Valorant hardware ban hits used Ryzen 7 5800X3D CPU

A German Valorant player says a used Ryzen 7 5800X3D CPU they bought carried a pre-existing hardware ban. The player, posting on a German subreddit as After-Cartoonist-196, was immediately kicked from Valorant upon launching the game after installing the processor purchased via the Kleinanzeigen classifieds site in September.

Riot Games' support team allegedly informed the user that the CPU's serial number was on Vanguard's blacklist due to a hardware ban issued on August 12, linked to cheating by the previous owner. The player claimed support also stated their motherboard and storage drive were flagged. Despite the CPU functioning normally in all other tests, further contact with Riot support reportedly failed to resolve the issue, with the company declining to manually lift the restriction.

Riot's anti-cheat lead clarifies hardware ban mechanics

Phillip Koskinas, head of the anti-cheat team at Riot Games, responded to the claims on social media. He stated that Riot's hardware bans last a maximum of four months and apply only to the specific game where cheating was detected. Koskinas directly contested the player's narrative, denying that Vanguard blacklists other PC components when one part is banned.

He also noted he could not find a support ticket matching the player's details. "I couldn't find a support ticket matching the player's details and called the account 'pretty unlikely'," Koskinas said. He added that support must inform players how much time remains on any active hardware ban. Based on the alleged August 12 ban date, such a restriction would not expire before mid-December.

No current way to detect prior bans on used hardware

The incident shows a hidden risk in the second-hand PC component market. There is currently no method for a buyer to check if a used CPU or other part carries an active Valorant hardware ban before purchase. Standard practices like benchmarking, stress testing, or visual inspection would not reveal such an anti-cheat restriction.

The exact mechanism Vanguard uses to identify individual hardware like this specific Ryzen 7 5800X3D remains unclear. Riot has not publicly detailed whether it uses standard hardware IDs, additional fingerprinting, or other system identifiers. The player may need to wait for a potential ban expiration or replace the affected hardware, as Riot support indicated no resolution was possible.