A Reddit user in the r/watercooling subreddit purchased an AMD Ryzen 9 9950 X3D2 Dual Edition from Amazon, only to discover it was a counterfeit. This was his second 9950 X3D2 chip, both sold and shipped by Amazon in sealed retail boxes with identical heat spreader markings. Upon flipping the chips over, the newer unit revealed a large empty area packed with tiny capacitors, unlike a genuine AM5 Ryzen chip which has gold contact pads covering nearly its entire underside.
Initially, the user assumed AMD had revised the design, but commenters suggested the heat spreader was delidded from a real 9950 X3D2 and attached to an old Intel processor. The layout givesaway the deception, as Intel desktop chips place capacitors on the underside, while AMD keeps them on top. The lettering on the fake also appears smudged, possibly from the delid or reprint.
It remains unclear which Intel CPU sits underneath, and Amazon has not commented. The 9950 X3D2 launched at $899. Amazon has previously been hit with a fake Ryzen 7 9800 X3D that turned out to be a 2011-era FX-4100 with a sticker.
Buyers are advised to record unboxings and closely inspect both sides of expensive CPUs.
Source: TechPowerUp News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing