(Image credit: Nvidia)

We've seen a wide variety of fake GPUs end up on Tom's Hardware , including entirely hollow ones that don't have a die to begin with . Now, scammers have found a new trick to make the con more believable — they're selling graphics cards with dies made out of plastic. That's what happened with Brother Zhang , a well-known Chinese hardware shop owner, who came across a used, broken RTX 4090 purchased for roughly $222.

creating a fake 4090 by repurposing 3080/3090 die is nothing new. whats new, however, is that this specific example uses plastic to imitate the silicon die. there is no "glue"/"adhesive" surrounding the silicon.furthermore, the markings are completely incorrect. afaik a "30"… pic.twitter.com/QSFOszlkMt June 17, 2026

As expected, you're receiving a dud for that price, and it's usually a gamble these vendors are willing to take in order to repair the GPU and flip it for profit. Or, in this case, produce educational content for spreading awareness.…