Comparison: Intel i350-T4 Genuine vs Fake

[RTM]

only one I350 product ID that faker never use:
1520 I350 Ethernet Controller Virtual Function

this is for blade system that has fabric built-in


the funny thing, I never see Broadcom fake NIC card , heheh

No... 1520 is for virtual function devices when using the i350 in SR-IOV mode.

 

[canta]

No... 1520 is for virtual function devices when using the i350 in SR-IOV mode.

that be true to provide virtual root Hardware

if you have on integrated NIC i350 on blade system.. 1520 is listed..

 

[neo]

Let me backtrack slightly, my innate concern regarding the WinYao brand stem to 4 main points. Please acknowledge these are facts with appended opinions.

WinYao

• Do not use brands of quality for passive components. Most notably, the ethernet transformer. Intel branded cards all use the highly vetted Delta as wherein WinYao and other notable counterfeits do not. Personally, this is reminiscent of the large influx of poor quality Chinese capacitors. I would venture to say this would be the source of most people's issues who or if have experienced issues with these respective cards.

• Some photos of the WinYao cards have the crystal oscillator branding blurred. This only leads to negative connotations. Further, I have not even attempted to compare the smaller SMD components on the WinYao card.
  
  
• As a new Chinese brand, I am always cautious to ascertain their quality control, warranty, and support.

• On some vendor marketplaces, these cards are sold and marketed under the specific Intel i350-T4 name. A cause of confusion for the average consumer.

Either way, I am not telling you what you should or should not purchase. I am presenting facts, opinions, and perhaps suggestions in this convoluted sector.

 

[Keljian]

Here are some close up photos of the WI350-T4 which has worked perfectly for 2.5 years until replaced with a Mellanox 10gbe card - sorry about the dust

 

[RTM]

Here are some close up photos of the WI350-T4 which has worked perfectly for 2.5 years until replaced with a Mellanox 10gbe card - sorry about the dust

Note the sticker on the back "identifying" it as an Intel I350-T4, certainly doesn't look good for Winyao.

I am curious though, where did you get your card?
eBay, dealextreme or somewhere else?
Was it identified as Winyao when you bought it?

 

[RTM]

that be true to provide virtual root Hardware

if you have on integrated NIC i350 on blade system.. 1520 is listed..

I guess it is not unfathomable that the identifier has more than one legitimate use

The reason why I mentioned 1520, is that it is the identifier that I see when I enable SR-IOV VFs on my Fujitsu card. I wonder how the fabric works on those blade servers work, but I guess it makes sense if they "share" an I350 controller.

 

[Keljian]

Note the sticker on the back "identifying" it as an Intel I350-T4, certainly doesn't look good for Winyao.

I am curious though, where did you get your card?
eBay, dealextreme or somewhere else?
Was it identified as Winyao when you bought it?

You will notice the first few barcode numbers are 7 690 - 690 denotes China.

I got it from eBay, it was listed as an i350-am4 card. Winyao branded. The box said winyao on it. - Even the shipping box said Winyao.

 

[Nom]

You will notice the first few barcode numbers are 7 690 - 690 denotes China.

I got it from eBay, it was listed as an i350-am4 card. Winyao branded. The box said winyao on it.

That's not a WinYao card - it's just a generic clone like all the others mentioned earlier in the thread.

The only reason I singled out WinYao in the first place, was because they actually take the time to design their own PCBs, and they include their brandname on the cards :


This may, or may not, mean that they are "better" cards than the fakes.

I think it probably does mean they at least work reliably, and so I choose to use them.
I would not choose to use one of the unbranded fakes.

The Intel I350 chipset is present under the heatsink, no matter real or fake card - so I don't think it's unreasonable for even the fakes to name themselves I350. After all, this is what they are faking

 

[Keljian]

Not sure, maybe mine was pre-branding? All I know is it said winyao on the box.

Could be a fake of a winyao? Don't know, don't care- it worked/works

 

[canta]

That's not a WinYao card - it's just a generic clone like all the others mentioned earlier in the thread.

The only reason I singled out WinYao in the first place, was because they actually take the time to design their own PCBs, and they include their brandname on the cards :
View attachment 936

This may, or may not, mean that they are "better" cards than the fakes.

