The thought was immediately uncomfortable, triggering his ingrained paranoia. Trust? Who could he possibly trust with a secret like this? How could he bring someone in without risking everything? The practicalities seemed insurmountable. He pushed the thought away, burying it under the immediate satisfaction of his success. A problem for Future Theo, he decided grimly. The Theo who has millions, who can afford layers of security and plausible deniability. For now, the solitary climb continued.
He signalled for the check. It arrived discreetly presented in a leather folder. $250 before tip. A sum that would have crippled him just weeks ago. Now, he barely glanced at it, adding a generous tip on top of the already included service charge, feeling expansive. He paid with a debit card linked to one of his buffer accounts, the transaction effortless. He walked out of the restaurant into the cool, damp night air. The glittering view of the city seemed slightly less triumphant now, the enhanced flavours fading on his tongue, replaced by the lingering, undeniable taste of his own isolation. The money was rolling in, yes. But the peak, he suspected, was going to be incredibly lonely.
Week 12 started with the same frenetic energy, but the sheer volume was becoming harder to manage solo. Theo sold another five cards by Tuesday, the $2200 price point holding firm. He was on track to hit his target of moving forty units well before the end of Week 13. He was contemplating raising the price again, maybe standardizing at $2300, when the first tremor hit.
It arrived Wednesday afternoon, not as a hostile forum post, but as a link dropped into one of his sales threads with the comment: "Anyone seen this?? Is this one of your cards, Voltaic??"
Video Title: INSANE RTX 4090 Defies Physics! 🤯 - LeoTech Vids Views: 2.8 Million
Theo clicked the link, his brow furrowing at the hyperbolic title. The video opened with Leo, a massively popular tech influencer known for his high-energy reviews and benchmark deep dives, holding an ASUS TUF RTX 4090, identical to one Theo had sold early last week.
"Alright tech fam!" Leo beamed into the camera. "Today, we've got something WILD! We picked up this used 4090 from an online forum seller, totally standard transaction, nothing weird, but folks, buckle UP! We slapped this beast into our test bench expecting, you know, 4090 performance…" Cut to benchmark footage – Time Spy Extreme, Cyberpunk 2077 with path tracing, Alan Wake 2. The frame rates displayed were impossibly high, consistently matching or even beating stock RTX 5090 numbers Leo showed for comparison.
Leo's face filled the screen again, eyes wide with genuine astonishment. "I don't know HOW, people! Maybe it's a one-in-a-billion silicon lottery win? Maybe Jensen Huang personally blessed this card? Maybe it fell off an alien spaceship?! All I know is this RTX 4090… it's performing like a freakin' 5090! We're calling it the Golden God-Tier 4090! If you find one like this… BUY IT!"
The video ended with dramatic music and links to Leo's sponsors. Theo stared at the screen, the excited voiceover fading into a dull roar in his ears. 2.8 million views. And climbing. This wasn't niche forum chatter. This was mainstream tech entertainment reaching a massive audience, showcasing his impossible enhancement with flashing graphics and breathless hyperbole. Too much attention, a cold voice whispered in his mind. Too loud. Too visible.
The fallout was immediate. Thursday morning, his phone blew up with notifications, not just from forums, but from Google News alerts he hadn't even set up.
The Verge:The Mystery of the 'Super' 4090s: Hoax or Hardware Anomaly?Engadget:Viral Video Sparks Hunt for RTX 4090s Allegedly Outperforming 5090sPC Gamer:Is Nvidia Hiding God-Tier 4090s? Gamers Scramble for Elusive CardsKotaku:This YouTuber Found a Magical 4090 – And Now Everyone Wants One
The narrative shifted instantly from niche curiosity to a tech news cycle frenzy. Speculation ran rampant online, secret Nvidia bins, driver exploits, elaborate hoaxes. His remaining forum listings were bombarded with messages, some offering ludicrous sums, others demanding proof he was selling the same kind of "God-Tier" card Leo found. The signal-to-noise ratio became impossible. Managing sales turned from efficient processing to navigating a minefield of hype, suspicion, and unrealistic expectations.
Theo felt the walls closing in. This was spiralling out of control. He paced his small apartment, the stacks of unsold GPU boxes suddenly feeling less like assets and more like incriminating evidence. He needed to slow down, maybe pause listings until the hype died down.
Then, late Thursday afternoon, the hammer blow fell. A news alert from Reuters, picked up by every major tech site within minutes:
Headline:Nvidia Responds to 'Super 4090' Reports: 'Impossible Under Normal Conditions', Company Launches Internal Investigation.
Theo clicked, his hand trembling slightly. The article detailed an official statement from Nvidia's Santa Clara headquarters. A spokesperson categorically denied the possibility of stock 4090s matching 5090 performance through any "silicon lottery," calling such claims "unsubstantiated" and likely resulting from "erroneous testing methodologies or unsupported hardware/software modifications." The chilling final sentence: "Nvidia takes all reports of abnormal hardware performance seriously and has launched an internal investigation to ensure market integrity and identify the source of these claims."