Newegg Ships Counterfeit Intel i7 920 Processors

[Oreos]

 

In an almost surreal tale of events, USA electronics retailer Newegg has discovered a reported 300 counterfeit Intel Core i7 920 CPU’s in its inventory, some of which were inadvertently shipped out to buyers!

 

 

Initial reports of the fakes began yesterday when at least 5 separate incidents totaling 9 fake processors cropped up on Youtube, HardOCP and the Overclockers.com forums. The recipients of the fakes had all purchased the CPU’s from Newegg.com within the past few days.

 

 

We contacted Newegg and a representative confirmed that they did in fact receive “incorrect inventory” in the form of fake processors from a vendor and that they were working to rectify the matter as quickly as possible. Unfortunately further questions about how they intended to resolve the matter with the unfortunate purchasers or details about where the counterfeits came from and how they managed to slip by screenings were ignored.

 

 

The pictures below, taken by the unwitting buyers tell the story. The heatsink and fan had been swapped with a hunk of plastic, with a picture of the fan printed on top. The CPU was layers of of metal and plastic with a fake IHS on the top and a sticker attached with typical Core i7 information. The box itself was riddled with spelling errors, and to bypass the security seal, the box was printed with a “Intel Factory Sealed” sticker look alike and a clear sticker attached over top.

 

 

Intel does provide “security” windows on its packaging in order to verify that the CPU and fan are in fan in the box, however, it does not show the full components.

 

 

It is expected that Newegg will replace the processors very quickly and an investigation into the perpetrators of such a unique crime will likely begin. No others reports of fake CPUs from North American retailers has been heard and a source with retailer NCIX.com confirms that the company has already checked their stock and found no fakes.

 

 

If the rumoured HardOCP number of 300 counterfeit units is accurate, it that would represent a street value price of over $85,000 USD.