Amazon accidentally ships counterfeit AMD APUs

Counterfeit goods of all sorts have long been a problem in modern manufacturing, but it's been a long time since I've heard of fake CPUs making it all the way through a major distribution chain. It seems Amazon.com was inadvertently selling at least a few fake AMD A8-7600 APUs -- at least two customers have left poor reviews alleging that they received the wrong hardware.

One of the shoppers posted his chip to Overclockers.co.uk(Opens in a new window), where readers identified it as an AM2 core. Subsequent research proved it was an Athlon 64 5200+ -- a chip that dates back to 2007 and doesn't exactly come in a compatible form factor with the Kaveri-based A8-7600.

Once upon a time, this problem was more common. AMD and Intel used to use chip lids that were easier to counterfeit, and exercised less control over their respective supply lines. Counterfeit chips weren't uncommon -- the more unscrupulous vendors would use Windows exploits or, in one case, a hacked BIOS to fool the OS into thinking that the chip in the motherboard was something other than it was.

As part of our ongoing efforts to help ensure consumers and businesses are sold only genuine AMD processors, we thoroughly investigate these extremely rare incidents in an effort to determine the source of the altered products, and consider all available legal remedies - including both civil and criminal prosecution - against persons found to have engaged in fraudulent actions affecting AMD products. We are working in close cooperation with Amazon and the local enforcement authorities to conclude this incident quickly and ensure that the rigorous quality and reliability standards that AMD is known for are maintained. In addition, while AMD already implements extensive security measures to ensure the authenticity of our products, we are currently evaluating further measures to implement additional security measures for maximum future support.

Both AMD and Intel take these kinds of allegations very seriously -- counterfeit chips leaking into the official channel in apparently official boxed packaging could do a great deal of damage to a company's reputation if the problem isn't fixed in short order.