Advice for identifying fake graphics cards?

[nickdaryldee]

Hello guys it’s me again! I found a gtx 1060 rog strix on kijiji for $460 CAD. The person is allowing me to come to their place and look at the card and see if it’s working. Anything I should look out for?

 

[Barty1884]

$460??? Wow. Where are you located Nick? 1060's are selling for more in the $350 range near me.

The fact they're letting you check it over is a good sign. Most (not all) fakes will hide behind online-only ads w/shipping.

As for identifying....
Physically, check stickers/serials match any box.
Check spec (as per GPU-Z etc) match the listed spec for a 1060 Strix.
Check benchmarks etc, ensure it performs within spec for the card.

The "fake" cards are pretty easy to spot on looks alone. Very, very rarely do they attempt to clone any actual card.
Not saying 100% that if it looks right then it is.... but if it looks like a 1060 Strix, you're off to a good start.

The fakes fall apart as soon as you try to get it to do anything a "real" card could do.

Heaven benchmark results, benchmark gaming performance etc are all readily available online. While there will be some variance depending on configurations etc, if a 1060 is expect to do X FPS in a given title/resolution/settings, any 1060 will be in that ballpark. The fakes typically use 550TI or 560TI chips.... so their performance is dramatically lower.

 

[Gam3r01]

One of the easiest ways to check is simply on looks.
Before you head over, look up pictures of the exact card being sold, then look at in person. Most fakes are easily spotted in this manner. Things like sticker placement, PCB layouts, I/O ports, and power connections.
Beyond that, ask them to run some specific game, then look up how that card does in said game online. This is not an exact science here, as performance is obviously going to vary. But if it passes the first and second test, its a much safer bet.

There are obvious other things like running GPU-Z etc, but those can be faked with a false BIOS. You should ask to see it anyway.

In my personal opinion, 460 CAD is too much for a used 1060, you can get a new one (not a strix) for that price.

 

[nickdaryldee]

$460??? Wow. Where are you located Nick? 1060's are selling for more in the $350 range near me.

The fact they're letting you check it over is a good sign. Most (not all) fakes will hide behind online-only ads w/shipping.

As for identifying....
Physically, check stickers/serials match any box.
Check spec (as per GPU-Z etc) match the listed spec for a 1060 Strix.
Check benchmarks etc, ensure it performs within spec for the card.

The "fake" cards are pretty easy to spot on looks alone. Very, very rarely do they attempt to clone any actual card.
Not saying 100% that if it looks right then it is.... but if it looks like a 1060 Strix, you're off to a good start.

The fakes fall apart as soon as you try to get it to do anything a "real" card could do.

Heaven benchmark results, benchmark gaming performance etc are all readily available online. While there will be some variance depending on configurations etc, if a 1060 is expect to do X FPS in a given title/resolution/settings, any 1060 will be in that ballpark. The fakes typically use 550TI or 560TI chips.... so their performance is dramatically lower.

I live in Toronto Canada. Where do you live? $350 seems like a great deal but is it the strix version with 3 fans?

 

[Barty1884]

I'm in Calgary. Different markets, of course.... but $460 seems really high.

I haven't seen a Strix available for a while (similarly, Kijiji), but the last one I saw (probably a couple of weeks to a month ago) was asking less than that.

At this point, I wouldn't get too hung up on it being a Strix card. There's not *that* much headroom in a 1060 anyway.
Almost any 1060 (excluding the mITX single fan cards) for less than the sellers asking for the Strix would likely be a much smarter purchase.

FWIW, ASUS' warranty (supposedly) does not transfer beyond the original purchaser:

ALL ASUS WARRANTY TERMS AND AGREEMENTS ARE NON-TRANSFERABLE AND ONLY APPLY TO THE ORIGINAL UNIT AND ORIGINAL PURCHASER.

http://www.commercialsupport.asus.com/graphics-card-warranty

So if the card fails on you, you're SOL.

If (I) were to be spending >$450 on a card, I'd really expect a warranty to apply.
While a bit weaker of a card out of the box.... a Gigabyte D5 is $440+Tax ... which is what, 13% for you?
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125879&nm_mc=AFC-C8JunctionCA&cm_mmc=AFC-C8JunctionCA-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10592396&PID=3938566&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-PCPartPicker%2C+LLC

Now, $500 for a 1060 is NOT a good deal, by any stretch. But at least you'd have a 3 year warranty for the extra $20-$30 paid vs the Strix you're considering.

If you're buying a used 1060.... personally, I wouldn't look to pay much beyond about $300 CDN, regardless of the model -- easier said than done though if you NEED a GPU.

 

[nickdaryldee]

I'm in Calgary. Different markets, of course.... but $460 seems really high.

I haven't seen a Strix available for a while (similarly, Kijiji), but the last one I saw (probably a couple of weeks to a month ago) was asking less than that.

At this point, I wouldn't get too hung up on it being a Strix card. There's not *that* much headroom in a 1060 anyway.
Almost any 1060 (excluding the mITX single fan cards) for less than the sellers asking for the Strix would likely be a much smarter purchase.

FWIW, ASUS' warranty (supposedly) does not transfer beyond the original purchaser:

ALL ASUS WARRANTY TERMS AND AGREEMENTS ARE NON-TRANSFERABLE AND ONLY APPLY TO THE ORIGINAL UNIT AND ORIGINAL PURCHASER.

http://www.commercialsupport.asus.com/graphics-card-warranty

So if the card fails on you, you're SOL.

If (I) were to be spending >$450 on a card, I'd really expect a warranty to apply.
While a bit weaker of a card out of the box.... a Gigabyte D5 is $440+Tax ... which is what, 13% for you?
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125879&nm_mc=AFC-C8JunctionCA&cm_mmc=AFC-C8JunctionCA-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10592396&PID=3938566&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-PCPartPicker%2C+LLC

Now, $500 for a 1060 is NOT a good deal, by any stretch. But at least you'd have a 3 year warranty for the extra $20-$30 paid vs the Strix you're considering.

If you're buying a used 1060.... personally, I wouldn't look to pay much beyond about $300 CDN, regardless of the model -- easier said than done though if you NEED a GPU.

Should I just wait for prices to go down after this whole crypto mining craze?

 

[Barty1884]

It's hard to answer that.

Do you NEED a GPU now? If so, waiting is not the answer.
How long will it take for prices to normalize? Anything at this point is speculation. They do seem to be coming down, slowly.... but I wouldn't be holding my breath.

 

[nickdaryldee]

It's hard to answer that.

Do you NEED a GPU now? If so, waiting is not the answer.
How long will it take for prices to normalize? Anything at this point is speculation. They do seem to be coming down, slowly.... but I wouldn't be holding my breath.

Don’t need it ASAP just building a gaming pc to game lol.

 

[Barty1884]

Kinda need a GPU then lol. Maybe look to the older gen used market. 780/780to available for $200 or so?