Amazon customer discovers his Intel Core i9-13900K is an i7-13700K in disguise

[midian182]

Facepalm: It seems that the old counterfeit CPU trick is still around, and once again the fake chip has come from Amazon. The victim purchased what appeared to be a Core i9-13900K, only for it to actually be a Core i7-13700K in disguise.

The Redditor included a photo of what looks like the Core i9-13900K he bought from Amazon UK back in April. It reportedly cost him £585, or around $736, for the processor, so it wasn't as if the price was out of the ordinary.

Unfortunately for Much_Designer_8417, it appears that the CPU he bought was actually the ~$180 cheaper Core i7-13700K. He included images from Core Temp and CPU-Z seemingly showing that the chip really was the 13th-gen i7.

i9 13900k showing as i7 13700k
by u/Much_Designer_8417 in intel

It seems that Much_Designer_8417 fell victim to the old IHS (integrated heat spreader) switching trick. It's speculated that someone might have bought the Core i9-13900K, removed the IHS, stuck it on their own Core i7-13700K, and returned the less-powerful chip back for a refund. Or perhaps the seller themselves did it.

CPU scams are far from a new phenomenon. There were reports in 2020 about counterfeit Intel chips in China being sold as i7-8700K CPUs when they were actually Celeron D 336 chips – a 90nm processor that debuted in 2004 and has long since been discontinued. We also heard of a user in Spain being scammed into buying a fraudulent i9-9900K, which apparently turned out to be a Core 2 Duo.

We've also seen the same scam on Amazon before. In 2017, there was a case of someone buying what looked like a Ryzen 1700 when it was really an LGA-based Intel processor with the markings scrubbed off and replaced with Ryzen markings that were part of a transparent sticker.

The difference between most of these cases and the most recent one is that the CPUs masquerading as more expensive chips tend to be very low down the product stack. The performance gap between the Core i7-13700K and the Core i9-13900K isn't going to be hugely noticeable for someone using a PC solely for games, which could explain why it took Much_Designer_8417 so long to notice something was amiss.

Most people would not expect to find such scams from a large retailer like Amazon. However, the post doesn't specify whether the fake CPU was purchased from Amazon directly or a third-party seller. The incident is certainly a warning to be careful where you buy your hardware and to validate its authenticity as soon as it arrives.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/100017-amazon-customer-discovers-intel-core-i9-13900k-i7.html

 

[Gastec]

The only explanation of username "Much_Designer_8417" about the supposed scam, which accompanies those 6 pictures posted on Reddit, are two short replies to comments:
"I bought it direct from amazon new"
"No it was not used I paid £585 for it in April from Amazon".
Draw your own conclusions about the veridicity of his claim.

 

[Bobbydpue]

The only explanation of username "Much_Designer_8417" about the supposed scam, which accompanies those 6 pictures posted on Reddit, are two short replies to comments:
"I bought it direct from amazon new"
"No it was not used I paid £585 for it in April from Amazon".
Draw your own conclusions about the veridicity of his claim.

It could be genuine or a complete fabrication, but there isn't enough information to determine either.

 

[PEnnn]

The only explanation of username "Much_Designer_8417" about the supposed scam, which accompanies those 6 pictures posted on Reddit, are two short replies to comments:
"I bought it direct from amazon new"
"No it was not used I paid £585 for it in April from Amazon".
Draw your own conclusions about the veridicity of his claim.

I saw the thread on another forum (Tom's Hardware ) and the buyer provided lots of info and screen shots.

Don't draw your own concussions so quickly...

 

[MyIOnU]

Did he check for the security tape on the box? If I buy a new CPU and the security tape already broken, I will return it right away.

 

[Gastec]

I saw the thread on another forum (Tom's Hardware ) and the buyer provided lots of info and screen shots.

Don't draw your own concussions so quickly...

I think I found that thread (is it this one?) :https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/i9-13900k-showing-wrong-cpu-as-i7-13700k.3818699/ ) That is another username, mikael84. I don't know if mikael84 and Much_Designer_8417 are the same person.
Meanwhile, we have to deal with the accusation of Much_Designer_8417 that INTEL Corporation is putting Core i7-13700K CPU's inside the boxes of Core i9-13900K and sells them to the various marketplaces, such as Amazon. Because he says that he bought the CPU new. Of course, he doesn't specify if "new" for him means "inside a sealed box with official Intel Factory seal" or that the word "new" was written on the seller's web page. Or perhaps it was Amazon.com who is switching CPU's and seals the CPU boxes with Intel Factory seals? Or that person has bought from a third-party seller on Amazon, such as "RARECPUS-IMPORTEXPORT Ltd." and he doesn't admit it. Or...you know which is the 4th variant, self-delidding switcheroos.

 

[hwertz]

I'm not surprised by a scam like this from Amazon.

Is Amazon going out to try to mislablel and sell fraudulent products? I'm assuming no.

BUT... there's been an ongoing problem for years where vendors can have their own product storage (at the Amazon warehouses), but Amazon gives them some discount for having products that are (supposedly) the same SKU pooled together. What happens then? Some greasy fraudster goes into the "shared SKU storage" program, gets their fraudulent product pooled together with everyone else's. With the result that the fraudster ships out product without excessive returns because so much of what is shipped under their name is everyone else's non-fraudulent product; while those who follow the rules get higher returns than they should because some of what they ship under their name is the fraudster's fraudulent garbage.

