[SOLVED] I have a RX 6950xt, should i trade it for RTX 3080ti and $200 cash?

ksvrach

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Hey
I recently bought a 6950xt card and i decided to stream but radeon cards dont have a good encoder because they dont have a chip like nvidia


so someone offered me their 3080ti ( zotec RTX 3080ti halo Amp edition 12gb ) which is also bought around 3 month ago and $200 cash in exchange for my 6950xt

Is this a good deal? because i was going to buy a 3080 anyway after selling my 6950
let me know guys
 
Solution
If you were going to buy a 3080 anyhow, and IF you know for a fact that the card is good, as in, this is a person in your town that you know and would invite to your house or your mom's house for dinner during the holidays, then yes, it might be a good idea.

If this is somebody online that you have no clue about, or think you do but in reality you really don't because you only know them from online, then it's a very bad idea. I wouldn't even recommend buying one used off Ebay right now because the majority of what is being sold on there are cards that were used for mining bitcoin/crypto and either have problems or have been ridden hard and probably won't last very long, and that's if they didn't have a different BIOS flashed to make...
If you were going to buy a 3080 anyhow, and IF you know for a fact that the card is good, as in, this is a person in your town that you know and would invite to your house or your mom's house for dinner during the holidays, then yes, it might be a good idea.

If this is somebody online that you have no clue about, or think you do but in reality you really don't because you only know them from online, then it's a very bad idea. I wouldn't even recommend buying one used off Ebay right now because the majority of what is being sold on there are cards that were used for mining bitcoin/crypto and either have problems or have been ridden hard and probably won't last very long, and that's if they didn't have a different BIOS flashed to make them better at mining.
 
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ksvrach

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If you were going to buy a 3080 anyhow, and IF you know for a fact that the card is good, as in, this is a person in your town that you know and would invite to your house or your mom's house for dinner during the holidays, then yes, it might be a good idea.

If this is somebody online that you have no clue about, or think you do but in reality you really don't because you only know them from online, then it's a very bad idea. I wouldn't even recommend buying one used off Ebay right now because the majority of what is being sold on there are cards that were used for mining bitcoin/crypto and either have problems or have been ridden hard and probably won't last very long, and that's if they didn't have a different BIOS flashed to make them better at mining.
he was in facebook marketplace and he will come to my house and we will tst his card on my machine
 

ksvrach

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If you were going to buy a 3080 anyhow, and IF you know for a fact that the card is good, as in, this is a person in your town that you know and would invite to your house or your mom's house for dinner during the holidays, then yes, it might be a good idea.

If this is somebody online that you have no clue about, or think you do but in reality you really don't because you only know them from online, then it's a very bad idea. I wouldn't even recommend buying one used off Ebay right now because the majority of what is being sold on there are cards that were used for mining bitcoin/crypto and either have problems or have been ridden hard and probably won't last very long, and that's if they didn't have a different BIOS flashed to make them better at mining.
he says amd card will be abbter for his ryzen build in the long run and it will play 3k better

He has trhge reciept and the card with the box and he will test the card at my huse in my build?
 
If he will allow you to prove it has no problems by running Furmark stress test for ten minutes and running through Timespy extreme to see that there are no problems, plus also a full run through the Unengine Heaven benchmark, then I'd say you can't ask for much more than that really.

Still feels like a risk, but maybe an acceptable one. If it were me though, I'd sell my card and buy a brand new one even if I had to put some extra money into it and the reason why is that you'll get a full warranty. Depending on when that card was purchased it could have anything from full warranty to only about 1.5 years left on it, and that is IF you get the receipt AND the purchase invoice. Otherwise, without those, you get no warranty, at all.

So, really it's a matter of if YOU feel safe doing it or not.

These days, I'd be at least somewhat skeptical about somebody I don't know coming to my house and I know basically nothing about them. Might come home three days later and find out all your crap is gone.
 
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DavidM012

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Someone's gonna pay you $200 to offload a superior gpu? Nah. Throwing a gpu to match a ryzen idk what it is

Even if both you guys were on the up and up neither one of you can substitute the manufacturers' warranty should anything go wrong. It's whether the warranty will be supported and if you wanna explain to customer support that you didn't buy the card directly from an authorized reseller. They could be extremely inflexible about that - I know xfx are for example. So authorized reseller is not- another guy who wants to swap.

