Comparison: Intel i350-T4 Genuine vs Fake

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

YesThisIs

New Member
Apr 15, 2022
5
6
3
I have HD's where the model number on the label is different from the model number reported by the drive.
Yeah i looked bunch of different ebay listings and some don't even show up at all. Those who do, say the same thing as this one. (different model in the website than in the sticker)

Thank you for both of you. Let's just now hope this sucker works in my non-hp system :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samir and Fritz

jabuzzard

Member
Mar 22, 2021
45
18
8
I have HD's where the model number on the label is different from the model number reported by the drive.
I have hundreds of such drives, but there is nothing dodgy about them. OEM's have their own firmware versions and sometimes these change the model numbers but the drives stickers are the generic ones with the standard drive model numbers on them. Though with the OEM firmware version or at least the OEM firmware version it originally shipped with, as often they have been upgraded. Drives for HGST VSP arrays are like this for sure.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samir

513dg3

New Member
Sep 5, 2022
14
10
3
Looking for an authentic i350-T4V2. Don’t really care if it’s Intel retail, Dell or another OEM brand. I just don’t want a fake or “honest” knockoff.

Given the thread started so many years back and V2 has emerged since, what kind of price should I expect to see for a genuine card in todays market? Not that price alone will eliminate fakes but it may help provide a quick gut check of sorts.

US based, using USD.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samir

Fritz

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2015
3,353
1,370
113
69
Looking for an authentic i350-T4V2. Don’t really care if it’s Intel retail, Dell or another OEM brand. I just don’t want a fake or “honest” knockoff.

Given the thread started so many years back and V2 has emerged since, what kind of price should I expect to see for a genuine card in todays market? Not that price alone will eliminate fakes but it may help provide a quick gut check of sorts.

US based, using USD.
Best bet would be to buy from a reputable seller like CDW or ProVantage.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samir

513dg3

New Member
Sep 5, 2022
14
10
3
Best bet would be to buy from a reputable seller like CDW or ProVantage.
Thank you. And woah! I didn’t realize a 1GB NIC was pushing $225-300. That seems insane. Hence the reason everyone is dealing used I suppose.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samir

513dg3

New Member
Sep 5, 2022
14
10
3
I might add one of the things I find confusing when looking at the auction site is the inductors. The original shows a single line of text parallel with the two rows of holes up above. The counterfeit shows 3 rows of text and the direction is parallel to the 5 holes instead (shift of 90 degree text orientation).

However, while many of the tell-tale signs of an authentic card appear to check out the inductors keep throwing me off. Is this something that changed later in the line? Or are these just better fakes that still didn't get the inductors right?

Example 1 (think it's real):

Example 2 (think it's real):

Authentic (from original post):
1662410107416.png

Counterfeit (from original post):
1662410141015.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samir

Fritz

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2015
3,353
1,370
113
69
Most all of my Intel NIC's have come from eBay. I usually buy the cheapest from the most reputable seller. No doubt I'm running a few fakes but where ignorance is bliss................
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samir and 513dg3

513dg3

New Member
Sep 5, 2022
14
10
3
Most all of my Intel NIC's have come from eBay. I usually buy the cheapest from the most reputable seller. No doubt I'm running a few fakes but where ignorance is bliss................
That's fair enough.

And I know I'm being particular as well. I am repurposing a 2014 Mac Mini in combo with Akitio Thunder2 (Thunderbolt 2 to PCIe) enclosure to house an Intel NIC to run with pfSense so everything plays nicely with netmap and inline IDS/IPS. I'm not looking for more headaches. Although I guess it could be the solution as I'm about to the point of selling and starting from a better base.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samir

513dg3

New Member
Sep 5, 2022
14
10
3
I haven’t seen any counterfeit Supermicro i350 cards.
These are pretty reasonably priced, $50 or less, many at the $30 or less mark. Not to sound paranoid, but why? :D

How do I differentiate between T4 and T4V2? Or did V2 make it's way into the Supermicro version?

Lastly, just to clarify, despite the branding -- this still runs Intel drivers and is recognized (by pfSense) as Intel?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samir

Fritz

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2015
3,353
1,370
113
69
I'm running PfSense on an old Super Micro X10SLV-Q which has 2 Intel NIC's builtin. Been running for years without any major problems. Some time in the not too distant future I'll be moving it to a HyperV server with 2 i350 and 2 addon i340 NIC's.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samir

Samir

Post Liker and Deal Hunter Extraordinaire!
Jul 21, 2017
3,241
1,424
113
49
HSV and SFO
Yeah, this is surely why the counterfeit market is so strong !
The reason the counterfeit market is strong is because people are willing to buy and run fakes. If you application needs the real deal, you'll pay the (appropriate) real deal price.

At some point this is all going to get worse if Intel doesn't do something about the problem though. If R&D money is having to be recouped on less sales of legit cards, then the cost of each card's share of that R&D cost is going to increase, which will drive the price higher which will make fakes more enticing and then becomes its own feedback loop. There's a certain point where it's not worth making product any more because all you're doing is providing fakers with the plans for their products and your genuine ones don't sell.

Fakes are built on dishonesty and flat out theft--theft of ideas, theft of marketshare, theft of revenues. There's a certain point when you've been robbed you don't want to help others that rob people, but that only seems to come around when one themselves has been robbed. It's a sad state of affairs when everyone needs to be robbed to have the ethical stomach to not support robbers, but here we are in the 'modern miracle' of humanity. :rolleyes:
 

RTM

Well-Known Member
Jan 26, 2014
956
359
63
What's the general consensus on this Fujitsu, genuine of fake? Fujitsu D3045-A11/Intel i350-AM4 Quad Port Gigabit Network Card Low Profile | eBay According to Intel i350-AM4 is a different chipset (though doesn't seem to be inferior). All the pictures I can find of the card elsewhere looks the same.
The Fujitsu D3045 is not an Intel i350-T4 card.
However it uses the same controller (I350AM4) and is made by by an "enterprise grade" vendor.

I would not be the least worried about using them in general (in fact I have bought multiple in the past, and they worked fine).

Whether or not the cards being sold are real Fujitsu D3045 I don't know, I would say they looks about right for a D3045, but I can't be arsed to look at the minute details of mine for comparison to answer it better.
The fact that it is a Fujitsu makes in in my humble opinion less likely to be a fake (most of the fake ones are Intel I350-T's or look-alikes, D3045 is a different design), but there are never any guarantees.

The seller is German (commonplace to get Fujitsu stuff) and has a decent rating, so it bodes well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samir and Rusna

Vorwrath

Member
Feb 24, 2020
21
28
13
I dunno, there seem to be a lot of those Fujitsu D3045-A11 cards popping up on UK eBay lately as well, with many of them being "brand new" and suspiciously cheap.

They look fairly convincing, but it's probably worth exercising some caution. Hard to know whether it's a new fake, or whether somebody found a stack of them in a warehouse and is selling them off.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samir and Rusna