Comparison: Intel i350-T4 Genuine vs Fake

I think it's clear to say that producing a sub-par product and calling them another's better product is wrong.

I'm suggesting that there's a business and market strategy of Intel's that is acerbating the issue. It might be caught between the conflicting need for low prices in some markets and excellent warranties in others.

I'm suggesting that perhaps if Intel sold it's NICs at a lower price point everywhere, the issue might be eased. Competitive and market characteristics aside, it might just be wanting to retain a high profit margin.

Right now Intel makes a higher priced product and the third-parties make money on cheapo products. Everyone winning but me the consumer

 

That's nice. 'AM4' is in their description but then they also call it a I350-T4. Benefit of the doubt they're confused, less, they're being disingenuous.

Something that is super annoying is the blurred product images that accompany the legitimate listings everywhere. Example:

Intel Ethernet Server Adapter I350-T4 - Newegg.com

I think it's intentional and does a disservice. Sure it keeps a third-party from using a picture but then buyers don't know what the real one looks like when buying. I think they should use a clear/sharp picture. It's just silly. I dont' think it would serve a purpose of preventing look-alikes. At worst it's contributing and obfuscating the issue.

 

I'm going to venture and state they do not intentionally blur the photo. They seem to be using a stock photo which originally was low resolution. Why Newegg takes high quality photos themselves for some products and uses stock low resolution for other products is a good question.

Interestingly enough, just like Amazon, NewEgg also has 3rd party resellers. Some directly from China. At first glance, this seems to be a counterfeit i350-T4 which NewEgg is affiliating in selling.

 

I can't find a good one from Intel:
i350-t4 site:intel.com - Google Search

Might the reason be that there are many parties making similar cards? It might not want to have a reference image in case it changes things or because it wants to allow others to make the cards different and not have to have it compared against a reference one. I think it would be nice if Intel made all these things more clear.

It took me a lot of time to figure out what an I350-T2/4 from Intel looks like and what was going on with the AM chips. I understand what's going on and now I can make choices based on that. I'm a little upset at how much time and effort it took to figure it out and how many people figure it out later rather then sooner after they've been had.

I wonder what the SuperMicro cards are like? Anyone have one? They have a nice price point but they look like they are quite a different card from the images. Different inductors? Anything else? I'd buy a 'non-reference' if you will if it is good. I wonder if they think they have less issues with power supplies or something.

I was happy to pay more money to Intel since it appeared their NIC is perhaps generally more robust and has a good warranty. I wouldn't mind being able to get equivalent quality and warranty from SuperMicro though...

 

In my opinion, the problem with Intel and the i350 cards is the convoluted market. Along with vendors lacking due diligence to protect the consumer. But then again, maybe we are at fault. If enough people demand a low priced product, someone will supply.

I also just came across this, might be interesting. Intel® Server Adapters —
How to Identify the Intel® Network Adapter Model Using the Serial Number?

This is the official i350-T4 product photo that Intel uses. Which is the same photo that NewEgg uses, but a lower resolution one.
Obviously the individual components branding are edited out.

 

Yup. I think their messaging could me more clear about this though. The issue of 'counterfeits' relates to Intel and it's market strategy and could/should be addressed by them. They make money on both ends - their own I350 card and a pallet of AM4 chips sold to whoever wants to use them on a card or motherboard.

The reality seems more like AMD/nVIDIA GPU/video cards - you get a reference design and then third-parties make variants. This is also like CPUs/chipsets/motherboards. The fact is it varies even more as it might be on a motherboard whose implementation is very different from a reference card of theirs. Note that on motherboards we see the I350 designation used but not the same other components that are on an I350 card from Intel.

Seems they might expect theirs or others' implementation to vary. If the latter then curiously it becomes harder to say the other's are countefeits. I don't think other AM4 implementations (read somewhere) are supposed to use the I350 product name however but if Intel is marketing the I350 rather then AM4 based solutions and some implementation variations are legitimately called I350s then I have to sympathyise partially with someone building a low cost variant and then including I350 in the name. Is there a validation program or something so that a motherboard or card can use the term I350?

Anyways, I hope all this helps the next person who has to buy something AM4/I350(ish/like) . If in doubt buy one from Intel and a large seller directly or a large OEM. Right?

