Benchmarks
3DMark Fire Strike
Running 3DMark is a great test of overall system gaming performance, as it blends the use of both the CPU and GPU, while also having some scenarios that depend on the system memory. As you can see, both cards scored really well. Predictably, the GTX 1080 Ti is ahead, as it will be for most benchmarks. Again, this isn’t a who’s fastest, more a seeing what the best from AMD and Nvidia can do on the Ryzen 2700X. The scores are fantastic though, especially at 4K for both of these graphics cards.
Unigine Superposition
Unigine is a different beast to 3DMark, as it is very much bound to the GPU and the CPU doesn’t get as much use. However, it’s still very reliable for testing the PCIe throughput on a motherboard and its respective CPU. When we tested the cards on our X99 system, the VEGA 64 scored 3954 points, and the 1080 Ti scored 4413, so it’s safe to say the CPU is really helping unleash the performance of both of these GPUs.
Rise of the Tomb Raider
The first of our DirectX 12 games, Rise of the Tomb Raider gets off to a flying start. The game really seems to like the VEGA card, and while Nvidia’s card does have the lead, it’s not by as big a margin as you would expect. The benefit here seems to come more from the new CPU rather than the GPU. OF course, with framerates pushing near 200, performance isn’t an issue for either card here. Even bumping up to 4K, both cards managed to exceed 60 FPS on the X470 platform.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Another DirectX 12 test here, with some very exciting results. The Vega managed to virtually match the 1080 Ti performance. It scored 1.5 FPS higher minimum frame rate and just 0.2 FPS lower average. Again, at these quality settings, the CPU is doing much of the heavy lifting, and I’m very happy with the results. 4K performance in this game has never been great though, as can be seen below with both cards regularly dropping below 60 FPS throughout the benchmark run.
Far Cry Primal
Again, we see some surprising results here, with both cards performing very close to each other yet again. Both cards showed a similar gap between their minimum and average frame rates too, although both stayed reassuringly above 60 FPS. Once we moved up to 4K, both cards were close to 60 FPS, albeit the 1080 Ti was over, the Vega was under, but it’s close none the less.
Ghost Recon Wildlands
It’s no secret that this game is optimised for Nvidia graphics cards, and uses GameWorks to provide Nvidia exclusive features. Of course, we turned those off, but there’s still a strong bias towards the green team here. Credit where it’s due though, the VEGA is less powerful but still delivers some fantastic framerates at both 1080p and 4K settings.
The Nvidia 1080 TI is clearly better. I am an ATI guy, but I think Nvidia’s recent price drop has pursueded me to go with Nvidia. If your card is just as expensive and it underperforms then it’s not a good value for customers.
Recently the Vega 64 is same price as 1080 (not ti) in Australia both $849 for Asus strix. $1349 for Ti. Different markets may be vastly different but if I purchased today I would grab the 64 and save the $500 🙂
The benchmarks certainly showed that the 1080 Ti overall performs better than Vega, especially in situations with older standards such as 1080p and DX11. The Vega 64 clearly has more future potential due to it´s better performance with DX12 and Vulkan as well as in higher resolutions.
The Vega 64 is not able to reach the 1080 Ti but is was clearly not intended to primarily compete with the Ti, looking at the prices (in Germany over geizhals.de): Vega 64 -> 600€ to 635€; 1080 Ti -> 750€ to 950€. Instead is it compareable to the 1080 -> 520€ to 700€ (depending on the manufacturer and availability). Looking at the specs shows the same.
Still Vega 64 is ADMs current flagship for gaming and therefore the comparison to NVIDIAs gaming flagship is fair and necessary to show the gap in performance in relation to the release dates.
I personally would buy the Vega 64 again for my system (Ryzen 7 2700X | Aorus x470 Gaming 7 | G.Skill Trident 3200 CL14 | Acer XF270Hua 1440p 144hz): Mainly to get a future proof card for gaming and working equally, as well as my dislike for NVIDIAs company policies.
The monopoly the green team held over the years almost killed the technological progress and fucked up the pricing for consumers, therefore it would only be logical to work against the monopoly by buying cards from the competitors for anyone who is interested in positive long term developments. As AMD and Intel already have shown with their increased competition in the CPU market leading to better and less expensive products with Ryzen series and the new i7s.