Users Should Beware of Fake NVIDIA Graphics Cards

NVIDIA's line of video adapters has been making the news as often as always, but it looks like there might be an extra reason why users should pay attention, lest they end up with fake hardware.

NVIDIA has not been idle recently, especially now that its stake in the low-end and mainstream markets is diminishing, what with CPUs with integrated graphics taking that area by storm.

The company has been particularly active on the GPU computing front, in fact, preparing for the GPU technology Conference and getting HP to promote the Tesla GPU module line.

There was even a leak that disclosed pretty much the entire lineup of 28nm-based graphics processing units.

In the meantime, however, the Santa Clara, California-based GPU maker find itself faced with a different sort of problem.

In fact, one might say that its prospective customers are equally in danger of suffering from what is not, in fact, a recent problem but which may have gotten worse.

Basically, the so-called grey market has been causing trouble in the form of fake graphics cards or, more precisely, rebranded ones.

Unauthorized selling partners sometimes rebrand graphics processors and sell them under the guise of more expensive products (GPUs sometimes wind up like this as well).

"Resellera who do not purchase from authorized partners run the risk of putting substandard products in their customer's hands. That can only lead to higher returns rates and damaged relationships with consumers," said Fiona Faulkner, senior director for sales for GeForce EMEAI.

NIDIA did not outright say that counterfeit NVIDIA cards have entered the market, but the fact that it saw the need to step up and say this makes it more than likely.

The warning is mostly aimed at resellers, telling them to always check the list of authorized partners in order to avoid the aforementioned potential situations of damaged customer faith.