 

One reviewer on amazon calls this one out as a fake. That's one out of 12 reviews. Apparently most buyers are blissfully unaware that they're been had.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005ATA17I/?tag=extension-kb-20

 

I personally would recommend an individual in the market for an Intel i350 to purchase a used OEM from a well known brand such a Dell since counterfeits have became so ubiquitous.

 

For used ones on Ebay that might be easier/safer.

What are the PCI id's on your OEM ones? The Intel ones are '8086:1521'.

I can thnk of some convenience in usage in having the same PCI identifers between the OEM and Intel devices.

 

on my previpus post. this is clear the fake are using clone active components, they even erase and relable marking. and EVEN say " intel OEM or based on intel bla2"

Intel Selling low? this would calculate on good active components and warranty
I bet, Intel can not match with faker.

thirdparty make fake intel nic. this make unaware customer do not realize. consumer is a loser like us when buying faked low quality.
only one manufacture that use theri own brand!!! do you wan to know?..

 

Yes, it's not cool.

Obviously those manufacturers have not taken it upon themselves to stop making fakes. And Alibaba, Ebay, Amazon et. al. aren't preventing their distribution. They and Intel should be working more effectively to prevent it. I think Intel can help with more information so we can better identify fakes and can avoid putting money in the hands of those vendors who try to trick consumers into buying the fakes. Also, if there is a market for cards that are non-reference or made by others then it should be established and legitimized. As of now all those parties mentioned are making money somewhere in that chain at the consumer's expense. I would like to know if and what low-cost alternative implementations are OK as long as they are not mis-represented. Some them are clearly designed to mis-represent themselves and others seem to potentially be legitimate alternatives. We can and should, with information and intent, avoid buying the fakes that are usable and demand that they either be legitimate non-reference or alternative implementations.

Can you explain?

 

stopping is kind of hard.
do you ever hear about ghost factory?
they take all rejected parts and combined with low quality/clone active parts to became "faked" one
or they recycle active components and reuse to be a new one.
stamping is easy, erase/grind and relabel

this is the same identical plague with other fakes. I believe this can be resolved when Chinese govermenent involve to minimize counterfeit. Alas... never happens as today, and we need China to make lower cost electronic products.


the only chinese brand aftermarket i350 ->WinYao WYI350-T4 Quad Port RJ45 Gigabit Network Card
they did not erase and relabel the marking. theur active componets are cheaps/low quality/clone.

 

I was the one that had the counterfeit card fail early in the other thread. I like many of you enjoy a good deal on a bit of hardware. I certainly peruse ebay every few weeks for some good deals and these networking cards are certainly priced well below retail.

But as they say if a deal is too good to be true it probably is and that is what has happened here. I'm in the market for some cheap 10Gb cards but I'm afraid to purchase any from ebay because I don't want to get burned. I may instead pay full whack just to get legitimate intel adapters.

I hope Intel does something about this counterfeit market as it's removing my confidence in purchasing Intel equipment, especially when even big box retailers seem to be getting caught out more and more by counterfeit goods making their way into their supply chains.

 

I'm 96% sure that I have a fake Intel i340-T2 card. The PCB doesn't even have an Intel logo silkscreened on!





(Click for larger images)

 

Looks fake to me. Was it sold to you as genuine Intel?

I notice a lot of these sellers are saying things like "Genuine Intel i340-T4 Chip" instead of Card. I do wonder if even the chip under the heatsink is genuinely from Intel or some fabricant.

 

I don't recall the listing but I believe if it said, "Fake Intel i340-T4 Chip" I probably wouldn't have picked it up.

How difficult would it be to remove the heatsink? Heat gun? I'm up for taking a stab at it!

 

To be honest if the chip functions like the real thing using the real drivers then it'll probably be difficult for us to tell outside of any obvious markings.

I was more speaking generally about all these cards if any of these counterfeits are using real processors or knock offs under the heatsink.

 

101% fake i340
heatsink for? I got no Idea,
as I Know previous dual nic (82571EB) needs heatsink.
dual nic I340 (82580) does NOTneed heatsink.

the 82580 is barely hot!!!!

do you know PCI ID?
on linux via lspci:
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82580 Gigabit Network Connection (rev 01)
01:00.1 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82580 Gigabit Network Connection (rev 01)



mine bight from ebay as new/OEM.

 

pull with gentle force.
they use double side heat tape for cheap

 

the first step is to know pci ID first .
do you have pci ID tha would like to share for fake one?