• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

NVIDIA Ramps Up Battle Against Makers of Unlicensed GeForce Cards

T0@st

News Editor
Joined
Mar 7, 2023
Messages
2,077 (3.31/day)
Location
South East, UK
NVIDIA is stepping up to manufacturers of counterfeit graphics card in China according to an article published by MyDrivers - the hardware giant is partnering up with a number of the nation's major e-commerce companies in order to eliminate inventories of bogus GPUs. It is claimed that these online retail platforms, including JD.com and Douyin, are partway into removing a swathe of dodgy stock from their listings. NVIDIA is seeking to disassociate itself from the pool of unlicensed hardware and the brands responsible for flooding the domestic and foreign markets with so-called fake graphics cards. The company is reputed to be puzzled about the murky origins of this bootlegging of their patented designs.

The market became saturated with fake hardware during the Ethereum mining boom - little known cottage companies such as 51RSIC, Corn, Bingying and JieShuoMllse were pushing rebadged cheap OEM cards to domestic e-tail sites. The knock-off GPUs also crept outside of that sector, and import listings started to appear on international platforms including Ebay, AliExpress, Amazon and Newegg. NVIDIA is also fighting to stop the sale of refurbished cards - these are very likely to have been utilized in intensive cryptocurrency mining activities. A flood of these hit the market following an extreme downturn in crypto mining efforts, and many enthusiast communities have warned against acquiring pre-owned cards due to the high risk of component failure.



Laptop versions of GeForce RTX cards are being adapted into desktop purpose form. For example 51RSIC has produced a card called the GeForce RTX 3070 TiM 8 GB, which appears to be a fictitious model name and its specifications point to it being based on a mobile variation. NVIDIA has requested, via its new partnerships, that graphics cards based on older GPU architectures - in particular the Turing and Pascal generations - ought to be removed from e-commerce sites. The latest GeForce RTX 40-series has not been spared from getting the clone treatment. 51RSIC offers a spirit-level equipped RTX 4090 card - this is purported to be a rebadged version of MANLI's custom cooled GeForce RTX 4090 Gallardo design.



NVIDIA has outlined a simple guide to a potential customer, in order to avoid the purchase of an ersatz graphics card. It first recommends that the buyer only consider the latest GeForce RTX 40-series, due to Ada Lovelace architecture debuting after the collapse of cryptocurrency, therefore GPUs from that range are not heavily associated with mining activities. The second suggestion is to only source a card from an official partner - prime examples for the Chinese market are ASUS, Colorful, Gainson, GALAX, Gigabyte, Injoy, MSI, Zotac, Renaissance, ASL, Maxsun, and Yeston - the customer will also gain a proper guarantee via these companies. The third and last bit of advice is aimed at a customer who does not have the budget to reach for the RTX 40-range - NVIDIA recommends only purchasing newer SKUs based on its Ampere architecture, with good candidates in the GeForce RTX 3060 8 GB and GeForce RTX 3060 Ti GDDR6X models.

It is encouraging to see NVIDIA's new focus on eliminating unlicensed products from online retailers, but the endeavor has only targeted one regional market. The Chinese hardware sector is massive and hard to regulate, but the distribution of counterfeit and poorly refurbished cards has spread internationally. This is not a brand new problem, but Team Green will need to address it in order to fully satisfy its customer base.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
 
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
1,444 (0.29/day)
Location
[Formerly] Khartoum, Sudan.
System Name 192.168.1.1~192.168.1.100
Processor AMD Ryzen5 5600G.
Motherboard Gigabyte B550m DS3H.
Cooling AMD Wraith Stealth.
Memory 16GB Crucial DDR4.
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 1080 OC (Underclocked, underpowered).
Storage Samsung 980 NVME 500GB && Assortment of SSDs.
Display(s) ViewSonic VA2406-MH 75Hz
Case Bitfenix Nova Midi
Audio Device(s) On-Board.
Power Supply SeaSonic CORE GM-650.
Mouse Logitech G300s
Keyboard Kingston HyperX Alloy FPS.
VR HMD A pair of OP spectacles.
Software Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.
Benchmark Scores Me no know English. What bench mean? Bench like one sit on?

bug

Joined
May 22, 2015
Messages
13,759 (3.96/day)
Processor Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard Asus H670 TUF
Cooling Arctic Freezer 34
Memory 2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage 500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s) Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s) Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard G.Skill KM780R
Software Arch Linux + Win10
Considering Nvidia has implemented signed firmware for years precisely to combat these, one can infer some official AIB has "leaked" the necessary know-how to the makers of counterfeit tools. If they're not building them themselves. Because once you temper with the vBIOS, you can't load an official driver anymore.
 
