Last month, we reported that Samsung 990 Pro SSDs were being counterfeited. However, in that case, the performance of those counterfeits was abysmal, with transfer speeds hovering around 20 MB/s. But the new counterfeits go a step further and are capable of fooling benchmarking software. This time, we’re talking about simulated transfer speeds reaching up to 7.2 GB/s.
990 Pro: counterfeit SSDs are becoming increasingly difficult to detect!
Good performance for a counterfeit!
Where the copy really shines is when run through benchmarking software like Crystal DiskMark. In benchmarks, the copy delivers solid performance with 7.25 MB/s in sequential read speeds versus 6 MB/s in sequential write speeds. By comparison, the original model reaches up to 7.45 MB/s and 6.95 MB/s for sequential read and write speeds.
But outside of benchmarks, if you try to copy a large file—say, 400 GB—using FastCopy, performance drops significantly, and it takes much longer to complete the transfer than with the genuine model: 25 minutes at 261 MB/s versus 3 minutes and 30 seconds at 1,861 MB/s for the genuine SSD.
Almost like the real thing!
The idea is to pass off low-end, even poor-quality hardware as an original product sold at a higher price. To do this, the SSDs look strikingly similar to the real ones from Samsung. The label is well reproduced, while the packaging and manual are faithful to the original, although a few subtle details give away the copy. However, the memory controller is not the same, of course. The copy uses a Maxio MAP1602, and there is noDRAMcache, which means it cannot sustain performance in real-world use.
But there is one thing the fake SSD cannot fool: software detection. For example, in Crystal DiskInfo, we find a suspicious serial number: 8888888888, while Samsung Magician, the Korean brand’s software, identifies the SSD as a “non-Samsung 990 Pro.” For now, these are the simplest ways to distinguish the real from the fake using sustained transfer tests.