Review: AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 8GB

D3M1G0D

2017-08-14 21:25

Really? Look at current real prices: Vega 56 is more expensive on MSRP than current REAL 1070 prices. (wait and see REAL price when released). Vega 64 is 100 pounds more expensive than GTX 1080. :3eyes: Now tell me: Has Nvidia any real need to lower his already lower prices?

The cheapest 1070 that I could find on Newegg is $429. Also, seems that Vega 64 has mostly sold out.

#5462948

Elder III

2017-08-14 21:28

I do like the looks of a Vega 56 with a nice AIB cooler on it. Based on preliminary reviews it does look like a winner for me in that price and performance range. Sadly it's the better part of a year late, but I do think it's a winner right now (unlike it's big brother).

#5462956

sammarbella

2017-08-14 21:34

Of course, but miners and fanboys, that is a huge amount of cards, regardless. As with any big company, Nvidia does not want to lose market share. I won't be surprised if we see a price drop.

If you speak about GPU total sell figures i must agree. In anything related to PC gaming these cards are DOA with these prices.

#5462959

Redemption80

2017-08-14 21:37

Do we have shop prices for Vega 56 yet? Maybe I'm blind, but can't see any yet, but since the new Vega64 price is $600, I would expect Vega56 to be $500. Likely around £450 here, which is nearly £100 more than the 1070...

#5462974

Alessio1989

2017-08-14 22:15

Standard swizzle supported, now everything we need is this GPU embedded in UMA with ThreadRipper.

#5463000

icedman

2017-08-14 23:13

wow vega 64 air cooled is 670$ on new egg and i can get gtx 1080 for 526$ i hope the mining craze ends soon.

#5463039

XP-200

2017-08-15 01:27

Looks like a better deal than the 64, but if Nvidia now drop price on the 1070 and 1080, it could basically invalidate this card for anyone who isn't strictly Team Red. Good for AMD though. I'm glad to see they finally have a product in this market again.

I am ready to replace my 970, so whoever goes the cheaper gets my cash. Lol

#5463054

cowie

2017-08-15 02:17

wow vega 64 air cooled is 670$ on new egg and i can get gtx 1080 for 526$ i hope the mining craze ends soon.

I don't think miners want it that much its 31 hashrate thing not 70 like the salesmen said a few weeks back

#5463063

cowie

2017-08-15 02:47

Thanks HH, great review as always. So the 56 is the only attractive part in the Vega lineup, despite its higher power draw vs the 1070. I think Nvidia will not sit idly by or give AMD any breathing room. Would expect a statement from them in next few days or weeks about a Volta release, simply to take the wind out of vega sales. If they push volta forward and give a firm release date, that could do it.

nah at best a new ti card

#5463070

rm082e

2017-08-15 03:03

I am ready to replace my 970, so whoever goes the cheaper gets my cash. Lol

I've got a backlog of older games that my system runs maxed out and smooth, plus a bunch of PS4 games to play. I'll probably hold off another generation. I'd like to bump up to 1080 TI performance or better, but I can wait until that's $300-ish.

#5463078

Thunk_It

2017-08-15 04:06

Thank you Hilbert for this great review!

#5463090

__hollywood|meo

2017-08-15 05:25

not that it would affect my purchase if i were looking to upgrade (i know, i need to hehe), but why is there such a large difference in actual power draw? im sitting here looking at all the whitepapers & cant quite put my finger on it. the voltage cant be that much lower for 100mhz clock speed difference between the 56 & 64...

#5463134

AlmondMan

2017-08-15 09:13

Really? Look at current real prices:

New hardware is always grossly overpriced... nothing ever launches at MSRP. Shortage and desire to buy makes prices inflated. At the moment you can't buy a RX 4/5x0 here, you can't buy a GTX 1060 at anything close to what they were a year ago. They're almost 50% more expensive. Vega is going to sit at "too expensive" for a while. And those saying "nvidia can just lower their prices" - well, no, they obviously can't.

#5463168

Noisiv

2017-08-15 12:08

not that it would affect my purchase if i were looking to upgrade (i know, i need to hehe), but why is there such a large difference in actual power draw? im sitting here looking at all the whitepapers & cant quite put my finger on it. the voltage cant be that much lower for 100mhz clock speed difference between the 56 & 64...

Vega 56 = 236W Vega 64 = 334W --------------------- 5% higher clocks 14% more phy 10% higher voltage 1.14 * 1.05 * (1.10)^2 = 1.44 236 * 1.44 = 342W ~ 334W BOOOM :pc1: https://abload.de/img/indexesu8w.png

#5463203

Redemption80

2017-08-15 14:43

New hardware is always grossly overpriced... nothing ever launches at MSRP. Shortage and desire to buy makes prices inflated. At the moment you can't buy a RX 4/5x0 here, you can't buy a GTX 1060 at anything close to what they were a year ago. They're almost 50% more expensive. Vega is going to sit at "too expensive" for a while. And those saying "nvidia can just lower their prices" - well, no, they obviously can't.

I think Nvidia already has though, 1070s now start around £360, while Vega64 starts at £550. I'm also hearing that this is actually the new MSRP and the $500 was actually just a launch price and it will be $600 going forward which likely means $500/£450 for Vega 56.

#5463205

Ryu5uzaku

2017-08-15 14:45

Thanks HH, great review as always. So the 56 is the only attractive part in the Vega lineup, despite its higher power draw vs the 1070. I think Nvidia will not sit idly by or give AMD any breathing room. Would expect a statement from them in next few days or weeks about a Volta release, simply to take the wind out of vega sales. If they push volta forward and give a firm release date, that could do it.

http://www.pcgamer.com/nvidias-next-gen-volta-gaming-gpus-arent-arriving-anytime-soon/ Not this year I guess.

#5463207

Loophole35

2017-08-15 14:47

http://www.pcgamer.com/nvidias-next-gen-volta-gaming-gpus-arent-arriving-anytime-soon/ Not this year I guess.

Translation, "We expected more from AMD."

#5463212

Noisiv

2017-08-15 14:57

Translation, "We expected more from AMD."

No they really haven't. A quarter ago, he said something along the lines nothing will change with Vega release, and that they remain confident in Pascal. And albeit Huang can sometimes give PR-like statements, but then he smiles and you can see he's half joking, this answer was given in a serious tone. For me the biggest hint was the amount of 1080Ti AIB models arriving during Vega finishing touches.

#5463216

edilsonj

2017-08-15 15:02

Great card. Like it more than 64.

#5463223

Denial

2017-08-15 15:14

I think with GDDR6 mass availability hitting in Q1 2018, Volta's consumer oriented stuff was always going to show up then. The average launch cycle for Nvidia has historically been roughly ~10 months, but it's been as long as 14 in some cases. I'm kind of curious to see how AMD is going to refresh Polaris. Will they wait for Navi in 2019? Or will they cut down Vega next year on 7nm w GDDR6?