Joined
Dec 25, 2020
Messages
6,718 (4.70/day)
Location
São Paulo, Brazil
System Name "Icy Resurrection"
Processor 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900KS Special Edition
Motherboard ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z790 APEX ENCORE
Cooling Noctua NH-D15S upgraded with 2x NF-F12 iPPC-3000 fans and Honeywell PTM7950 TIM
Memory 32 GB G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB F5-6800J3445G16GX2-TZ5RK @ 7600 MT/s 36-44-44-52-96 1.4V
Video Card(s) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX™ 4080 16GB GDDR6X White OC Edition
Storage 500 GB WD Black SN750 SE NVMe SSD + 4 TB WD Red Plus WD40EFPX HDD
Display(s) 55-inch LG G3 OLED
Case Pichau Mancer CV500 White Edition
Power Supply EVGA 1300 G2 1.3kW 80+ Gold
Mouse Microsoft Classic Intellimouse
Keyboard Generic PS/2
Software Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 24H2
Benchmark Scores I pulled a Qiqi~
Considering Nvidia has implemented signed firmware for years precisely to combat these, one can infer some official AIB has "leaked" the necessary know-how to the makers of counterfeit tools. If they're not building them themselves. Because once you temper with the vBIOS, you can't load an official driver anymore.

Counterfeits seem to be entirely using pre-signing GPUs, with the bulk of them being Fermi and Kepler designs which cannot run the latest driver branches anymore. That's primarily why the scams are becoming evident much faster now. Maxwell can technically boot and run without a signed VBIOS, but my guess is that there aren't enough of them in Chinese warehouses to bother with or the components required for these cards remain too expensive. Another concern for the fraudsters is that due to customer protection on Aliexpress and eBay, PC gamers have figured out that they can use that to effectively get a free GPU, albeit one that barely, if at all works - still, a lot of folks aren't wise to the fraud and will fall victim to the scam until it's far too late for them to do anything about it.

On that subject, AMD really needs to do something about the sheer volume of unlicensed/counterfeit Polaris GPUs that are coming out of Chinese bitcoin farms by the millions. I support NVIDIA's endeavor here, and it is one that AMD should follow closely.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bug
Joined
Oct 18, 2013
Messages
6,186 (1.53/day)
Location
Over here, right where you least expect me to be !
System Name The Little One
Processor i5-11320H @4.4GHZ
Motherboard AZW SEI
Cooling Fan w/heat pipes + side & rear vents
Memory 64GB Crucial DDR4-3200 (2x 32GB)
Video Card(s) Iris XE
Storage WD Black SN850X 4TB m.2, Seagate 2TB SSD + SN850 4TB x2 in an external enclosure
Display(s) 2x Samsung 43" & 2x 32"
Case Practically identical to a mac mini, just purrtier in slate blue, & with 3x usb ports on the front !
Audio Device(s) Yamaha ATS-1060 Bluetooth Soundbar & Subwoofer
Power Supply 65w brick
Mouse Logitech MX Master 2
Keyboard Logitech G613 mechanical wireless
Software Windows 10 pro 64 bit, with all the unnecessary background shitzu turned OFF !
Benchmark Scores PDQ
Yep, and they will just "ramp up" their already obscene prices to cover the costs of this "battle" ...:mad:.:cry:.:eek:
 
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
5,549 (0.96/day)
System Name Cyberline
Processor Intel Core i7 2600k -> 12600k
Motherboard Asus P8P67 LE Rev 3.0 -> Gigabyte Z690 Auros Elite DDR4
Cooling Tuniq Tower 120 -> Custom Watercoolingloop
Memory Corsair (4x2) 8gb 1600mhz -> Crucial (8x2) 16gb 3600mhz
Video Card(s) AMD RX480 -> RX7800XT
Storage Samsung 750 Evo 250gb SSD + WD 1tb x 2 + WD 2tb -> 2tb MVMe SSD
Display(s) Philips 32inch LPF5605H (television) -> Dell S3220DGF
Case antec 600 -> Thermaltake Tenor HTCP case
Audio Device(s) Focusrite 2i4 (USB)
Power Supply Seasonic 620watt 80+ Platinum
Mouse Elecom EX-G
Keyboard Rapoo V700
Software Windows 10 Pro 64bit
"NVIDIA has outlined a simple guide to a potential customer, in order to avoid the purchase of an ersatz graphics card. It first recommends that the buyer only consider the latest GeForce RTX 40-series"

