Counterfeiting is the bane of online shopping and eCommerce. If you are not into buying things online till yet, most probably this is the reason you’ve been refraining from it. Even though there’s a federal law protecting the customers against counterfeiting, the main markets for these products are available online.
Nowadays, eBay and even Amazon products are being extensively reported as counterfeits by customer reviews. So, you’re not to blame if you’re skeptical about buying refurbished computers and laptops online. The best-refurbished computers and laptops online, make it a point to ensure their quality before they put their products up for purchase. But, if you doubt that notion, and want to buy the best-refurbished graphics card, here’s how to differentiate between a real and fake one.
What Are Fake Graphics Cards?
Fake does not mean that you’ll get something other than a graphics card in its name. Usually, you won’t even realize that the one delivered to your doorstep is fake. Generally, scammers try to sell a lower version of a graphics card as a more advanced version, at a higher price. For instance, if you’ve ordered a GTX 970 refurbished graphics card, you may end up getting handed a GeForce GTS 450 at a higher price than you would get a 970 for.
How Is That Possible?
Basically, online scammers are not some incompetent thieves behind closed doors, they are actually educated technicians who have the ability to fool your computer system. So, they can practically make a fake graphics card look like the one you’ve paid for in your PC by flexing a few screws in the GPU BIOS. This will make sure it is identified as a higher model in the system information tools.
Checking For A Fake Graphics Card
If you sense that the refurbished graphics card you’ve received is fake or doesn’t work as it should, there are some easy checks you can run to confirm whether the card is original or a rip-off. Some sites also offer a return policy, so you can vail that if you have proof of counterfeiting, and save a lot of money.
- GPU Specifications
Check the CUDA Cores / Stream processors, Memory Type, Memory Size and GPU Code Name of your refurbished graphics card on the original manufacturer website. If that doesn’t match with your graphics card specifics, you can be sure that it’s totally fake.
- Check Graphics Card Images
If you feel something is fishy, compare the outlook of your graphics card to the images provided by the original manufacturer online to spot any differences in the model.
- Customer Reviews
Check customer reviews of the website you are buying from. The best-refurbished graphics card companies will always have positive reviews from their clients so check if there’s any report of counterfeiting from previous purchasers.
Well, these are the basic points you should know to make an informed decision while investing in a refurbished graphics card. To choose from the leading brands and models of refurbished graphics cards today, visit Tech Bazaar.