I think it probably does mean they at least work reliably, and so I choose to use them.
I would not choose to use one of the unbranded fakes.

The Intel I350 chipset is present under the heatsink, no matter real or fake card - so I don't think it's unreasonable for even the fakes to name themselves I350. After all, this is what they are faking

that is old WinYao model , they use old style eth tras ballon.


this is true that intel chipset.
the question is how they can get
those chipset are soldly for OEM product where by rule only company that works for Intel to make Intel cards can get the roll.

check ghost factory in China
they recycle components . and use defect(non pass) chipset to make a new one.
I believe, they got supplies from grey market that collect defect chipsets with a good bargain price in Yuan/RMB

as I said many times, if your non original OEM Intel card dies, just blame on something hehehe.

working reliably means can be tortured with HIGH I/O tranfer rate and runnning 24/7.

if you need reliably only, realtek NIC is the best, the only issue is not good data transfer throughput.

 

[canta]

You will notice the first few barcode numbers are 7 690 - 690 denotes China.

I got it from eBay, it was listed as an i350-am4 card. Winyao branded. The box said winyao on it. - Even the shipping box said Winyao.

yes WinYao, they make different board too!!

the good thing, WinYao put their own brand bravely...

 

[Hizzo3]

Anyone know if the supermicro is set up to only be run in a supermicro MB? I picked up a AOC-SGP-I4 and my PC won't even post. Just starts, does the post beep and shuts right back down. As far as I can tell,I got a legit one.
I'm worried that the fake one may have damaged something, but it posts just fine without the AOC-SGP-I4, or the fake one in... But the china one will power on for a few, then powers right back off and I can't pass traffic, but I can still see it in my xenserver. Odd.

 

[NetUser901]

Hi guys/gals, I came across this thread while researching Intel quad nics. Is there any concern about backdoors existing due to hacked firmware and/or chip processors since they are not the same chips used in genuine cards (i.e. Delta vs counterfeit Delta)? Would flashing the lastest Intel firmware possibly erase any backdoors?

Download Intel® Ethernet Connections Boot Utility, Preboot images, and EFI Drivers

Thanks

 

[zedkyuu]

My understanding is that the counterfeits simply stop working too soon. I don't know about backdoors.

 

[NetUser901]

Thanks zedkyuu

Maybe I'm being too paranoid, I don't know .

Maybe if the firmware were hacked, flashing an updated one from Intel would remove any backdoors? (thinking out loud) The only wildcard being the Delta chips, as I'm not sure exactly how they work or if they have their own firmware.

Futher reserach revealed a similar discussion on the pfSense forum:
FYI Those cheap Chinese i350-T4/AM4 nics on ebay work!
Posts 14-17 and 28-31

 

[Gene]

just wanted to say I didn't see this thread until after I ordered a chinese i350-t4 off ebay. Tried to cancel before shipping but seller refused. Once I confirm it's a counterfeit i'm going to try to return/refund it. I may be out $50

 

[klree]

just wanted to say I didn't see this thread until after I ordered a chinese i350-t4 off ebay. Tried to cancel before shipping but seller refused. Once I confirm it's a counterfeit i'm going to try to return/refund it. I may be out $50

For paying $50, you should know what it is before you place the order. LOL

 

[Gene]

For paying $50, you should know what it is before you place the order. LOL

Brain cells were tired from a hard week of crunching numbers at work. I/T isn't my field so i wasn't up on the counterfeiting issues. just assumed it was a refurb or something. Honestly $50 isn't much money to me so i didn't do as much research as usual.

 

[Keljian]

The question is why you are using a 4 port card.

 

[gig-e-nator]

Hello,

I'm trying to find a genuine i350 quad port for the best possible price (aren't we all?). Have seen quite a few Dell OEM ones out there (pulls, new, etc.) but with the previous post here talking about Dell disabling SR-IOV on their 9YD6K product, I am hesitant to consider any Dell OEM ones at all. SR-IOV is one of the main reasons I want an i350 T4, along with PCI v2.1 and good Linux driver support.

Can anyone out there by chance give a "success story" of buying a Dell OEM of these that had SR-IOV *enabled*?

Also, does anyone know of OEM part numbers for i350T4V2's (the ones with updated power up current draw)?

Thanks,
gig-e-nator