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Recently, there's been another cautionary tale highlighting the need for consumers to be vigilant when buying graphics cards, even from well-known retailers like Amazon.
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A customer purchased an RTX 4090 from Amazon and was disappointed to receive a fake one with apparent shipping damage. North West Repair (NWR) shared the incident on their YouTube channel.
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Upon visual inspection, the card showed a giant crack in the PCB and a melted power connector, a recurring issue in RTX 4090 cards.
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Further investigation revealed a fake anti-tamper warranty sticker and overtightened screws. Removing the back cover exposed inadequate heating pad coverage, a fried GPU, and damaged components on the PCB.
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Despite the card's serial number claiming it's an RTX 4090 with 24GB VRAM, the code identified it as an RTX 4080.
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NWR initially mentioned an RTX 4090 laptop GPU in the video, clarifying the mistake in the comments.
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The final verdict from NWR was that the card is a "no fix" due to irreparable damage.
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This incident isn't isolated; we've seen cases of customers ordering graphics cards from Amazon and receiving fakes.
In December 2022, a buyer received a fake RTX 3060 Ti filled with a putty-like substance, and Amazon insisted on receiving the incorrect item before issuing a refund.