Identifying a Fake XP Processor Options

[Marci]

Well, today was a revelation... we received a pair of fake XP2400+ CPUs from one of our suppliers. This matter is under investigation at both ends at the moment, suffice to say all our CPUs have been checked and all fakes removed, and we're pleased to say these two are the ONLY two we have here. All further CPUs will be checked on arrival.

The matter has been brought to the attention of the supplier who are investigating it with our full co-operation....

To see detailed pix of the fake vs the real deal click HERE

[st0nedpenguin]

That's insane, I would imagine with all the faffing around involved it would be more costly to fake one than just supply a real one.

/me waits to get home and check my CPU's.  :D

[Archangel]

If these actualkly work in any way they are probably AMD chips, but have been nicked from the test reject bin and tarted up to look like QA'd products. HP and Intel had this problem in the bad old days when they made chips in Texas. Now they destroy QA rejects as they fail (its part of the test rig) so that the chips can't be put into circualtion.

The other source is dummy chips which are made for demos, shows and to supply to manufacturers for form fitting tests on mobos/heatsinks etc.

If they are rejects rather than dummy chips then they can be dangerous. Sometimes the power rails on the substrate are duff, which can cause a surge short to your mobo Vcore controller.

Though we'd seen the last of this years ago.

Arch.

[Boli]

I allways through "fake" chips where older chips being past off and newer (and more expensive chips)... effectavily doubling or trippling the price of the chip to the unwary.

Is there a possibility that someone has done this as in there is a perfectly legit chip under the facade? The bridges can be repaired to some extent if they havne't done too much damage; and there still might be a perfectly satifactory chip under there.

Worth looking into maybe?

~ Boli

[nVIDIA_Master]

how did you actualy come accross noticing it was a fake chip?
I wouldnt of noticed it
Good thing we have such good staff at our disposal  
GJ

[Blue_Nexus]

It was TC_overclocker that actually noticed that they were fake, i think they had just arrived so he was unpacking and coding up the order.

[tc_overclocker]

Yeah....I was waiting for them to come in for a system build I was doing. I upwrapped the CPU's and noticed that the label was dodgy.....ie. the writing was too far up the label.....so i ran across the shop in search for a magnifying glass an 'Wha La' modified bridges. Showed Marc and he immediately started snapping pics and documenting

[tc_overclocker]

The chips from what we can decifer are proper AMD CPU's, but of a lower Multi and Volt. so the modification has been done so that they can be passed off as faster chips, ie. more expensive chips. I'll have a proper look at them on Monday and try to work out what CPU they actually were.

[nVIDIA_Master]

if the old labels were still there try peeling off the fake label and see what it realy is?

[tc_overclocker]

It's not that easy.....we don't know wot adhesive they've used...and if they dont wana be caught, im guessing it's guna be summat that's guna take the underlabel with it if you try to remove the other label

[Ceryndrion]

strangely, the original voltage (from the L11 bridge) was 1.65v


can't tell anything from the L3 bridges to get the multiplier but I would hazard a guess at originally being 7x or 11x

I suspect that they were 1700's modded to look like 2400's

[Boli]

So they could be the much favoured 1700 'B' cores... would be a good turn up for the books if they are. .

I would check the core shape and size next that might give you some more clues. With reference chips you should easily be able to tell if they are TB A or B, Palmino or even a Duron.

~ Boli

[tc_overclocker]

If they were 1700+'s then they would have been DUT3C CPU's due to the original voltage of 1.65v. This would also explain y the voltage was set to 1.7v, due to the fact that DUT3C 1700+'s are terrible overclockers and struggle to reach 2GHz (which is the stock speed of the 2400+'s).

[nVIDIA_Master]

It's not that easy.....we don't know wot adhesive they've used...and if they dont wana be caught, im guessing it's guna be summat that's guna take the underlabel with it if you try to remove the other label

scalpol  ???
if not u could try some meth's and instead of peeling it off wear it down very carefully untill u find the original label

[iMess]

That is some hard work gone in the fakies.. Will Marci be releasing any news on the investigation, or is it a staff-only basis?

[tc_overclocker]

I believe it will be a staff only matter as we don't want the name of the supplier publishing anywhere

[Se7eN sAd CloWnZ]

wow who ever spotted that has hawk eyes , good job

[tc_overclocker]

That would be me with the hawk eyes then  :D

Well with the aid of my glasses anyways  :p

[tc_overclocker]

The only problem with that is removing the label underneath as well by accident  :O

[Se7eN sAd CloWnZ]

so have you guys lost alot over this , i dont c why these people woudl bother they cant have made that much profit from it