Bad enough when you have to rma a card and terrible when it's a $1000 dollar gpu.

Also Zotac might flip the bone to customer wheeler dealing maybe he's offering $200 for a reason he can get a new gpu for $200 and skip town.

Here's the warranty terms from Zotac:

4. ZOTAC reserves the right to void the warranty

The warranty does not extend to defects that are caused by non-compliance with operating instructions, improper use, inappropriate operating conditions, overload or modifications of the product.

In particular, the warranty will be null and void if


  • the product has been modified and/or willfully damaged in any way; or
  • the serial number has been altered, defaced or removed; or
  • the GPU cooler fan has been removed or replaced.
  • Uses the product for any cryptocurrency mining activity (unless it is designed specifically for such purpose).
Claims on the warranty during the primary warranty period (primary warranty period varies by region) must be processed through the seller of the product, who will forward the defective product to ZOTAC for warranty services. Warranty claims during the extended warranty period must be filed directly with ZOTAC. Extended warranty claims must be emailed to ZOTAC at _ and please provide the following information:

- name of ZOTAC product
  • serial number of product
  • customer’s name
  • date of registration
  • photocopied purchase receipt and registration certificate
  • description of the defect
  • system specifications and operating system.
Warranty claims during the extended warranty period must be filed by the original purchaser of the ZOTAC product who has duly registered for product warranty services online in accordance with paragraph 3 above.

Product returned for extended warranty services must be sent to ZOTAC or to a service center designated by ZOTAC as per ZOTAC’s instructions. You will be responsible for costs and risk of transportation.

-

You will definitely have no warranty if you swap the gpu.


As for 'good' encoders well that's entering the world of hi end industrial gear that could cost from £100-$17000.

If you would sell your card who would buy it? There's still a loser down the chain really so second hand doesn't really work for anything. Someone wants to sell his buddy a 4590k system for $100 or $200 - just as terrible. Basically if you even gave it away if it broke tomorrow there would be no economical means to fix it. And if the buyer is clueless and not tech savvy- shoot I've known people who could not download a graphics driver from the internet.

What's gonna happen in reality if you invite the guy and the gpu fails the benchmark you still have to tell him to scat too, not a problem if you have a gun called matilda so idk if you want better streaming maybe you should just pay $200 for one of the pro software encoders and be done with it. For that, read around reviews - 10 best software and hardware encoders 2022. -



The 3080ti is a superior card in many respects while the 6950xt is a good gaming card and can match it for that but all things are not equal.

The second hand tech market is worse than the 2nd hand automobile market if you aren't persuaded that it's a bad idea yet the only people who can really take advantage of the 2nd hard market are very skilled technicians who can fix things with a multi meter, soldering iron and spare parts and in most cases when faced with a dead gpu 99% of people will not be able to do a thing with it.

usually it goes the other way around - they simply try to flash a vBios and that's it card bricked the end. Or undervolt too much or overclock too much, it goes spang, the end. Or even just plain buy the card new off the shelf and it doesn't work - all they can do the only thing they can do is RMA it - the techies do any refurbishing at the other end if they even bother.

So you are compromising your ONLY recourse if the gpu does not work anymore. Might as well just give the guy $700 so he can buy another gpu for himself rather than try a bait'n'switch.

When you buy a pricey gpu the only place to buy it from is an authorized reseller the end.
 
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5900x

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AMD recently added b-frames into their codec which is supported in the new OBS version which apparently now is on par with Nvenc.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-amf-encoder-quality-boost

If I were you, I'd sell 6950xt for the upcoming 7900xt(x) as AMD is touting it to be the best gaming and content creation gpu than settle on a used 3080ti. They must have put in a lot of work into it seeing as how much value it gives them with the price to performance on their gpu and it supports all the new codecs like av1 for the future. As witnessed by the growth of content streaming in the last couple of years, they surely would have learnt from Nvidia's past glory of this phenomenon and I would wait for real results of the performance. If you can wait, maybe use x264 to stream off the cpu for the time being, if you absolutely cannot wait and are sure of this 3080ti, it's upto you.

