https://www.tomshardware.com/news/fake-samsung-980-pro

Fake Samsung 980 Pro SSDs Are Spreading Around

Although the Samsung 990 Pro has replaced it, the Samsung 980 Pro used to be one of the best SSDs around. Now, it may be close to three years old, but it's still a popular PCIe 4.0 drive that's much more affordable than its successor, so it doesn't come as a shock that there are many knockoffs on the market.


One Chinese user from the Baidu Tieba(opens in new tab) (via Harukaze5719(opens in new tab)) forums recently encountered an imitation posing as the Samsung 980 Pro. The phony drive had everything that suggested that it was legit: the Samsung 980 Pro 2TB sticker and the firmware, which later turned out to be fake. The forgery was so good that the mysterious drive even managed to fool the Samsung Magician software. Once the sticker was removed, the drive had all the signs of a counterfeit SSD.

The SSD utilizes the Maxio MAP1602A PCIe 4.0 SSD controller, the same one that powers the Acer Predator GM7. The SSD controller comes from TSMC's 12nm process node and features a DRAM-less design. More experienced consumers know that Samsung produces and uses its SSD controllers and NAND chips in the brand's SSDs.

In the case of the Samsung 980 Pro, the SSD employs the 8nm Elpis controller with a DRAM design. Additionally, Samsung's SSD controllers are typically larger than the competition. Regarding the NAND selection, the Samsung 980 Pro sports 128-layer TLC 3D V-NAND. The fraudulent Samsung 980 Pro drive uses YMTC's 128-layer TLC 3D NAND (X2-9060) built with the Chinese chipmaker's Xtacking 2.0 technology.



Fake Samsung 980 Pro(Image credit: Tieba Baidu)
With a different SSD controller and NAND, the bogus drive obviously won't perform similarly to a real Samsung 980 Pro. According to the user-provided benchmarks, the SSD delivered sequential read and write speeds of around 4.8 GBps and 4.5 GBps, respectively, in CrystalDiskMark and up to 4.2 GBps and 3.9 GBps in AS SSD. On the contrary, the Samsung 980 Pro offers sequential read and writes up to 7 GBps and 5 Gbps, respectively, depending on the capacity. So the performance numbers on the false drive are way off.


The merchant sold fake Samsung 980 Pro 2TB SSDs on Xianyu, Taobao's second-hand market, for 880 yuan or $127.77. The drives even come in official Samsung packaging. The price alone makes it easy to see that the SSD is a sham. The actual drive currently retails for $169.99(opens in new tab) on the U.S. market. The scammed user claims he had been out of the PC game for a while, so he wasn't up to speed on the latest technology. Furthermore, he reportedly didn't have a PC at hand, so ten days had passed before he could test the drive.

There's always an imminent risk to buying computer hardware on the second-hand market, especially in China. But even distinguished online shopping platforms, such as AliExpress or Taobao, are filled with malicious merchants ready to take advantage of less-knowledgeable consumers. These same actors have infiltrated U.S. retailers as third-party sellers. We've seen our fair shares of scam cases, like the $39 30TB portable SSD on Walmart or the $100 16TB SSD on Amazon. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

China lor. Bought at too god to be true deal.

I only dare buy from local authorized distributors and official stores.

These days so many are out to cheat and scam given half a chance

kakwank does not approve of this thread.

Inside man swap real for fake. Then u diu jor

fake fast charger and microSD card pun belambak on Lazada

If it is not fake, it is not from China

Kakwen cakap fake news sebab CCP x buat copy ori sume

haiyaa then i gotta go samsung factory and beg them to sell me 1 SSD and then hope factory got no inside man swapping away

fast charger RM30
128GB sd card RM15

but review 5 star, cepat htr, barang sampai, good good good

Kakwank: u all act like only China make fake stuff.

Because all the d*mba** reviews only review delivery time. The SD card thing I defend them, China make fake SD card when you plugin to computer can really see is 128GB even tho in real life is 8gb. They reflash the chip inside the SD card itself, and then program the chip to auto delete files when it goes past 8gb, so if you first got it you put one movie file 5gb+ to test, really look like can use.

Looks like 980 Pro is OK, they're trying.

Some fake Samsung SSD not even trying. You can find Samsung 980 Evo out there. Just what the fark since when there is 980 EVO and some people still fall for it. Bodoh

If the price is too good to be true, dont't buy

then maki buyer leave 1star rate for fake product.


https://shopee.com.my/Philips-S2-High-Quali...4c-6b255a858ca0

if not specifically mention ori mean it is confirmed fake according to this seller.

This post has been edited by failed.hashcheck: Mar 21 2023, 05:56 PM

i only buy from LCW computer shop

Samsung 980 Pro? omg

cny reduced price edition .. almost 3k people kena ketuk. big oof

Laz or sp...
Want buy....
Cheap...

on Xianyu, Taobao's second-hand market

don't buy second hand