Getting free gaming hardware, especially an expensive one like the RTX 3060, is rare. However, user LudM on the PCMR subreddit said that he received a Chinese RTX 3060 from the Temu platform for free. Now he is waiting for the rest of the components for his PC to assemble the system and check if it is a genuine RTX 3060 and not a fake.
Chinese online e-commerce platforms are often associated with the sale of fake graphics cards that are advertised as RTX 30 or RTX 40 series models at «impossibly low» prices. Usually, such «cheap» cards turn out to be fakes – in reality, they are old models, such as GTX 650 Ti or GTX 680. However, there are cases when the product corresponds to the declared characteristics.
LudM posted photos of the RTX 3060 he received, which may indicate that the card is genuine (at least it looks genuine). One Reddit user noticed that the card’s components are very similar to the Palit RTX 3060 Dual OC. The video card has an 8-pin auxiliary power connector, three DisplayPort connectors, and one HDMI connector — all of which correspond to the characteristics of the Palit model. Fake cards with older series chips (e.g. GTX 600 or GTX 700) are usually equipped with DVI or VGA connectors.
The comments suggested that the leaked RTX 3060 could be a mobile version of the card. This is also possible, as sometimes desktop graphics cards are bundled with Nvidia mobile GPUs such as the RTX 3060 Mobile. However, several users have warned that the card may contain malware in its firmware that could infect the computer after the system is assembled. This is a real threat, given that the card was sent for free.
According to LudM, he received the RTX 3060 after participating in a sweepstakes advertised by Temu. For several months, he was harassed by Temu ads offering «expensive products at ridiculous prices or even free». After checking, LudM was convinced that these promotions were genuine and decided to participate in the draw, where he won the aforementioned RTX 3060.
Source: tomshardware