Might also help to lookup some tips on streaming on an AMD gpu.
 
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You will definitely have no warranty if you swap the gpu.
Normally, I'd say you are right and it's one of the reasons I generally recommend not buying a used graphics card. But, if the seller has the original receipt and can provide a copy of the purchase invoice, then there is ZERO reason OR chance that any card manufacturer can refuse to honor the warranty. They have no way to prove you are not the original purchaser aside from requiring email verification and anybody can simply say they no longer have access to that email but that they have the receipt and purchase invoice, which is all that any of the hardware manufacturers require. Besides which, a lot of hardware manufacturers these days aren't even allowing people to "register" their hardware and they simply tell you to keep the purchase information in case anything happens within the warranty period in which case, contact them and provide that information and that is all you need to do in that case.

It still doesn't make buying or trading for used hardware a good proposition though, especially since you have no idea what the history of the card is, whether it has problems that are intermittent enough that you might not see them in a casual bench or stress test OR in this case, the idea that you will be letting somebody who has already shown themselves to be of questionable mental fortitude (Or just plain sketchy) if they are willing (Or willing to SEEM willing) to "offload a superior GPU and give you 200 bucks), into your home where you might well be setting yourself up for an on the spot crime or giving them a good look at what you have so they can come back for it at a later date. Just knowing you have a system that is good enough that you are looking to add a graphics card of this caliber is enough to make some thieves drool and the fact is that they don't even have to show up.

All they need is your address and they instantly know "hey, this dude has a system with an RX 6950 XT that I can break in and steal anytime I want".
 
I say pass. Sell your card outright via eBay if you want and get a different card. Even if you bought used via eBay you would probably have their money back guarantee. In this case you have someone you don’t know who now knows where you live, has sold you a card you really don’t know the history on, and a person who for all you know could break in your house later and steal half your worldly possessions and then could walk. Do what you want, but that’s quite a chance.


Edit: did some checking on eBay. I look on there quite a bit. A 6950xt appears to sell for about 700-720 for a used/open box card such as yours. An rtx 3080ti can be had used for about 700. So another reason to ask yourself why the people on marketplace are willing to offer an extra 200 for a card that if they sold their card on eBay for example, would basically be not much more than an even trade for them. Just something to think about.
 
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DavidM012

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With those warranty terms, I'd probably record the ordering process, delivery, unboxing and installation and then it still wouldn't prove that you did not at any point under volt or overclock the gpu - and that's just from the retailer.

The warranty seems aimed at sorting the odd doa maybe and then 'ordinary' usage which is install the driver and game - if you take the heatsink off to re-paste or water cool, void. Even if you apply a mod that 'improves' the card it voids your warranty.

The dude is probably gonna skip town. I'd be suspicious that you're being hustled. Also pretty easy to overlook a defaced or broken sticker when you're talking to someone and they're trying to distract you.
 
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You're not dealing with the retailer anymore after the first 30 days in most cases, especially in the US. And there is very little chance that any of these retailers is sharing specific ordering information with the OEM. In fact, I've never, once, in the 35 years I've been doing this, heard of such a thing and I've worked hand in hand with many of these companies through a variety of different aspects of the process. And, companies can WRITE whatever they want into the "warranty" information including what they "claim" voids it. It doesn't make it legal, just like Nvidia recently claiming that the use of any other adapters including those included with power supplies by companies like Seasonic and Corsair will void the warranty. And those "sticker" conditions.

ALL of those things have been proven to be unenforceable and specifically are stipulated AGAINST by the Federal trade commission as covered by the Magnusson Moss warranty act.

Much like in Training day where Denzel says "It's not what you know, it's what you can prove", in this case it's "It's not what you write into your warranty conditions, it's what you can enforce or refuse to honor" and in this case, almost none of those things would have a leg to stand on if a person wants to push the issue or involve the FTC and the courts. Companies don't want that, they'll just cave because it costs them less anyhow so long as you have a legitimate claim otherwise.

