Fake Ryzen 7800X3D CPUs look real, sold widely on the internet

AMD's Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU is equipped with AMD's advanced X3D technology that takes gaming to the next level. Therefore, it is the best-selling gaming chip today. However, fake Ryzen 7800X3D CPUs that look like the real thing have appeared on the Internet and are being sold.

A Romanian buyer purchased the CPU online from a third-party seller called OLX in Asia for around 300 Euros, which is in line with the current price of CPUs in the EU market. After receiving the item, installing it in the device, the user tried to boot it up but the chip did not work.

He then used a voltmeter to find a connection on the PCB from the gold contacts on the back but got nothing.

Der8auer - a famous youtuber, after knowing the story of the above buyer, found this quite interesting and bought the chip from that person to test it himself and discovered more than expected.

In terms of appearance, these fake chips look like the real thing as the box serial number matches the one listed on the IHS. But they have a lot of flaws. Some aspects of the CPU are different from the original chip such as being dimmer and in a different place, the fake CPU has a thinner PCB measuring 0.964mm compared to the 1.308mm of the original chip. This means that when the fake CPU is installed in the socket, the AM5 socket loading assembly will not push the chip into the socket with the same pressure as the original chips.

The IHS of the fake CPU is also thinner and the capacitors on the front of the PCB lack the glue residue used as a protective coating, found on most standard Ryzen 7000 and Ryzen 9000 products indicating the chip is fake.

Der8auer installed an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D on the AM5 testbench, and the YouTuber couldn't get any life out of the fake chip. After removing the IHS from the CPU, Der8auer discovered that there was no chiplet at all. On the real CPU, there would be a CCD with a stacked 64MB 3D V-Cache layer and a single IOD.

The fake Ryzen 7 7800X3D's IHS is custom CNC-machined, featuring raised contact areas where the CPU's CCD and IOD reside, something that doesn't exist on real 7800X3D CPUs.