Of course they did, build cards for miners, build a ton for maximum profit, Crypto dies, Market gets flooded with used cards...... oh dear...thats going to hurt the wallet, ermm ohh look they are counterfeit, just buy our new cards!

what a crap company
 

bug

Joined
May 22, 2015
Messages
13,759 (3.96/day)
Processor Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard Asus H670 TUF
Cooling Arctic Freezer 34
Memory 2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage 500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s) Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s) Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard G.Skill KM780R
Software Arch Linux + Win10
"NVIDIA has outlined a simple guide to a potential customer, in order to avoid the purchase of an ersatz graphics card. It first recommends that the buyer only consider the latest GeForce RTX 40-series"

Of course they did, build cards for miners, build a ton for maximum profit, Crypto dies, Market gets flooded with used cards...... oh dear...thats going to hurt the wallet, ermm ohh look they are counterfeit, just buy our new cards!

what a crap company
And what would be a proper guidance, in your opinion?
 
Joined
Feb 20, 2020
Messages
9,340 (5.37/day)
Location
Louisiana
System Name Ghetto Rigs z490|x99|Acer 17 Nitro 7840hs/ 5600c40-2x16/ 4060/ 1tb acer stock m.2/ 4tb sn850x
Processor 10900k w/Optimus Foundation | 5930k w/Black Noctua D15
Motherboard z490 Maximus XII Apex | x99 Sabertooth
Cooling oCool D5 res-combo/280 GTX/ Optimus Foundation/ gpu water block | Blk D15
Memory Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb | Trident-Z 3200c14 4x8gb
Video Card(s) Titan Xp-water | evga 980ti gaming-w/ air
Storage 970evo+500gb & sn850x 4tb | 860 pro 256gb | Acer m.2 1tb/ sn850x 4tb| Many2.5" sata's ssd 3.5hdd's
Display(s) 1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Case D450 | Cherry Entertainment center on Test bench
Audio Device(s) Built in Realtek x2 with 2-Insignia 2.0 sound bars & 1-LG sound bar
Power Supply EVGA 1000P2 with APC AX1500 | 850P2 with CyberPower-GX1325U
Mouse Redragon 901 Perdition x3
Keyboard G710+x3
Software Win-7 pro x3 and win-10 & 11pro x3
Benchmark Scores Are in the benchmark section
Hi,
Wait where does nvidia manufacture gpu's again ?
And with that nv is surprised clones/ knockoffs exist :kookoo:
 
Joined
May 11, 2018
Messages
1,254 (0.52/day)
"NVIDIA is also fighting to stop the sale of refurbished cards - these are very likely to have been utilized in intensive cryptocurrency mining activities. A flood of these hit the market following an extreme downturn in crypto mining efforts, and many enthusiast communities have warned against acquiring pre-owned cards due to the high risk of component failure."

I bet we'll get GeForce Experience as a must in the future, registered to your account, and the only way for you to register the new graphics card is to buy it at an official dealer that can confirm your purchase and enable your driver? That would certainly put a stop to such a criminal activity as using a card you haven't paid a full price for!
 
Joined
Jun 24, 2017
Messages
174 (0.06/day)
They teach them to fish instead of giving them fish. What did they expect?
 
Joined
Mar 4, 2022
Messages
31 (0.03/day)
That happen when you sell boatload of chip to miners trough the grey market.
Big farms had no problem producing unofficial drivers and firmware (no one remember the magical LHR hack that popped out as soon as crypto crashed?), maybe thanks to the mega hack Nvidia had in 2021 or maybe with a little help directly from Nvidia, we will never know.

Good luck demonstrating those are not legit chip now when you sold them trough unlegit channels in the first place...
 
Joined
Jun 18, 2021
Messages
2,547 (2.03/day)
Market gets flooded with used cards...... oh dear...thats going to hurt the wallet, ermm ohh look they are counterfeit, just buy our new cards!