Even so, I still am not in disagreement with what you are trying to impress, as it's basically the same as what I've already said above.
 

ksvrach

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Someone's gonna pay you $200 to offload a superior gpu? Nah. Throwing a gpu to match a ryzen idk what it is

Even if both you guys were on the up and up neither one of you can substitute the manufacturers' warranty should anything go wrong. It's whether the warranty will be supported and if you wanna explain to customer support that you didn't buy the card directly from an authorized reseller. They could be extremely inflexible about that - I know xfx are for example. So authorized reseller is not- another guy who wants to swap.

Bad enough when you have to rma a card and terrible when it's a $1000 dollar gpu.

Also Zotac might flip the bone to customer wheeler dealing maybe he's offering $200 for a reason he can get a new gpu for $200 and skip town.

Here's the warranty terms from Zotac:

4. ZOTAC reserves the right to void the warranty

The warranty does not extend to defects that are caused by non-compliance with operating instructions, improper use, inappropriate operating conditions, overload or modifications of the product.

In particular, the warranty will be null and void if


  • the product has been modified and/or willfully damaged in any way; or
  • the serial number has been altered, defaced or removed; or
  • the GPU cooler fan has been removed or replaced.
  • Uses the product for any cryptocurrency mining activity (unless it is designed specifically for such purpose).
Claims on the warranty during the primary warranty period (primary warranty period varies by region) must be processed through the seller of the product, who will forward the defective product to ZOTAC for warranty services. Warranty claims during the extended warranty period must be filed directly with ZOTAC. Extended warranty claims must be emailed to ZOTAC at _ and please provide the following information:

- name of ZOTAC product
  • serial number of product
  • customer’s name
  • date of registration
  • photocopied purchase receipt and registration certificate
  • description of the defect
  • system specifications and operating system.
Warranty claims during the extended warranty period must be filed by the original purchaser of the ZOTAC product who has duly registered for product warranty services online in accordance with paragraph 3 above.

Product returned for extended warranty services must be sent to ZOTAC or to a service center designated by ZOTAC as per ZOTAC’s instructions. You will be responsible for costs and risk of transportation.

-

You will definitely have no warranty if you swap the gpu.


As for 'good' encoders well that's entering the world of hi end industrial gear that could cost from £100-$17000.

If you would sell your card who would buy it? There's still a loser down the chain really so second hand doesn't really work for anything. Someone wants to sell his buddy a 4590k system for $100 or $200 - just as terrible. Basically if you even gave it away if it broke tomorrow there would be no economical means to fix it. And if the buyer is clueless and not tech savvy- shoot I've known people who could not download a graphics driver from the internet.

What's gonna happen in reality if you invite the guy and the gpu fails the benchmark you still have to tell him to scat too, not a problem if you have a gun called matilda so idk if you want better streaming maybe you should just pay $200 for one of the pro software encoders and be done with it. For that, read around reviews - 10 best software and hardware encoders 2022. -



The 3080ti is a superior card in many respects while the 6950xt is a good gaming card and can match it for that but all things are not equal.

The second hand tech market is worse than the 2nd hand automobile market if you aren't persuaded that it's a bad idea yet the only people who can really take advantage of the 2nd hard market are very skilled technicians who can fix things with a multi meter, soldering iron and spare parts and in most cases when faced with a dead gpu 99% of people will not be able to do a thing with it.

usually it goes the other way around - they simply try to flash a vBios and that's it card bricked the end. Or undervolt too much or overclock too much, it goes spang, the end. Or even just plain buy the card new off the shelf and it doesn't work - all they can do the only thing they can do is RMA it - the techies do any refurbishing at the other end if they even bother.

So you are compromising your ONLY recourse if the gpu does not work anymore. Might as well just give the guy $700 so he can buy another gpu for himself rather than try a bait'n'switch.

