AMD Radeon RX VEGA 56 8GB Graphics Card Review

Final Thoughts

Price

Nailing down an accurate price for the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 isn’t easy right now. What stores that do have the card listed are showing out of stock, and there’s some confusion over prices with the Radeon Packs. AMD provided us with a SEP (Suggested Etail Price) $399, which usually translates right to £399. Right now, you can get a good GTX 1070 starting around the same price, moving up to about £450-£500 for a model with a good overclock. That puts the Vega 56 in a competitive position. If you can get one for the SEP, it’s a decent deal for those eager to invest in AMD hardware. Of course, that all depends on any deals being made available for rival hardware. It’s a tough call.

The Vega 56 will be available from August 28th. So keep an eye out for pre-orders.

Overview

The AMD Radeon Vega 56 is a big step forward for AMD. I’m sure many of you might think that’s it’s not a big enough step, but there are some merits to this card that cannot be ignored. The biggest thing I can see is how it compares to the AMD Radeon Fury X. The model of the Fury X we reviewed has a 120mm AIO cooler strapped to it and launched as an extreme card with HDM1 memory. The Vega 56 is released as the more affordable card of this generation, yet it keeps up with the Fury X very nicely, uses less power than the Fury X, and runs cooler too. To me, that shows fantastic progression for AMD hardware, and it’s something I hope to see continue as the Vega series develops over the coming months and possibly years.

Added Value

AMD has a strong feature set with this GPU that’s sure to have broad appeal. Technologies like Radeon Chill are amazing at providing the gaming performance you need while limiting the amount of power used. This is a great way to counter the higher power usage of an AMD card vs some Nvidia options. It’s something more people need to take notice of, and it’s often much smarter than just turning on VSync.

Of course, AMD also has FreeSync 2 support. Sure, Nvidia has their G-Sync technology, but you pay a premium for it on the GPU, and even more so on the display side of things. There are more FreeSync displays at reasonable prices, and that’s attractive to any consumer. It helps smooth out the frame rate and reduce screen tearing, which is awesome.

The latest Crimson ReLive software continues to impress too. Here you can access features like Enhanced Sync, Radeon Chill, Frame Rate Targeting Control, custom resolution settings, ReLive for gaming streaming, and much more.

Hot Under the Collar

There’s a lot of impressive performance figures to be found about this GPU. However, I think it’s got a lot more to offer to the world. Had AMD stumped themselves sending a reference design card? I certainly think so. The model we tested is a little warm, and a fair bit noisy. Get a big cooler on there from the likes of Sapphire, tweak the clock speeds, and I think it’s got enough legs on it to really give the GTX 1070 a good beating. Of course, if this is just the start of the Vega 56 range, I think there are good things to come. AMD has a strong history of their cards becoming more competitive as they mature, so roll on game and driver optimisations!

The Aesthetics

A blower card this may be, but it’s still one of the best looking ones I’ve ever seen. The build quality looks and feels fantastic, and there’s no denying that. The LED lit logo looks great, the metal backplate and housing certainly add to the overall package too. Of course, if you’re planning to strip that shroud and put a water block on there, you shouldn’t have much trouble doing so, and I’m eager to see what people do to maximise this cards performance.

Should I Buy One?

The ultimate question is a big one, isn’t it! For around £400, there’s a lot of hardware to pick from at the Nvidia camp, and more stock too. The Nvidia cards do run more efficiently too, making them a tempting option for any consumer. However, AMD isn’t exactly slacking here, and the Vega 56 is a big upgrade on the previous generation of Fury cards, and the RX5xx series. For the AMD fan, this is a strong GPU and should you see one at the right price, I’m sure it’ll be snapped up. It has plenty of features that are sure to appeal to any gamer, and I can’t wait to see where AMD takes their Vega series next. Now we really need to get the Vega 64 on our test benches too!

Pros

• Competitive performance
• FreeSync 2
• HDR, Chill, ReLive and More Gaming Friendly Features
• Great Build Quality
• LED Lit Logo
• Big Improvement over Fury series
• HBM2 Memory

Cons

• Blower cooler is a bit noisy and limits overclocking

Neutral

• Efficiency is better, but still plenty of room for improvement

“The Vega 56 is one of the best AMD graphics cards to date, packed full of features that are sure to remain relevant to PC gamers. There’s a lot of potential here, and we’re eager to see stock and prices settle in the coming months.”