Let's not combine two different issues. Random counterfeit cards are a different and real problem contrary to simply mining cards (which can also be a problem, but only in the sense of buyer beware and caveat emptor)

Although they used the opportunity to promote the usual FUD over used mining cards (and used market in general) that is not what this is about
 

Dragonsyph

New Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2023
Messages
12 (0.02/day)
"NVIDIA has outlined a simple guide to a potential customer, in order to avoid the purchase of an ersatz graphics card. It first recommends that the buyer only consider the latest GeForce RTX 40-series"

Of course they did, build cards for miners, build a ton for maximum profit, Crypto dies, Market gets flooded with used cards...... oh dear...thats going to hurt the wallet, ermm ohh look they are counterfeit, just buy our new cards!

what a crap company
That’s the dumbest thing Iv ever read.
 
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Messages
8,198 (2.17/day)
Location
SE Michigan
System Name Dumbass
Processor AMD Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard ASUS TUF gaming B650
Cooling Artic Liquid Freezer 2 - 420mm
Memory G.Skill Sniper 32gb DDR5 6000
Video Card(s) GreenTeam 4070 ti super 16gb
Storage Samsung EVO 500gb & 1Tb, 2tb HDD, 500gb WD Black
Display(s) 1x Nixeus NX_EDG27, 2x Dell S2440L (16:9)
Case Phanteks Enthoo Primo w/8 140mm SP Fans
Audio Device(s) onboard (realtek?) - SPKRS:Logitech Z623 200w 2.1
Power Supply Corsair HX1000i
Mouse Steeseries Esports Wireless
Keyboard Corsair K100
Software windows 10 H
Benchmark Scores https://i.imgur.com/aoz3vWY.jpg?2

hat

Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
21,745 (3.31/day)
Location
Ohio
System Name Starlifter :: Dragonfly
Processor i7 2600k 4.4GHz :: i5 10400
Motherboard ASUS P8P67 Pro :: ASUS Prime H570-Plus
Cooling Cryorig M9 :: Stock
Memory 4x4GB DDR3 2133 :: 2x8GB DDR4 2400
Video Card(s) PNY GTX1070 :: Integrated UHD 630
Storage Crucial MX500 1TB, 2x1TB Seagate RAID 0 :: Mushkin Enhanced 60GB SSD, 3x4TB Seagate HDD RAID5
Display(s) Onn 165hz 1080p :: Acer 1080p
Case Antec SOHO 1030B :: Old White Full Tower
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Bose Companion 2 Series III :: None
Power Supply FSP Hydro GE 550w :: EVGA Supernova 550
Software Windows 10 Pro - Plex Server on Dragonfly
Benchmark Scores >9000
While there are a lot of fake cards floating about (and by fake I mean some GTX460 or something masquerading as a 1050Ti), it sounds like this is more about stifling the used market. Don't try to buy a used GPU, only buy the latest Ada series!
 
Joined
Jun 2, 2017
Messages
9,133 (3.34/day)
System Name Best AMD Computer
Processor AMD 7900X3D
Motherboard Asus X670E E Strix
Cooling In Win SR36
Memory GSKILL DDR5 32GB 5200 30
Video Card(s) Sapphire Pulse 7900XT (Watercooled)
Storage Corsair MP 700, Seagate 530 2Tb, Adata SX8200 2TBx2, Kingston 2 TBx2, Micron 8 TB, WD AN 1500
Display(s) GIGABYTE FV43U
Case Corsair 7000D Airflow
Audio Device(s) Corsair Void Pro, Logitch Z523 5.1
Power Supply Deepcool 1000M
Mouse Logitech g7 gaming mouse
Keyboard Logitech G510
Software Windows 11 Pro 64 Steam. GOG, Uplay, Origin
Benchmark Scores Firestrike: 46183 Time Spy: 25121
While there are a lot of fake cards floating about (and by fake I mean some GTX460 or something masquerading as a 1050Ti), it sounds like this is more about stifling the used market. Don't try to buy a used GPU, only buy the latest Ada series!
I loved the one where Nvidia is telling you to buy a 40 series so you don't have to get a so disgustingly bad 30 series. Give me a break.
 
Joined
Dec 10, 2011
Messages
432 (0.09/day)
Good luck...

Considering nVidia themselves feed that thieving stalinist regime for 15 years. Now they suddenly realized they got burned when dealing with fire. Seems like The Special Leather Jacket is not so genius.

Make no mistake. Before 1990s what little came out of China was of superior quality (what I had in hand and of course it wasn't computer hardware). Now its just kleptocratic competition who will steal it fastest from overseas.
 
D

Deleted member 185088

Guest
Buy AMD instead and avoid any chance of buying these problematic cards. Better be sure than sorry.
 
