On Reddit, a user announced that they had purchased a Samsung 990 Pro 2TB SSD for around $205 from a local retailer. However, while it looks genuine and passes software inspection, its performance is anything but. Its transfer speeds are similar to those of an old USB flash drive!
990 Pro 2TB: a counterfeit SSD that performs as well as an old USB flash drive!
Currently, a Samsung 990 Pro 2TB is worth almost €400 in the current climate of tension. So when you can get one of these models for $200, it’s easy to see why xox-lover was tempted. However, while the SSD doesn’t raise any suspicions visually, with the sticker in place and the SSD looking clean overall, it also passes muster on the software side. Indeed, monitoring software classifies it correctly as a Samsung SSD, and the reference displayed matches the product. Windows detects the SSD correctly, as does CrystalDiskInfo, which displays firmware 0B2QJXD7. Well, there is just one thing that is wrong with the interface displayed as PCIe 3.0 and not PCIe 4.0. But if you don’t pay attention to it, it’s fine.
However, when transferring large files, the transfer speeds plummet, and the SSD is incredibly slow, as fast as an old USB key from at least 20 years ago! This caught the attention of our Redditor of the day, who decided to run CrystalDisk Mark, and the results were in: 22 MB/s sequential read versus 10 MB/s sequential write. He then decided to run the SSD through Samsung Magician, Samsung’s utility, which displayed an error. Yes, the SSD is a fake, and the brand’s utility clearly shows this, which explains the rock-bottom speeds. However, a 990 Pro 2TB performs well: 7.45 GB/s read speed versus 6.9 GB/s write speed.
Since the SSD was purchased at a local store, the retailer agrees to refund it because he is a good customer. This leaves several questions unanswered: what if xox-lover hadn’t been a good customer? And what kind of store agrees to sell counterfeit products (assuming it is aware of this) to its preferred customers?
