Linus Tech Tips explains why you shouldn’t buy graphics cards from Wish

Eli Becht

YouTuber Linus Tech Tips bought five graphic cards from Wish to show the dangers of buying anything from the website.

Building your own PC is always an exciting time, but it can also end up being a very expensive endeavor.

As a result, you may want to cut corners and save money where you can, but Linus warns you to not buying any GPU from Wish.com because there’s a good chance that it could end up being a fake.

Linus holds a GPU in his hand in office with two monitors behind him
Linus is always handing out tech advice.

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In his February 27 video, the YouTuber revealed he had purchased five different cards from the site that seemed too good to be true.

Confirming his suspicions, the very first GPU he fired up – a GTX 1050 Ti – ended up being a fake. Obviously, this didn’t bode well for the other purchases considering the very first one was a dud off the bat.

The GPU was indeed a fake.

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He noted that the regular 1050 Ti would read as “GP107,” but the fakes are all saying they are “GF116.”

Linus explains that he thinks these graphics cards were actually put together with a bunch of different parts and then sold off as an imposter.

“It seems to be an old GPU that was harvested,” he said. “Kind of like we saw with those x79 motherboards that are made using repurposed server chipsets.”

(Quote begins at 5:14)

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Obviously, it’s hard to know if you’re going to always be getting a fake if you order from the website, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind if you are using Wish.

If you’re ever seeing a graphics card for a $100 off the market price and it seems too good to be true, then chances are that it might be. Linus’s advice would be to spend the extra money and get something you can trust instead trying to save a little bit of cash. Given his channel is built around handing out advice for builds, it’s no surprise this would be his recommendation.

With that said, it looks like the card will still work, but it definitely won’t be at the same level of performance that you’d expect it to be.

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About The Author

Eli is a former Dexerto writer. A passionate gaming writer, Eli has extensive knowledge of countless games and esports, and covers everything from the newest title to the next big streamer. Eli keeps readers up to date with all the latest news across the gaming industry.