4090's being sold from China containing no GPU

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Lakados

[H]F Junkie
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Feb 3, 2014
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https://www.pcgamer.com/reports-of-...-china-without-gpus-scares-the-heck-out-of-me

So a while back it was news that Chinese AIBs were stripping the AD102s from 4090's to repackage them on server cards to sell them to the data centers, no big deal.
So what happened to all those 4090s that now no longer have their GPU dies or GDDR modules?
Looks like they are now up for sale on eBay and the like, they just aren't telling people that the cards no longer contain their most valuable bits.
 
Not sure how far these sellers think they'll get selling a GPU that won't work the moment it turns on? Unless the sellers in China don't have a return policy, or the buyers bought them at one of those kiosks with cash? Something as expensive as a RTX 4090 would probably be best bought from a reputable store.
 
Lakados said:
https://www.pcgamer.com/reports-of-...-china-without-gpus-scares-the-heck-out-of-me

So a while back it was news that Chinese AIBs were stripping the AD102s from 4090's to repackage them on server cards to sell them to the data centers, no big deal.
So what happened to all those 4090s that now no longer have their GPU dies or GDDR modules?
Looks like they are now up for sale on eBay and the like, they just aren't telling people that the cards no longer contain their most valuable bits.
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What is the value, if any, of a card that has no GPU or RAM? Are people supposed to surface-mount solder in their own?

If this is not an outright scam, and worse than ordinary price-gouging, what is it? Are these people going to face criminal charges? They should, but probably won't.
 
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Lakados said:
Oh it’s a scam, they are popping up for $2K and up.

Problem is they are semantically correct, it’s a new 4090 card. A card is still a card even if it’s lacking the parts that make it work, and it’s new in box.
Nowhere does it need to say it’s functional.
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Ebay requires the condition of the item to be stated. If it's not bootable and it's not listed as "for parts", Ebay isn't going to take their side. Those scams don't work anymore, unless the international aspect of it is the key to the scam.
 
After looking into it a bit how the scam seems to work is these scammers are trying to sell to scalpers who tend to sit on them a while and then by the time it does move it’s them who are left holding the bag not the original scammer as enough time has passed that they are in the clear.
 
Lakados said:
After looking into it a bit how the scam seems to work is these scammers are trying to sell to scalpers who tend to sit on them a while and then by the time it does move it’s them who are left holding the bag not the original scammer as enough time has passed that they are in the clear.
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If that's true then that's hilarious. Scammer scamming another scammer. Talk about poetic justice.
 
GoldenTiger said:
Flipping stuff isn't scamming. :rolleyes: The behavior in the OP is though.
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If someone is selling me something for twice as much, plus they're also responsible for scarcity as well, then it's a scam. It's also a scam that the buyer has to be willing to accept, which makes it an agreed scam. It's like NFT's and Crypto in which lots of people think it's a scam, but it's not like you deserve the money back for buying into it. In a sense, scams are legal in USA. The people who bought those RTX 4090's are also likely not going to get their money back for the same reason. Which makes scams legal in China as well. RTX 4090 IC chip + RAM not included.
 
DukenukemX said:
If someone is selling me something for twice as much, plus they're also responsible for scarcity as well, then it's a scam. It's also a scam that the buyer has to be willing to accept, which makes it an agreed scam. It's like NFT's and Crypto in which lots of people think it's a scam, but it's not like you deserve the money back for buying into it. In a sense, scams are legal in USA. The people who bought those RTX 4090's are also likely not going to get their money back for the same reason. Which makes scams legal in China as well. RTX 4090 IC chip + RAM not included.
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Pretty much how I see it as well. If you're jacking up the price to 2-3x+ AND majorly affecting availability, you're part of the problem.
 
GoldenTiger said:
Flipping stuff isn't scamming. :rolleyes:
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So you're 100% fine with scalpers? SMH

There's a difference between scalping and flipping. A distinct difference. As DukenukemX said, it's an agreed upon scam. You may disagree with me and him, and that's fine. You're entitled to think what you want. Not trying to argue on the internet.
 
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I've just adopted the principle that if it's coming from, thru or by way of china, then 99.99% of the time, it IS a scam, regardless of who, what, when, where, why or how....

In other words: scam it, jam it, slam it, no thank you goddammit :D
 
dogDAbone said:
I've just adopted the principle that if it's coming from, thru or by way of china, then 99.99% of the time, it IS a scam, regardless of who, what, when, where, why or how....
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If not a scam, then it's often just plain crap, with some exceptions of course. Amazon is Exhibit A here. All those PC components on Amazon with the same exact pictures, being sold by 2-3-4 or more companies. With the 5-star "customer reviews." Yeah. That said, I like Anker brand products. But O R I C O, no f---- way.
 
philb2 said:
If not a scam, then it's often just plain crap, with some exceptions of course. Amazon is Exhibit A here. All those PC components on Amazon with the same exact pictures, being sold by 2-3-4 or more companies. With the 5-star "customer reviews." Yeah. That said, I like Anker brand products. But O R I C O, no f---- way.
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Anymore now im starting to feel there are more legit companies on aliexpress than amazon lol.
 
Anker = good....I have used alot of their products in daily use both at home & work for many years :)

O-r-i-c-o = crap here, crap there, crap everywhere !
 