Joined
Feb 1, 2019
Messages
3,582 (1.69/day)
Location
UK, Midlands
System Name Main PC
Processor 13700k
Motherboard Asrock Z690 Steel Legend D4 - Bios 13.02
Cooling Noctua NH-D15S
Memory 32 Gig 3200CL14
Video Card(s) 4080 RTX SUPER FE 16G
Storage 1TB 980 PRO, 2TB SN850X, 2TB DC P4600, 1TB 860 EVO, 2x 3TB WD Red, 2x 4TB WD Red
Display(s) LG 27GL850
Case Fractal Define R4
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster AE-9
Power Supply Antec HCG 750 Gold
Software Windows 10 21H2 LTSC
Buy AMD instead and avoid any chance of buying these problematic cards. Better be sure than sorry.
I see it as dont buy a GPU from a dodgy source.
 
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
5,549 (0.96/day)
System Name Cyberline
Processor Intel Core i7 2600k -> 12600k
Motherboard Asus P8P67 LE Rev 3.0 -> Gigabyte Z690 Auros Elite DDR4
Cooling Tuniq Tower 120 -> Custom Watercoolingloop
Memory Corsair (4x2) 8gb 1600mhz -> Crucial (8x2) 16gb 3600mhz
Video Card(s) AMD RX480 -> RX7800XT
Storage Samsung 750 Evo 250gb SSD + WD 1tb x 2 + WD 2tb -> 2tb MVMe SSD
Display(s) Philips 32inch LPF5605H (television) -> Dell S3220DGF
Case antec 600 -> Thermaltake Tenor HTCP case
Audio Device(s) Focusrite 2i4 (USB)
Power Supply Seasonic 620watt 80+ Platinum
Mouse Elecom EX-G
Keyboard Rapoo V700
Software Windows 10 Pro 64bit
And what would be a proper guidance, in your opinion?

same things all companies do to help consumers know if they are dealing with fakes and I have never seen a company say "just buy our new stuff, its better for you and secretly REALLY great for us"

That’s the dumbest thing Iv ever read.

really? ever? you must not have a lot of interaction with humans then.
But instead of empty insults, why dont you provide some actual arguments?
 

bug

Joined
May 22, 2015
Messages
13,759 (3.96/day)
Processor Intel i5-12600k
Motherboard Asus H670 TUF
Cooling Arctic Freezer 34
Memory 2x16GB DDR4 3600 G.Skill Ripjaws V
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 1060 SC
Storage 500GB Samsung 970 EVO, 500GB Samsung 850 EVO, 1TB Crucial MX300 and 2TB Crucial MX500
Display(s) Dell U3219Q + HP ZR24w
Case Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s) Audioquest Dragonfly Red :D
Power Supply Seasonic 620W M12
Mouse Logitech G502 Proteus Core
Keyboard G.Skill KM780R
Software Arch Linux + Win10
same things all companies do to help consumers know if they are dealing with fakes and I have never seen a company say "just buy our new stuff, its better for you and secretly REALLY great for us"
So, considering you can buy a fake Rolex, Gucci, Adidas and pretty much anything you can think of, Nvidia should also do nothing. Noted.

Buy AMD instead and avoid any chance of buying these problematic cards. Better be sure than sorry.
AMD's problem is even worse, since they haven't locked down their firmware, afaik. Of course, AMD still gets praise for being open, even if you can find on TPU a ton of "how do I flash a new BIOS on my fake AMD card".

Hi,
Wait where does nvidia manufacture gpu's again ?
And with that nv is surprised clones/ knockoffs exist :kookoo:
This has nothing to do with clones. This is existing (legit) inventory that is being sold as a different GPU than it actually is.
 
Joined
Nov 4, 2005
Messages
11,982 (1.72/day)
System Name Compy 386
Processor 7800X3D
Motherboard Asus
Cooling Air for now.....
Memory 64 GB DDR5 6400Mhz
Video Card(s) 7900XTX 310 Merc
Storage Samsung 990 2TB, 2 SP 2TB SSDs, 24TB Enterprise drives
Display(s) 55" Samsung 4K HDR
Audio Device(s) ATI HDMI
Mouse Logitech MX518
Keyboard Razer
Software A lot.
Benchmark Scores Its fast. Enough.
I too find it puzzling that diving in water gets you wet...
They found it easy to sell chips to companies with absolute knowledge of where they were going or no knowledge. Since they provide after sales support for a large portion of the devices these would end up in……..

The almighty dollar, yen, ruble, or coin speaks the truth clearly.
 
Top