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The RX Vega 56 Owners Thread

Hi all,


Long time user of the forums, first post. I just wanted to take the time to throw my experiences into the mix, if it helps anyone all the better...

I managed to get a clearance Vega 56 Pulse for £200.00 from OCUK. I got lucky with Samsung memory but it does not budge past 950 MHz. Comfortably I can apply a 1637 MHz core overclock with undervolting and a max fan speed of 60%. Resultant 100% load core clocks range from circa 1560 MHz to 1610 MHz game dependant. My total power draw as per GPU-Z is circa 206 watts on a Furmark load, and circa 180 watts for the several games I have tested, again at full load. In watt man my core frequency is set at +3%, and my voltage control is set at N/A, 900, 950, 960, 970, 980, 1010 and 1010 from state 0 to state 7 respectively. Max Furmark temps after say half an hour stress test are all well within spec, circa 60 degrees C on the core, 80 degrees C on the hot spot, every other temp is not even close to the thermal limit.

I can push my card to 1680 MHz with 100% fan speed and temperature becomes the only constraint (namely only the hot spot temp however). Diminishing returns become hugely apparent at anything over my aforementioned stable overclock however, I would not waste any money on after market air or water cooling for this card.

At £250.00 new in the UK this GPU beats the New Navi, RTX and RTX super cards solely on a pound coin per frame. For me this card takes the title from the GTX 970 for best performance for the money.


Dan
 
From memory at default speeds benchmarked against my stable overclock (mentioned in my previous post), I managed circa 12% increase in FPS on whatever of the newest 3 of Tomb Raider games I benchmarked a few weeks ago. Ultra settings @ 1440p. I do remember an extra 50 or 60 MHz on the core done absolutely nothing. Pertinent to my memory, leaving the core overclocked and putting the HBM back to stock was less than a few percent in FPS.

I have an old CPU so other people may get better performance than me. I have an I5 2500K overclocked to 4.8 GHz water cooled however. No throttling and sits under 80 degrees C full load. My vega 56 bottlenecks my CPU by circa 20% in even the most CPU intensive games.

"EDIT"
I.E Vega 56 frequently sits at 99 – 100% while my overclocked I5 2500k sits at circa 50% to 70%. Not all games, GTA V is pretty much neck and neck, but most.
 
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@LeMson TBH I did expect to get the HBM to circa 1000 MHz on stock bios considering its Samsung memory, Hynix gets close or to 950 MHz, but then its easy to talk complete crap on the internet ha-ha. The HBM and core clocks I managed with the much lower power consumption contrary to temps I am well happy with.

@Th0nt , I'm not proud, but I reckon I spent easy over 100 hours applying settings, stress testing and benchmarking over the first 2 weeks or so from when I got this GPU...URGH. Glad someone else agrees with me regarding the diminishing returns pushing higher overclocks. I'm not shouting about my overclocking prowess from the roof tops by any stretch, but I'm confident the hours I have put in results in what is probably towards the higher end of what most people can achieve on this card. Yes one could pay £100 plus extra for a water block or circa £80 for a Morpheus air cooler, they might overclock stable 50 or 60 FPS higher than me, they might gain like a half to 1% over me in FPS. The card would be pulling circa 280 watts.

Thanks both for the positive responses.

Dan

*EDIT*

What I have read could be wrong, but the HBM and core on the Pulse may be set at different heights, due to the mini PCB length or whatever. Could be a real bugger on fitting an aftermarket cooler?
 
I had samsung memory too, 950 was solid, 975 felt flakey to me, flashed 64 bios and with the extra memory voltage 1050 was solid.

As balls to the wall as you can push the card, it's nice to undervolt it and not push too much.

Hope you have a freesync monitor to go with it, if not get one!
 
@LeMson
I've been eyeing up the AOC Q3279VWFD8 since I bought my Vega 56. Problem is I bought a DGM 27” TN panel screen easy 10 years ago for a measly £280 from what used to be dabs. Apart from the addition of free-sync on newer monitors, I am yet to find a screen that beats the DGM basic specification. At the moment I am happy applying settings that ensure circa 60 and above fps.
 
@dankeeys its good to see people appreciate the value this card offers now the prices were slashed since October time. I picked one up in the black friday sales. Undervolted and slight overclock this thing runs cool and offers unbeatable fps per £ spent. Like you said earlier a smashing bargain, should be no brand blinkers if your looking a card for 2-300 this is the one to get.
 
Good thing with the 56 is the dual bios. You can flash a 64 bios, flick the switch and your back to a 56 bios. I have a 64 bios on mine and run 1630/1100mhz. Can do 1700/1100 but the extra volts isn't worth the gain the performance tbh.
 
Trivo said:
Meridiusuk said:
do you get a lot of this ? I thought the coil whine is a defect is just this card or others a well, also are the fans noisy ? as I was looking at this card cheers
Click to expand...


Edit: some people say that PSU compatibility is sometimes cause for loud coil whine but most often it's an attribute of the card, so switching/upgrading PSU might reduce the sound but never remove it.
Click to expand...

I further identified that the noise(s) were coming from both the GPU and the PSU, almost similar types of buzzing/screeching, which initially caused me to believe it was only the GPU. Switching to a 750W seasonic platinum plus, and now both the card and the PSU are dead silent for coil whine, regardless of fps, gpu load, power draw.
 
dankeeys said:
From memory at default speeds benchmarked against my stable overclock (mentioned in my previous post), I managed circa 12% increase in FPS on whatever of the newest 3 of Tomb Raider games I benchmarked a few weeks ago. Ultra settings @ 1440p. I do remember an extra 50 or 60 MHz on the core done absolutely nothing. Pertinent to my memory, leaving the core overclocked and putting the HBM back to stock was less than a few percent in FPS.

I have an old CPU so other people may get better performance than me. I have an I5 2500K overclocked to 4.8 GHz water cooled however. No throttling and sits under 80 degrees C full load. My vega 56 bottlenecks my CPU by circa 20% in even the most CPU intensive games.

"EDIT"
I.E Vega 56 frequently sits at 99 – 100% while my overclocked I5 2500k sits at circa 50% to 70%. Not all games, GTA V is pretty much neck and neck, but most.
Click to expand...

I'm also running the old 2500K so it is interesting to see how you get on. Have you tried World War Z yet? (it came with my card). Can't seem to access Vulkan, but it can run at 4k on high (not ultra) locked to 60fps in DX11. Might download R6 Siege and try the HD textures as well.
 
Trivo said:
I further identified that the noise(s) were coming from both the GPU and the PSU, almost similar types of buzzing/screeching, which initially caused me to believe it was only the GPU. Switching to a 750W seasonic platinum plus, and now both the card and the PSU are dead silent for coil whine, regardless of fps, gpu load, power draw.
Click to expand...

A lot of people maintain that its not the PSU as they either dont swap it out and insist it was quiet on the previous card, or they test it using one other new PSU. It isnt quite so simple as that due to the rail configuration, quality of components etc.

Some cards do coil whine. I have seen quite a number be resolved once a decent PSU or one that is another brand gets tested in the rig.
 
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