to be a non-working, but very similar imitation. «The processor was purchased on OLX in Romania.
Der8auer decided to buy the product back from the scam victim and made a video explaining how to quickly determine if something is wrong with the processor. first, he tried to check with a multimeter if the processor had any connections on the board, but none were working.
The first sign of counterfeiting was the absence of sealant on the capacitors around the IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader, or «cover»). The unique design of the AM5 chassis allows AMD to place capacitors around it, and on some models they are additionally sealed with a sealant. Of all the Ryzen 7000s, it is only on the X3D series capacitors and is not on other processors. It is also available on Ryzen 9000 generation chips.
On the specific «chip» capacitors were noticeably clean. In addition, the color of the fake 7800X3D’s PCB is more blue than the typical green shade of the real Ryzen 7000 AM5 processor. However, this feature does not apply to the 9000 series, whose boards are also blue. With his professional trained eye, Der8auer also saw that the board is thinner than it should be. These are the external signs of a fake:
- No sealant on the capacitors
- Blue board color instead of green
- Board thickness 0.964 mm instead of 1.308 mm
- Performance of the diffuser of poor quality
- Misaligned labels and incorrect font
As expected, the fake did not work. An enthusiast disassembled it and proved that there was no way it could work, and the design of the product was a fairly diligent, though not flawless, fake. The heat dissipator was specially designed for the fake — its thickenings at the bottom imitate the missing processor crystals. The heat sink was installed on an empty board.
In general, the imitation can be called high quality. At first glance, everything seemed to be in place, even the serial number on the box matched the number of the fake processor. However, the fraudsters did not reproduce every detail perfectly.
The Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor was counterfeited because of great popularity. A thorough inspection with a request for additional photos and comparison with a real chip can help the buyer avoid mistakes. You should also not conduct any negotiations with the seller outside the platform, for example, in messengers.
Source: VideoCardz
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