A nightmarish situation unfolded when an Amazon customer purchased what was believed to be an RTX 4090 graphics card requiring repairs, only to discover, upon examination by graphics repair expert and YouTuber North West Repair, that the $2,000 card was actually a Frankenstein creation—a mishmash of components from an RTX 4080. The Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090, supposedly the pinnacle of graphics cards, turned out to be severely damaged and tampered with.
The customer sent the GPU to North West Repair for repairs, citing “shipping damage.” However, the issues went beyond what could occur during shipping. The inspection revealed a cracked PCB, a melted power connector, and suspicious signs, such as overly tight screws and a fake anti-tamper sticker. Upon removing the heatsink and exposing the PCB, it was discovered that the GPU, which was supposed to house an AD102 chip, actually contained an AD103 chip typically found in a desktop RTX 4080. The PCB itself exhibited multiple problems, including missing memory cooling pads and sections that were fried.
The customer had initially purchased the purported RTX 4090 through a pallet deal from Amazon Returns, thinking it had suffered shipping damage. However, the reality was far worse—a concoction of RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 components with numerous melted or cracked parts.
While it remains unclear if more of these hybrid GPUs are available for sale, caution is advised when shopping for graphics cards on Amazon. Customers are urged to avoid purchasing returns and to ensure that the GPU is either sold directly by Amazon or by reputable sources like Asus or MSI. The incident highlights the prevalence of scams on Amazon, with sellers offering seemingly great deals on GPUs or CPUs but failing to deliver the promised items or sending subpar substitutes.
This episode is reminiscent of previous instances during the GPU shortage where improvised GPUs, such as repurposed RTX 3080 Ti mobile or RTX 3070 Ti mobile chips turned into desktop cards, were not uncommon. However, the situation with this misrepresented “RTX 4090” surpasses previous instances, rendering the GPU unusable and leaving the buyer with a hefty price tag for an experiment gone awry.