It seems that the GPU might need been despatched to a type of Chinese language Labs, the place they rip the GPU and VRAM chips from the RTX 5090s.
Redditor Orders MSI RTX 5090 Ventus 3X From Amazon however Finds No Tamper Seal; Additional Investigation Revealed Ripped GPU Chip and VRAM From the PCB
As soon as once more, we’re witnessing the availability of Pretend GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs. It should not be stunning since we’ve got seen and reported such fraud a number of instances, however this one seems considerably acquainted with what we reported not too long ago. The GeForce RTX 5090 has an enormous demand, significantly for AI in Chinese language markets. As a consequence of an official ban within the nation, the one method the GPU will get there’s by smuggling.
This Redditor appears to be a sufferer of such fraud, as his GPU did not have the parts, that are often ripped from the PCB in China. Reddit person u/Good-Display-4193 says that he purchased a model new GPU from Amazon FR, “offered and shipped by Amazon”, not simply by any third-party vendor. Nevertheless, he turned skeptical when he noticed no tamper seal on one of many screws on the again. This implies the GPU was opened earlier than.
The person nonetheless tried to provide it a go earlier than investigating additional and reported a non-operational state of the GPU. He additionally states that the PCIe gold finger was trying boring and used. Utilizing a flashlight, he was in a position to peek beneath the heatsink to search out no reminiscence chips underneath the thermal pads. So, after the disassembly, it was confirmed that not solely was it lacking the reminiscence chips, however your entire GPU substrate was gone as properly. What remained have been simply the soldering factors on the PCB.
This can be a traditional fraud, which might be linked to the Chinese language labs the place 1000’s of RTX 5090 go underneath transformation. They take away the GPU die and the VRAM chips to solder on one other customized PCB for deployment within the AI servers. It seems that the empty GPU was despatched again within the provide chain cleverly, and ended up with the Reddit person. So, apparently, not even the GPUs, that are offered and shipped by Amazon, are secure from such fraud, however it additionally exhibits how widespread it’s.
The GeForce RTX 5090 reportedly would not have any issues in being smuggled to China, and whereas it is one factor to see RTX 5090 being transformed into AI GPUs, it is even a extra significant issue to see faux RTX 5090s getting again into the availability chain.
Information Supply: Reddit
