Info [northwest repair] scammers re-lasering gpu and memory to fake a 4090

[gorobei]

4090 board harvested and replaced with 3080 chip with surface sanded and 4090 + mem text lasered on clean surface.

one scammer did a demonstration with post on monitor and then switched cards while the rube looked away to reach for his money.
do not buy cards from anyone you dont know.

 

[Mopetar]

This is nothing new. There were a lot of scammers doing this in the Maxwell and Pascal era and listing the cards on Newegg or other sites. Usually those were for lower-end cards like the 960 or 1050 Ti though.

Always remember, it it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

do not buy cards from anyone you dont know.

My advice: Ebay and paypal have buyer protection. If the numbers on 3Dmark are significantly off, back it goes.

Buying in person in the 2020s = good luck, have fun, don't die. Established Heatware traders are my preferred source for used parts. Great deals, properly cared for, pro level shipping.

This is nothing new.

Swapping soldered components was not really a thing though?

 

[aigomorla]

My advice: Ebay and paypal have buyer protection. If the numbers on 3Dmark are significantly off, back it goes.

Buying in person in the 2020s = good luck, have fun, don't die. Established Heatware traders are my preferred source for used parts. Great deals, properly cared for, pro level shipping.

Swapping soldered components was not really a thing though?

problem is with EBAY its a 50/50. because the seller could counter and say you did it. If you don't have an established account with lots of positive feedback, will will not always take the buyers side like they used to, if the seller is an established seller with a lot of possitive feedback.

And i bet you most of the cores are going to China to feed AI Farms, as its easier to smuggle a gpu core and ram then it is the entire GPU. They make PCB's now for 4090 and 5090 in China, so all you need is the core and ram.

I honestly would not buy a used gpu period at this point as you don't know where its sourced from, unless its a seller with a possitive count in the 5 digits doing data center refurbish. I am still eyeing a RTX PRO 48GB when they start coming off shelf as i know for AI Farms to stay competitive, they need to be on the best hardware, and should be unloading all the AI grade RTX PRO's pretty soon.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

problem is with EBAY its a 50/50. because the seller could counter and say you did it. If you don't have an established account with lots of positive feedback, will will not always take the buyers side like they used to, if the seller is an established seller with a lot of positive feedback.

Good point, it can suck to be a n00b to a marketplace. Caveat emptor is on them though. A highly reputable seller is not going to pull the old switcharoo on you.

I honestly would not buy a used gpu period at this point as you don't know where its sourced from, unless its a seller with a positive count in the 5 digits doing data center refurbish.

I will continue to do biz with members on tech message boards. I consider their for sale trade forums the pinnacle of used marketplaces. Heatware is a great system, as is length of forum membership. Never gone wrong, gotten some killer deals going back to the turn of the century.