Broken and GPU-less RTX 4090s are being sold secondhand by scammers
If you’re considering buying a used high-end graphics card, you’ll need to be extra diligent, as scammers are now selling stripped-down Nvidia RTX 4090s without their AD102 chip.
A new video from Northwestrepair via YouTube highlights the extent of the problem, as some less savory individuals have gone to secondary resellers like Facebook Marketplace with too-good-to-be-true prices for RTX 4090 hardware. The teardown shows that under the MSI Ventus heatsink was a board without a GPU.
It’s part of a new scam emerging where some people are buying used RTX 4090s for parts for around $200 (about £160 / AU$300) and then reselling them as fully working cards to catch those who can’t see the warning signs . Even the best graphics card can fail for all kinds of reasons, and selling dead cards for parts allows for repairs via salvaged memory modules, heat sinks, PCBs, etc.
However, graphics cards without their silicon are completely useless. And in this case, all the buyer was buying was an MSI heatsink mounted on a completely blank PCB. All memory modules were removed, along with the GPU chip itself, turning it into an incredibly expensive plastic paperweight.
For context, the MSI Venus RTX 4090 is currently on sale for around $1,899 through retailers like Newegg and Amazon. While we don’t know exactly how much this buyer paid for his version, we’re willing to bet it was well under $1,000. If an offer seems good to be true, it is, and you can protect yourself by remembering some crucial buying advice.
Protect yourself when you buy a new GPU
The best way to avoid getting scammed is to buy from trusted stores. Outlets like Amazon, Newegg, Microcenter, and Best Buy offer brand new and professionally refurbished models, meaning there’s no chance you’ll end up in the crosshairs here.
However, if you are considering purchasing second-hand, you should approach the transaction with caution. It’s unlikely that a vendor will open up the graphics card for you on the spot to expose the silicon, but you can ask for recent benchmarks (or videos of the card in action) to prove its operating status, and there’s nothing wrong with opening the card. box and inspect the card to ensure it has not been tampered with.
And as always, it’s always better to buy a graphics card from someone you know, if possible.