Tech experts recently discovered a completely fake AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor that fooled a customer who bought it from Amazon. The counterfeit chip looked real from the outside but contained no actual computer parts inside.
Gamers Nexus investigated the suspicious processor after a user reported problems with their purchase. The team noticed several red flags right away. The heat spreader had different fonts and markings compared to genuine chips. The substrate showed a different color and had larger cutouts than real processors.
The investigators decided to remove the heat spreader to see what lay underneath. They heated the chip to 160 degrees and carefully took off the top metal piece. What they found shocked them - absolutely nothing was inside.
A real Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor contains multiple chiplets that handle computing tasks. This fake version had zero chiplets and no solder connections on the circuit board. The scammers basically created an empty shell that looked convincing from the outside.
The fake processor showed clear differences when compared side by side with authentic chips. Capacitors were positioned wrong and the serial numbers did not match the packaging. These scams remain extremely rare though. Major retailers sell thousands of these processors daily with only a handful of fake reports surfacing online.
Gamers Nexus investigated the suspicious processor after a user reported problems with their purchase. The team noticed several red flags right away. The heat spreader had different fonts and markings compared to genuine chips. The substrate showed a different color and had larger cutouts than real processors.
The investigators decided to remove the heat spreader to see what lay underneath. They heated the chip to 160 degrees and carefully took off the top metal piece. What they found shocked them - absolutely nothing was inside.
A real Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor contains multiple chiplets that handle computing tasks. This fake version had zero chiplets and no solder connections on the circuit board. The scammers basically created an empty shell that looked convincing from the outside.
The fake processor showed clear differences when compared side by side with authentic chips. Capacitors were positioned wrong and the serial numbers did not match the packaging. These scams remain extremely rare though. Major retailers sell thousands of these processors daily with only a handful of fake reports surfacing online.
