We have seen some wild GPU scams before, but this one might just take the cake. A Redditor who goes by UnbelievableGoatMan posted in the r/LinusTechTips subreddit about an MSI GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card that they just bought. Apparently, the buyer took the card home, opened it up, and it had no GPU core or VRAM inside! The entire PCB was completely bare, apart from the power delivery circuit.
This is staggering, and it’s probably the first incident of its kind. We have covered scammers selling fake graphics cards with plastic GPUs before, but this one takes the “scam” to a whole new level. The GeForce RTX 4080 is a premium card that currently goes for around $1000-1100 easily, so this is not an insignificant loss to the buyer.
If we look closely at the PCB, it looks like the GPU die and its surrounding VRAM chips have been removed quite cleanly, which appears intentional. Commenters were quick to point to the RAM crisis, speculating that the VRAM and GPU may have been removed to be resold for profit. Of course, the global RAM crisis has impacted the price of VRAM significantly, resulting in multiple price hikes for both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs.
However, there appears to be another angle to this story. The buyer was not specific about where he bought the GPU from, and commenters were reasonably curious about why he opted to crack open the card before even plugging it into his computer. It seems suspicious that someone would buy a GeForce RTX 4080 and, instead of trying to play games on it, tear it down to inspect its PCB.
Upon further questioning, the buyer revealed that he already knew that the graphics card was “damaged,” and bought it for a much lower price than what an RTX 4080 typically goes for. Another user speculated that the card was shucked for repair parts, which is a sound theory. The buyer apparently bought it from someone local who did not have a good idea of what it was, and paid $200 for the deal.
Still, it’s pretty interesting to see that a GeForce RTX 4080 that looks perfectly fine from the outside could be missing its key components. While this gentleman knew what he was getting into, that might not be the case for everyone else. This opens up a window of opportunity for scammers, especially on online marketplaces like eBay and Facebook, to pass on a stripped graphics card as the real deal. They may also get a few extra bucks by selling the GPU and VRAM separately.
The advice for anyone in the market for a used graphics card is to always demand a video of the card plugged in and working. It is not feasible to demand to see the PCB of the card itself, so the next best thing to do is to verify its working status by watching it play real games. Always check the hardware information with apps like GPU-Z, and maybe even demand to see a stress test like Furmark or Unigine Superposition where you see fit.
While this story is amusing since the buyer was not significantly affected, it serves as a cautionary tale for the future. Always be careful about purchasing used PC hardware, especially from an online seller, and make sure to get video evidence of a graphics card in working order before proceeding.
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[PC Hardware Specialist]
Usman Saleem brings 8+ years of comprehensive PC hardware expertise to the table. His journey in the tech world has involved in-depth tech analysis and insightful PC hardware reviews, perfecting over 6+ years of dedicated work. Usman’s commitment to staying authentic and relevant in the field is underscored by many professional certifications, including a recent one in Google IT Support Specialization.
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