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Darunion said:
Anymore now im starting to feel there are more legit companies on aliexpress than amazon lol.
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I wouldn't buy from AliExpress no matter what. I'll sooner buy from something like Computer Discount Warehouse, which I think is overpriced.
 
philb2 said:
I wouldn't buy from AliExpress no matter what. I'll sooner buy from something like Computer Discount Warehouse, which I think is overpriced.
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I can understand it, but at the end of the day AliExpress is usually the exact same thing sold China direct without the middleman and markup.
Got my mom on there for her card making hobby, exact same stuff but for pennies on the dollar of what the craft stores sell the same stuff for.
 
Lakados said:
I can understand it, but at the end of the day AliExpress is usually the exact same thing sold China direct without the middleman and markup.
Got my mom on there for her card making hobby, exact same stuff but for pennies on the dollar of what the craft stores sell the same stuff for.
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A lot of how that happens is due to how China is listed globally with mail, and how they can get away with low international shipping costs by having other nation states absorb said costs.
This is actually a really interesting process, and I always wondered how it was possible that local shipping in NA and EU are $$$/£££, yet global shipping from China is only a few yuans.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA6gDep6jVM
 
philb2 said:
I wouldn't buy from AliExpress no matter what. I'll sooner buy from something like Computer Discount Warehouse, which I think is overpriced.
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I've bought many things from AliExpress and while I've not had great dealings with some of the sellers, the prices are just so much lower. I'm waiting for ten 18650 batteries that I was planning to put together for an old Roomba that only costed me $22. The same batteries off Amazon is like over $60. Nintendo Switch mod chips can be bought off AliExpress, which btw they include an RPi chip on it for less than $20. Seat levers for my Porsche 928 are only $25. LCD Screen for my HP laptop with touchscreen was dirty cheap, and good luck finding this screen at all. This reverse camera is only $20 and the picture quality is excellent. I've had some issues with their products, like Chinese branded motherboards don't tend to like sleep mode. I also put in an Android stereo in my father's Highlander and the engine noise through the speakers was terrible. Had to use this method to get the engine noise to be gone. Wendell from Level1Techs got a cheap POE eight port 2.5G switch for only $100 from Aliexpress and he says it works good. It's not always a good experience and those batteries are taking way too long to arrive, but the savings are huge.


View: https://youtu.be/Ih11Vfgi3v4?si=UDKUSrl4yOwjcVcC
 
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Lakados said:
I can understand it, but at the end of the day AliExpress is usually the exact same thing sold China direct without the middleman and markup.
Got my mom on there for her card making hobby, exact same stuff but for pennies on the dollar of what the craft stores sell the same stuff for.
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I was watching NorthRidgeFix advertise a short finder that you can buy from him for $129. I was thinking, what are the chances that this is just some overprice Aliexpress device? Boom, $36. What's funny is the first image is the device upside down, but the LCD is the correct orientation. That is so Chinesium. If you look further down the images, they do have one that's right side up and looking like the NorthRidgeFix version. For a $93 difference, you'd think the NF.Short writing would look cooler. There are many instances where I'm looking on Amazon and the same product is on Aliexpress for a good deal cheaper. Shipping speed sucks, but if time isn't an issue then why not?

Jyrkior HR1520.png
NF.Short.jpg
 
philb2 said:
I wouldn't buy from AliExpress no matter what. I'll sooner buy from something like Computer Discount Warehouse, which I think is overpriced.
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I use them a lot actually. Also is a good way to get in touch with new vendors. So much cheaper and now they are down to about 2 weeks shipping. It really is the same selection of items as amazon and walmart or target. I have good experiences there and they have resolved the couple disputes i have had. Just isnt worth for me paying so much extra for markup. For reference though i do mostly use it for hardware and materials (screws, plastics, wire, components, zip ties etc). Doubt id buy a 4090 from there lol
 
Darunion said:
I use them a lot actually. Also is a good way to get in touch with new vendors. So much cheaper and now they are down to about 2 weeks shipping. It really is the same selection of items as amazon and walmart or target. I have good experiences there and they have resolved the couple disputes i have had. Just isnt worth for me paying so much extra for markup. For reference though i do mostly use it for hardware and materials (screws, plastics, wire, components, zip ties etc). Doubt id buy a 4090 from there lol
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OK guys. I think I just learned something. (y) That's why this is my go-to forum. So many smart guys to learn from.

From now on, I'll look on AliExpress for items that I don't need right away, and which are pretty simple, so warranty is probably not an issue.
 
philb2 said:
OK guys. I think I just learned something. (y) That's why this is my go-to forum. So many smart guys to learn from.

From now on, I'll look on AliExpress for items that I don't need right away, and which are pretty simple, so warranty is probably not an issue.
Click to expand...

A few peoples recommendations from this forum carries a lot of weight for me and sometimes more than someone i know in person lol. It's why i cant move away from here.
 
philb2 said:
OK guys. I think I just learned something. (y) That's why this is my go-to forum. So many smart guys to learn from.

From now on, I'll look on AliExpress for items that I don't need right away, and which are pretty simple, so warranty is probably not an issue.
Click to expand...
I have never purchased hardware or software from Ali, but office supplies and things like RFID tags, labels, replacement batteries, and chargers. It's hasn't blown up in my face yet, unlike those Amazon-recommended 8-port USB-C chargers... little bastard literally caught fire.
 
philb2 said:
Can you type out the name of this company with spaces between the letters. That's what I did with O R I C O, and that got past the filters.
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Done...but just wondering why that was filtered...is that company banned from these forums for some reason that I'm not aware of or what ?
 
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