Users on online forums are reporting unusually cheap versions of the popular Samsung 990 Pro SSD. Upon receipt, these drives, which are a standard 8 cm long, look completely authentic, including the packaging and stickers. The problems begin immediately after installation in a computer, when it turns out that the read and write speeds are limited to a measly 20 MB\/s, which is a thousand times less than the performance of the real product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hardware analysis revealed that the counterfeits do not contain Samsung controllers or NAND memory at all. Instead, they use the cheapest possible components, which are often software-engineered so that the operating system initially displays the wrong capacity, such as 2 TB or 4 TB. When the user tries to load a larger amount of data, the system crashes or starts overwriting existing files. For buyers who paid anywhere from \u20ac45 to \u20ac90 for these \u201cbargain\u201d purchases, this is a painful lesson that a price that is too good to be true is almost always a sign of a scam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Experts advise that buyers only buy their components from trusted retailers. A genuine Samsung 990 Pro usually costs between \u20ac160 and \u20ac210, depending on capacity. Counterfeit copies are often sold in Asian markets and unverified websites. If you have already made a purchase, check the device with Samsung Magician; if the software does not recognize it, you have a fake in your hands, which is only a few millimeters thick, but can cause you a lot of problems with data loss.<\/p>\n