 

[Gezzer]

IMHO Amazon is really way overrated. They sell themselves as a consumer focused company, but to me they're the Walmart of the internet. Cheap, cheap, cheap, and as the old saying goes you get what you pay for. Of the number of transactions when I was forced to use Amazon I'd say 50% minimum were unsatisfactory. So reach out to their "great" customer support? Yeah, they'd refund me 20% if I'd fix it myself was the most common response.

 

[Gastec]

It could be genuine or a complete fabrication, but there isn't enough information to determine either.

We have this information:
- user Much_Designer_8417 posted about his problem "i9 13900k showing as i7 13700k" on Reddit, September 1st, 2023
- user mikael84 posted about a similar/the same problem "i9 13900k showing wrong CPU (as i7 13700k)" on Tom's Hardware forums, August 31st, 2023.
Both users stated that they had bought the respective CPU in April 2023. They posted about their issue 5(FIVE) MONTHS after their purchase!
User mikael84 uploaded a picture from his Amazon's account "Your Orders" entry, which states "Delivered 8 Mar 2023. Return window closed 7 Apr 2023" for a product named, I quote: "Intel CoreTM i9-13900K Desktop Processor 24 cores (8 P-cores + 16 E-cores) 36 M cache, up to 5.8 GHz", but the seller does not appear in that picture. The user should had clicked "View order details" and should had posted a printscreen of that page, where the name of the seller does appear.
Based on this information I determine that the statement of mikael84, I quote "I bought it from amazon but it doesn't appear to be from a 3rd party seller, I can't find the actual seller, just says it was purchased from amazon themselves" is not completely genuine.

PS: I insist on this subject so because it is not a light thing, that you can just wave off, this is a serious issue, involving a serious amount of money, that can affect all of us. We have to get to the bottom of this and bring justice to those who deserve it.

 

[nismo91]

Its reddit. take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Bobbydpue]

I'm not surprised by a scam like this from Amazon.

Is Amazon going out to try to mislablel and sell fraudulent products? I'm assuming no.

BUT... there's been an ongoing problem for years where vendors can have their own product storage (at the Amazon warehouses), but Amazon gives them some discount for having products that are (supposedly) the same SKU pooled together. What happens then? Some greasy fraudster goes into the "shared SKU storage" program, gets their fraudulent product pooled together with everyone else's. With the result that the fraudster ships out product without excessive returns because so much of what is shipped under their name is everyone else's non-fraudulent product; while those who follow the rules get higher returns than they should because some of what they ship under their name is the fraudster's fraudulent garbage.

How can you say it's an Amazon scam? There is not enough evidence to blame Amazon.

 

[Bobbydpue]

We have this information:
- user Much_Designer_8417 posted about his problem "i9 13900k showing as i7 13700k" on Reddit, September 1st, 2023
- user mikael84 posted about a similar/the same problem "i9 13900k showing wrong CPU (as i7 13700k)" on Tom's Hardware forums, August 31st, 2023.
Both users stated that they had bought the respective CPU in April 2023. They posted about their issue 5(FIVE) MONTHS after their purchase!
User mikael84 uploaded a picture from his Amazon's account "Your Orders" entry, which states "Delivered 8 Mar 2023. Return window closed 7 Apr 2023" for a product named, I quote: "Intel CoreTM i9-13900K Desktop Processor 24 cores (8 P-cores + 16 E-cores) 36 M cache, up to 5.8 GHz", but the seller does not appear in that picture. The user should had clicked "View order details" and should had posted a printscreen of that page, where the name of the seller does appear.
Based on this information I determine that the statement of mikael84, I quote "I bought it from amazon but it doesn't appear to be from a 3rd party seller, I can't find the actual seller, just says it was purchased from amazon themselves" is not completely genuine.

PS: I insist on this subject so because it is not a light thing, that you can just wave off, this is a serious issue, involving a serious amount of money, that can affect all of us. We have to get to the bottom of this and bring justice to those who deserve it.

Making assumptions based on anonymous posts isn't getting to the bottom of anything. Did you contact Amazon about the accusations? Did you reach out to the posters to gather additional information? If you didn't you aren't that serous about the issues and shouldn't be admonishing those who are saying, there isn't enough evidence to support forming any opinion about the claims.

 

[Gastec]

Making assumptions based on anonymous posts isn't getting to the bottom of anything. Did you contact Amazon about the accusations? Did you reach out to the posters to gather additional information? If you didn't you aren't that serous about the issues and shouldn't be admonishing those who are saying, there isn't enough evidence to support forming any opinion about the claims.

I reached to the posters to gather the information that should had been provide from the beginning. ME contacting Amazon on this subject? You must be out of your mind! Are you going to pay me to do investigative work? It is enough that I spent my "civilian" time to provide you with the info that I did.

 

[Gastec]

For me the case is quite simple. You believe what you want. Case closed. The culprit runs free!

 

[LemmingO]

People are very quick to lay the blame on Intel and imply that Intel is selling fraudulent CPUs. If that were the case, there would be hundreds of people complaining about the exact same scam.

What people forget is that Amazon is mostly a marketplace these days. And this sounds like a marketplace scam, but without further detail (name of seller / company, link to original listing, screencaps, etc...) we'll never know. It's also amazingly simple to think you're buying a new product when it's just a re-packaged one, when there are no "New" options available Amazon will link to additional purchasing options.

On the other hand, complaining about it 6 months on seems quite daft and looks a bit shady. Maybe he was building the PC for someone else (family, friend) and they only came back later asking about the high temps (from the THG thread) and the incorrect CPU identification.

A few other people are complaining on reddit about the same scam, but at least they had the balls to publish they'd bought it off some dodgy Chinese 3rd party...

 

[tesseramous]

Not as bad as Amazon sending me a 2060 instead of a 3080ti