When you buy a pricey gpu the only place to buy it from is an authorized reseller the end.
I know what you mean to say but 6950xt isnt bad i for gaming its just bad for streaming its encoder is no way near the 3080 nvenc encoder
The software encoder you sent me the list for will not do anything i have tried them already. The hardware ones are like $300 and those are using x264 which is worst than using a graphic cards nvenc encoder
I told the guy that I dont want it and ill sell my card first and then buy a new 3080ti
 

ksvrach

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I say pass. Sell your card outright via eBay if you want and get a different card. Even if you bought used via eBay you would probably have their money back guarantee. In this case you have someone you don’t know who now knows where you live, has sold you a card you really don’t know the history on, and a person who for all you know could break in your house later and steal half your worldly possessions and then could walk. Do what you want, but that’s quite a chance.


Edit: did some checking on eBay. I look on there quite a bit. A 6950xt appears to sell for about 700-720 for a used/open box card such as yours. An rtx 3080ti can be had used for about 700. So another reason to ask yourself why the people on marketplace are willing to offer an extra 200 for a card that if they sold their card on eBay for example, would basically be not much more than an even trade for them. Just something to think about.
he doesnt know that much about cards thats why he accepted my offer for the extra $200
his card is 3 months old and he watched some vids and the 6950xt will be better for him on the gaming side loll
 

ksvrach

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May 11, 2021
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Normally, I'd say you are right and it's one of the reasons I generally recommend not buying a used graphics card. But, if the seller has the original receipt and can provide a copy of the purchase invoice, then there is ZERO reason OR chance that any card manufacturer can refuse to honor the warranty. They have no way to prove you are not the original purchaser aside from requiring email verification and anybody can simply say they no longer have access to that email but that they have the receipt and purchase invoice, which is all that any of the hardware manufacturers require. Besides which, a lot of hardware manufacturers these days aren't even allowing people to "register" their hardware and they simply tell you to keep the purchase information in case anything happens within the warranty period in which case, contact them and provide that information and that is all you need to do in that case.

It still doesn't make buying or trading for used hardware a good proposition though, especially since you have no idea what the history of the card is, whether it has problems that are intermittent enough that you might not see them in a casual bench or stress test OR in this case, the idea that you will be letting somebody who has already shown themselves to be of questionable mental fortitude (Or just plain sketchy) if they are willing (Or willing to SEEM willing) to "offload a superior GPU and give you 200 bucks), into your home where you might well be setting yourself up for an on the spot crime or giving them a good look at what you have so they can come back for it at a later date. Just knowing you have a system that is good enough that you are looking to add a graphics card of this caliber is enough to make some thieves drool and the fact is that they don't even have to show up.

All they need is your address and they instantly know "hey, this dude has a system with an RX 6950 XT that I can break in and steal anytime I want".
does stealing happen a lot in your area or something? in my area in canada house break in are very less to none and I also have reinforced doors with double locks, 3 cops are my neighbhors too lolll
 

ksvrach

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AMD recently added b-frames into their codec which is supported in the new OBS version which apparently now is on par with Nvenc.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-amf-encoder-quality-boost

If I were you, I'd sell 6950xt for the upcoming 7900xt(x) as AMD is touting it to be the best gaming and content creation gpu than settle on a used 3080ti. They must have put in a lot of work into it seeing as how much value it gives them with the price to performance on their gpu and it supports all the new codecs like av1 for the future. As witnessed by the growth of content streaming in the last couple of years, they surely would have learnt from Nvidia's past glory of this phenomenon and I would wait for real results of the performance. If you can wait, maybe use x264 to stream off the cpu for the time being, if you absolutely cannot wait and are sure of this 3080ti, it's upto you.

Might also help to lookup some tips on streaming on an AMD gpu.
lolllll i have tried all that and i have read the same thing i have tested alm ost every day for 3 weeks and no it is not on par with Nvidia it can never with with the currect cards because nvidia cards have a dedicated encoder chip that does not effect gameplay when you use it

amd has no chip or encoder like that, this isnt a software issue
 

PEnns

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Just sell your card independently and buy whatever you like.

That $200 is a huge red flag and a red herring too!!

Your loss might be way more than that $200 bait in this shady transaction.
 
