It doesn't just have the wrong processor, it's been modified at the firmware level to reflect in the system a CPU that's not installed.
this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2026
152 points (99.4% liked)
Technology
82745 readers
2876 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
So just plain fraud
Completely.
They've been doing this for probably as long as they've been in business.
Whoa. That's fucked. I expected the story was more of a "we should have called this one the LaptopBook XI instead of X like the last model, and resellers really fucked up the listing."
I was extremely wrong.
Reality is it's more of a "5090 on eBay is really a 5060ti with flashed baloney firmware" job. (I'm an AMD guy don't @ me)
Chuwi has been around for a long time.
I don't believe the word "trust" has ever been used to describe that company.
It's odd they found this in the unit the manufacturer sent them for review. With this kind of scam they would normally make sure the review models had the correct processor. I wonder if this was done by a supplier or subcontractor without them knowing.
Can these processors use the same motherboard? It might be a big effort to make a custom one for review, more than just dropping in another part. And more costly too, if it meant redesigning other parts.
Yes all these processors coming from the same generation will use the same socket/BGA pattern and similar BIOS firmware.
They're from different generations though. 5500U is Zen 2 while 7430U is Zen 3.
That's my bad for not remembering AMD's fucking atrocious nonstandard mobile chip naming schemes.
That said, I went and looked up both models, they are both listed as using the FP6 interface. So they are electrically and mechanically compatible, likely just needing a bios update, my point is still valid.
That’s my bad for not remembering AMD’s fucking atrocious nonstandard mobile chip naming schemes.
Atrocious compared to Intel? The first CPU with the name Core i7 was released in 2008, but Intel is still releasing a CPU named Core i7 as recently as 2023. They both suck, but in different ways.
Everyone's nomenclature sucks after 2016. Model numbers don't mean anything is what I mean lol
Honestly, we know where the root of this problem came from. Back in the 1990s Intel broke with convention of using ever increasing numeric model numbers
- 8086
- 8088
- 80186
- 80286
- 80386
- 80486
- Pentium ...wait, what?! Not 80586? Nope.
Intel didn't like that other CPU manufacturers of x86 CPUs (AMD, Cyrix, IBM) could use the same numbering scheme. So Intel created "Pentium" because it could be copyrighted/trademarked so other companies couldn't use it.
~~There is no 80486. It's called the i486.~~
There is no CPU with a model number of Pentium. Intel's flagship CPUs, in order, were:
- 4004
- 8008
- 8080
- 8085
- 8086
- 80186 (for less than a month; model number A80186)
- 80286 (model number A80286)
- 80386 (later renamed to i386; model number A80386)
- i486 (model number A80486)
- Pentium (model number A80500, A80501, A80502)
The i386 and i486 had multiple variants with suffixes to the model number (the 486DX and DX2 are often mentioned), and then the Pentium had enough variants that they incremented the model number a couple of times and then changed it completely; Pentium Pro and later CPUs have completely different model numbers.
Such a confident answer! And so incorrect too!
That's a model number, not a name. The first Pentium had a model number of A80501, but you wouldn't seriously claim that it's really the 80501, would you?
Read my prior post, I specifically SAID it was a model number.
You're embarrassing yourself with your pedantry. You said 80486 didn't exist. It did. Seriously, quit while you're behind here.
Oops, my mistake, you were wrong about the Pentium, then, not the 486. Its model number, as I said, was A80501. You switched from model numbers to names.
Oops, my mistake
Apology accepted. Have a great day!
What does the CPUID instruction say?
It's interesting that in the screenshot in the article, the CPU is identified as a Ryzen 5 7430U but then it gives the codename "Lucienne", which is the 5500U's name. So apparently they didn't fake it perfectly.
It's interesting that, reading through their original review, they didn't seem so think that the APU was lacking in performance for what it's supposed to be. It doesn't even perform that much worse that a real 7430U in their synthetic benchmarks.