New batch of ROG 4090s made in Vietnam?

[Darli328]

I recently got lucky and was able to get a new ROG OC 4090 sold and shipped by Newegg.
I noticed in unboxing videos of the ROG OC 4090 on the back plate towards the left above the serial number sticker there is another white sticker. My card does not have this sticker and I’m wondering if this is normal (maybe since mine is made in Vietnam)?
I also noticed in every unboxing video I saw their card says made in China right next to the serial number on the sticker.
Mine on the other hand says made in Vietnam as I mentioned and doesn’t have the white sticker above the serial number sticker.
Not sure if ASUS has two manufacturing facilities and just curious if this is normal or if there’s a chance I was scammed. I haven’t installed the card yet, I’m going out of town for a few days and hope to install it sometime next week.
I know I may sound a bit paranoid but I’ve been scammed in the past by being sold used 3090 Tis and used monitors when I clearly purchased new ones.
Thanks

[BillBittel]

Asus does have a factory in Viet Nam. I don't want to further worry you but that is where the Z690 motherboards that were failing and in some cases catching on fire due to a capacitor being installed backward came from. Any company can have a bad run. What concerned me about this one is that several people who work in circuit board assembly said that this mistake should NEVER have gotten past the automated QC checks that are standard practice for a product like a mobo. Apparently, each completed board is optically compared to a high-resolution reference photo and that process should have caught this error before the boards made it out of the factory. They were amazed that boards got released with this assembly error. Asus dodged the issue until it started showing up in the Trade Rags.

I should clarify that I don't own one of these boards so was not affected by this problem. I did go check where my Crosshair VIII Dark Hero and TUF 3080 OC (10G) were manufactured and was relieved to see that they were manufactured in Taiwan. I think Asus builds and ships from Viet Nam to get around import tariffs on products made in China. As for your GPU, I would not be concerned that it's not a real Asus GPU but I would inspect it and test it extensively RIGHT NOW.

As for New Egg - since they were bought by a Chinese company, their customer support has nosedived. Check out the New Egg Reddit for endless nightmare posts about New Egg delivery problems, shipping used and known defective merchandise, and refusing to accept returns or issuing refunds. Gamers Nexus even flew out and met with New Egg executives and called them out on this. Promises to improve were made but IIRC, when they checked back, everyone they met with was no longer there. I refuse to buy from New Egg anymore under any circumstances, which is a shame because I used to buy from them a lot. If I were you, I would install and test that GPU before any more time goes by. Don't wait. DO IT NOW. Good luck!

[Darli328]

BillBittel wrote:
Asus does have a factory in Viet Nam. I don't want to further worry you but that is where the Z690 motherboards that were failing and in some cases catching on fire due to a capacitor being installed backward came from. Any company can have a bad run. What concerned me about this one is that several people who work in circuit board assembly said that this mistake should NEVER have gotten past the automated QC checks that are standard practice for a product like a mobo. Apparently, each completed board is optically compared to a high-resolution reference photo and that process should have caught this error before the boards made it out of the factory. They were amazed that boards got released with this assembly error. Asus dodged the issue until it started showing up in the Trade Rags.

I should clarify that I don't own one of these boards so was not affected by this problem. I did go check where my Crosshair VIII Dark Hero and TUF 3080 OC (10G) were manufactured and was relieved to see that they were manufactured in Taiwan. I think Asus builds and ships from Viet Nam to get around import tariffs on products made in China. As for your GPU, I would not be concerned that it's not a real Asus GPU but I would inspect it and test it extensively RIGHT NOW.

As for New Egg - since they were bought by a Chinese company, their customer support has nosedived. Check out the New Egg Reddit for endless nightmare posts about New Egg delivery problems, shipping used and known defective merchandise, and refusing to accept returns or issuing refunds. Gamers Nexus even flew out and met with New Egg executives and called them out on this. Promises to improve were made but IIRC, when they checked back, everyone they met with was no longer there. I refuse to buy from New Egg anymore under any circumstances, which is a shame because I used to buy from them a lot. If I were you, I would install and test that GPU before any more time goes by. Don't wait. DO IT NOW. Good luck!

Thanks for the reply! I figured as much regarding production and trade tariffs.
I remember hearing about the Z690 issue. Any chance if you have an idea if that was the first/only ASUS component manufactured in Vietnam? I’m curious what the track record is for issues out of that facility? If they make everything there but only had an issue with that specific Z690 that wouldn’t seem as bad compared to if that Z690 was the first and only product they produce from there.

Regarding Newegg it’s one of the few options I have (I don’t live near a micro center). Basically, I received a notification that this specific card was in stock so I jumped at the chance. I did see the Gamers Nexus video which was very well done, but figured I’d risk it since it was sold/shipped by Newegg at retail and hasn’t been in stock (at retail) anywhere else.
Personally I’ve had some pretty bad luck with Amazon and try to avoid buying PC parts from them. I’ve bought a few new monitors from Amazon that were sold to me used or damaged (which I clearly bought new), and had the same experience with a 3090 Ti that was clearly used when I purchased new. In all those cases I bought directly from Amazon, and not a 3rd party seller.
Unfortunately for people like me that don’t live near a micro center, our options aren’t the best when shopping for parts.

Anyways, I’ll try testing the card out when I get back home. And, figures crossed everything is good, and hope there’s no coil whine.