I don’t want people coming to my house to advertise what I’ve got. You may have extra locks and police that live nearby. Have you ever seen videos how easily people can kick in a door? As far as your neighbors they do have to work. Personally I like security but I like security through anonymity. In other words if other people don’t know what I’ve got then why would they break in? My computer is in the basement but I’ve got other stuff down there to, so I keep the windows covered up that would be easy to break. Even if I get a new TV or something like that for example I prefer to try to not let the box sit by the curb. For example if I’ve got an acquaintance that I can take that to their house to burn the box I prefer to do that.

Just in general a good idea is to not advertise things you have and you can many times avoid being a target.
 
Everybody feels safe and feels it is unlikely anybody is going to break into their home, until they do. I realize Canada has a lower crime rate than in the US, depending on what part of each country you are in, but the chances of something happening go UP by orders of magnitude when you've advertised to somebody shady or plain criminally stupid that "Hey, I got all this good crap in my house" as compared to when they have no idea what you have and might be breaking into a home and taking a risk for nothing. In your case, you'd almost be handing them a printout of all your goodies and begging them to prove your neighborhood isn't as safe and secure as you think it is.

We are just trying to help you to protect yourself. If you are not interested in doing that, then why did you even ask us whether it was a good idea to make this trade in the first place? It's like asking your doctor if drinking a bottle of whiskey a day is bad and might cause serious harm and when he tells you "yes, it is very bad and will likely destroy your liver among other things", and then you just keep on doing it anyhow. Why bother asking if you already plan to not listen to the feedback you get anyhow?

Like I said, the deal itself is not the problem. Maybe see if he's willing to meet at HIS house and do it. I'll bet he's not willing to do it that way, and you shouldn't be either unless your house is extremely secure or somebody is always, always at home. For most people, that is not the case. And if this is not specifically YOUR home, with nobody else living there, then you are also taking risks with THEIR belongs and with THEIR safety, which is something nobody really has the right to do.
 

ksvrach

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Everybody feels safe and feels it is unlikely anybody is going to break into their home, until they do. I realize Canada has a lower crime rate than in the US, depending on what part of each country you are in, but the chances of something happening go UP by orders of magnitude when you've advertised to somebody shady or plain criminally stupid that "Hey, I got all this good crap in my house" as compared to when they have no idea what you have and might be breaking into a home and taking a risk for nothing. In your case, you'd almost be handing them a printout of all your goodies and begging them to prove your neighborhood isn't as safe and secure as you think it is.

We are just trying to help you to protect yourself. If you are not interested in doing that, then why did you even ask us whether it was a good idea to make this trade in the first place? It's like asking your doctor if drinking a bottle of whiskey a day is bad and might cause serious harm and when he tells you "yes, it is very bad and will likely destroy your liver among other things", and then you just keep on doing it anyhow. Why bother asking if you already plan to not listen to the feedback you get anyhow?

Like I said, the deal itself is not the problem. Maybe see if he's willing to meet at HIS house and do it. I'll bet he's not willing to do it that way, and you shouldn't be either unless your house is extremely secure or somebody is always, always at home. For most people, that is not the case. And if this is not specifically YOUR home, with nobody else living there, then you are also taking risks with THEIR belongs and with THEIR safety, which is something nobody really has the right to do.
I have already told the guy now, thanks guys
also my 3090 ti 24 gb got delivered, it is a beast and it graphics are so much better than the 6950xt
 
I just made the switch from a 6800xt to a 3080ti, The 6800xt was so close in more things than not especially with MPT to the 3080ti it was actually quite hard for me to justify the decision, But DLSS did sell me, and the 3080ti did end up being faster with an mild overclock in most of the titles the 6800xt was beating it in. And Nvidia software and drivers just feel better, Im not saying AMD drivers are trash, but when you fail an overclock it often fails recover and requires a soft reboot and sometimes a hard reboot, I have yet to experience any of that with most of my Nvidia cards in the past, they just recover, other than the SLI days where it was a little more goofy with overclocks.

Think you made a good choice with the 3090ti.

I also use my main rig for a backup Jellyfin/Plex server and having an Nvidia encoder is nicer than my 6800xt was, the Nvidia card has no issues transcoding some of my test 8k videos where the 6800xt just sorta fell on its face and bogged down graphics performance. Wasn't a huge deal as my server does it, but occasionally my server has to go down family still want to watch stuff lol
 
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