Published in Graphics

AMD RX Vega 64 and RX Vega 56 finally reviewed

by on14 August 2017


Review roundup: Matches GTX 1080/1070 but with a high TDP

AMD has finally launched its first consumer-oriented graphics cards based on the new Vega GPU, the Radeon RX Vega 64 and the Radeon RX Vega 56. With reviews finally going live, it appears that AMD has managed to match GTX 1080/1070 performance in some scenarios but at a much lower performance per Watt.

After almost a year and a half of building up the hype, AMD first consumer-oriented Radeon Vega 64 and Vega 56 graphics card are trading blows with Nvidia's counterparts, the Geforce GTX 1080 and Geforce GTX 1070. As we wrote earlier, AMD managed to match the performance and we did not expect any big performance leads. This is not a big achievement considering that Nvidia GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 have been on the market since May 2016, especially as Vega graphics cards are nowhere near as power-efficient as the Pascal-based GTX 1080 and GTX 1070. 

amd radeonvega64 1

The results are quite interesting as AMD managed to score well in DirectX 12 and Vulkan API titles, but only by a small margin, at least when you compare the Vega 64 to its Geforce GTX 1080 counterpart. On the other hand, GTX 1080 Ti is a whole different beast and beats the Radeon Vega 64 in every benchmark and every resolution by quite a margin.

The Radeon RX Vega 56 is a bit of a different story and it does not come as a surprise that AMD wanted reviewers to focus on this since it does a bit better than the RX Vega 64, beating GTX 1070 and offering much better value than the RX Vega 64, especially for 1080p and 1440p gaming. It still suffers from Vega's high TDP and temperature, but that could be somewhat fixed with custom versions that should eventually show up on the market.

Bear in mind that Vega is a whole new architecture and as was the case with earlier Radeon graphics cards, the performance will eventually get better as developers get the hang of it, get to use that next-gen High Bandwidth Cache Controller and AMD tweaks the drivers even further.

Graphics cards have long surpassed the "higher number of FPS" as both camps offer different perks. In the case of AMD, that is FreeSync, better DirectX 12 support, good driver support that has recently become more stable and come with plenty of features and more. AMD also offers the so-called Radeon packs, which give you discounts on Ryzen CPU, motherboard, FreeSync monitor, free games and more. Actually, the RX Vega 64 Limited Edition and the Liquid Cooling edition will only be available in a Radeon pack, priced at US $599 and US $699.

As it was aware that it only matches the performance of Nvidia counterparts, AMD has priced its new RX Vega 64 and Vega 56 accordingly. The standard RX Vega 64 has an MSRP of US $499, which puts it in line with reference GTX 1080 while the RX Vega 56 is priced at US $399, which is somewhat higher than the US $349 MSRP of the GTX 1070 (currently listed at US $429, mostly due to the crypto-mining craze). Luckily, it appears that AMD RX Vega 64 and Vega 56 are not that good in crypto-mining so there should not be any problems from that side.

amd radeonvega64 2

While it might be back in the game with its Ryzen and Threadripper CPUs, Nvidia still has a better offer when it comes to the graphics card market. Nvidia still holds the crown with the GTX 1080 Ti and Titan Xp graphics cards and if it seems that AMD is moving some volume, it can still drop the price on its GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 graphics cards, which is now quite unlikely.

You can check out some reviews below but these all tell the same story, AMD managed to match Nvidia but the green camp is still holding the crown. 

- Anandtech.com - The AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 & RX Vega 56 Review: Vega Burning Bright

- Techpowerup.com - AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 8 GB and AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 8 GB

- Hothardware.com - Radeon RX Vega 64 And RX Vega 56 Review: AMD Back In High-End Graphics

- Techspot.com - AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Review: AMD's GPU Comeback

- Hexus.net - AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 and Radeon RX Vega 56: The benchmarks you've been waiting for

- HardOCP.com - AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 Video Card Review

- Tomshardware.com - AMD Radeon Vega RX 64 8GB Review

- Tweaktown.com - AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 & Vega 56: More To Come

- Pcper.com - The AMD Radeon RX Vega Review: Vega 64, Vega 64 Liquid, Vega 56 Tested

- PCWorld.com - AMD Radeon RX Vega review: Vega 56, Vega 64, and liquid-cooled Vega 64 tested

- PCEkspert.com - AMD Radeon Vega 64 Liquid

- Overclock3d.net - AMD RX Vega 64 Preview

 

Last modified on 15 August 2017
Rate this item
(0 votes)

Read more about: