Anti-cheat systems ban buyers of used PC parts over previous owners' flags

Players of Valorant and other online shooters are getting banned after installing secondhand CPUs, GPUs and other components, because anti-cheat tools like Vanguard flag individual hardware, not just accounts. A German user who bought a used Ryzen 7 5800X3D was banned on first login, with the motherboard and storage also blacklisted. Riot, Valve and Epic did not respond to requests for comment.

• Vanguard flags CPU, GPU, motherboard, SSD and network adapter, not just the account
• A German player bought a used Ryzen 7 5800X3D and was banned in Valorant on first login
• The buyer's motherboard and storage were also blacklisted by Vanguard
• Riot, Valve and Epic did not respond to questions about hardware ID bans