I had a brand new MSI motherboard delivered to my house, along with a Ryzen 3600 CPU, and a Gigabyte 1660 TI GPU. They were snatched from my front porch while I was at work. Is there any way for the manufacturers to track these parts if the thief were to use them in a build?
41 Answer
Most things have a Serial Number associated with them on an individual basis - so presuming you recorded the serial number when you received the hardware, you have a method to provide that it's "yours"... The serial number is occasionally available on the original packaging as well.
However this depends on finding the equipment first. The serial numbers aren't always available from within software, and they aren't (to the best of my knowledge) usually sent to Microsoft or the manufacturer, so there is no way to "locate" the equipment.
Unfortunately, your best option is probably to report the theft, supply any serial numbers you have, cross your fingers, and wait.
Of course if you don't have the serial number, then it's just going to be your word against theirs, and it'll be very difficult (impossible) to prove ownership.
