The RX Vega 56 Owners Thread

[Yadda]

LOL. You're absolutely right mate. It took me 3 months of experimenting and indecision before I settled on what I use now. I shouldn't discourage you from that enjoyment. Its a great card to tweak around with so enjoy and keep us posted on how you get on

Thanks, will do.

Does anyone know the score with Micron HBM modules on Vega 56 cards?

I've read two conflicting opinions:

1) They're not as good as the desirable Samsung modules (therefore similar to Hynix modules).

2) They're actually Samsung modules being misreported as Micron by an old version of GPUZ. (I'm running an old version.)

I'll download the latest GPUZ when I get on the PC later and have a look.

Well knock me down with a feather!

My old version of GPUZ, "Micron" HBM:

The latest version of GPUZ:

 

[gpuerrilla]

So on Div2 1440/ultra with 1662 gpu and 980 vram, 50% PL gives 62 fps for 243W, 65C and 2080rpm, 15% PL gives 60 fps for 207W, 64C and 1960rpm. So from 50% to 15% fps drops 3% for 16% drop in power, 3% drop in temp and 6% reduction in fan rpm.

Now that's enough min-maxing for tonight

Cool, we had another helpful guy on here recently too that shared figures suggesting one of the sweet spots was using 15% power for a conservative option with little impact on performance. I think I prefer this option as its also cooler, less fan needed.

 

[SkeeterUK]

The old gpuz results might be when vega was just coming out as some fields were empty so im guessing it isnt going to be accurate cos of that.

 

[Yadda]

The old gpuz results might be when vega was just coming out as some fields were empty so im guessing it isnt going to be accurate cos of that.

Yes, that's the reason without a doubt.

 

[Yadda]

That's enough benchmarking for now because although I'm very fond of this card, I don't think my PSU is. What I put down to coil whine is my PSU making a worrying rattling sound when under load. It may be a 910W Seasonic-based unit but it is over 10 years old and is clearly struggling with something. The most I saw the card draw was 270W (at 63C) and the PSU didn't like that at all.

So, I'll call it quits for now before something goes bang, and I'll run the card at the more modest settings required for 1080p 60Hz (the PSU doesn't mind that) until I upgrade my monitor (and PSU).

Marvellous. That was fun.

 

[SkeeterUK]

I get whine during loading screens when i get silly fps like 300. Either use frame limiter in amd settings, use vsync or maybe chill. You dont have to limit it too much just cap it so no more than 150 or 100 for example so during loading screens etc it doesnt go nuts.

 

[Yadda]

I get whine during loading screens when i get silly fps like 300. Either use frame limiter in amd settings, use vsync or maybe chill. You dont have to limit it too much just cap it so no more than 150 or 100 for example so during loading screens etc it doesnt go nuts.

Thanks, I thought that too but when the card's "tuned up" the PSU still rattles slightly even when frames are capped to 60. If I choose "power saving mode" in WattMan, the rattle goes away and I still get my 60FPS.

 

[Yadda]

I've been scratching my head about this worrying rattling/buzzing noise from my PSU so I've did a bit of research. The easiest possible solution I came across was to try a different power source, so I unplugged my PC from the fairly basic surge protected power strip that I've always used, and plugged it into an even more basic non-surge protected strip thats hooked up to a different mains socket (that's on a different ring). I've just benchmarked the card again at full chat and there weren't any worrying noises at all.

The PSU lives on!

Now, the Pulse 56 (with Samsung HBM) can take a 64 bios, can't it?

Edit: seen a recommendation for the XFX Vega 64 bios. Apparently it's also a nano card. More research...

 

[5t3v0]

I've been scratching my head about this worrying rattling/buzzing noise from my PSU so I've did a bit of research. The easiest possible solution I came across was to try a different power source, so I unplugged my PC from the fairly basic surge protected power strip that I've always used, and plugged it into an even more basic non-surge protected strip thats hooked up to a different mains socket (that's on a different ring). I've just benchmarked the card again at full chat and there weren't any worrying noises at all.

The PSU lives on!

Now, the Pulse can take a 64 bios, can't it?

Good news re the PSU.

The only benefit flashing the bios will give you is higher hbm2 voltage which might allow you push vram frequency up to 1200 mhz. Flashing the bios wont let you increase your your gpu OC any more than you already can. You'll invalidate your warranty and risk introducing other issues for a small performance gain from a card which is already pretty powerful

 

[Yadda]

Cheers buddy. Yes, I'm pleased the PSU lives on (you really don't want to see the quick & dirty ghetto 120mm fan mod. It deserves a lot better but out of sight, out of mind, eh? )

Yes, all very good points. I think I'll sit on the idea for a while and just enjoy the card. Just managed 4700 on Superposition at 1080p (at the settings specified in the benchmark thread). This thing rips along!

Edit: I'm still not seeing temps rise above the low-to-mid 60's though. I'm using the driver OSD (ctrl + shift + o) to monitor temps, is it reliable?

 

[5t3v0]

I'm still not seeing temps rise above the low-to-mid 60's though. I'm using the driver OSD (ctrl + shift + o) to monitor temps, is it reliable?

I dont see why not. I use HWINFO which gives separate temp readings for gpu, hbm and hotspot

 

[Darujhistan]

Woohoo! checked GPU-Z, and I got Samung.

Red Dragon here, I wonder if certain models got Hynix and some models got Samsung?

 

[Yadda]

Woohoo! checked GPU-Z, and I got Samung.

Red Dragon here, I wonder if certain models got Hynix and some models got Samsung?

Nice one. As far as I know it's a lottery for all Vega 56 cards regardless of vendor/model.

Now, to flash or not to flash. That is the question...

 

[gpuerrilla]

Dont think the flash is as night/day from the release days because of the improvements to the driver. By all means try it and report back, but before you do can you get some metrics of vanilla with latest driver so you can compare what todays flash would yield?

 

[Yadda]

Dont think the flash is as night/day from the release days because of the improvements to the driver. By all means try it and report back, but before you do can you get some metrics of vanilla with latest driver so you can compare what todays flash would yield?

I'm not planning on flashing it just yet. I need to do some more research first to make sure there aren't any surprises waiting in the wings.

Do you have any links to info regarding the problems of flashing to a 64 bios with the later drivers?

 

[gpuerrilla]

As far as Im aware, as long as you have the samsung memory confirmed, check if there is a BIOS switch on the board itself. Find one of the plenty vids covering it out there - it will tell you which tool to use.

 

[5t3v0]

The challenge for the pulse is that there is no 64 equivalent so you have flash a reference bios or a bios from another model. There's plenty of posts out there where various model bioses have been used with varying degrees of success. It's one of those things that could be a half hour job and all work fine or a complete world of pain. I did research it but opted against it as was only likely to get an extra 3% performance gain from the memory bandwidth improvement. Just didnt seem worth the risk

 

[Yadda]

As far as Im aware, as long as you have the samsung memory confirmed, check if there is a BIOS switch on the board itself. Find one of the plenty vids covering it out there - it will tell you which tool to use.

The challenge for the pulse is that there is no 64 equivalent so you have flash a reference bios or a bios from another model. There's plenty of posts out there where various model bioses have been used with varying degrees of success. It's one of those things that could be a half hour job and all work fine or a complete world of pain. I did research it but opted against it as was only likely to get an extra 3% performance gain from the memory bandwidth improvement. Just didnt seem worth the risk

Thanks fellas. Yes, I've seen a few guides on the procedure and it looks straightforward enough. If I do it, I'll probably use the XFX Vega 64 bios because as I mentioned in a previous post, it has a nano PCB like the Pulse. I've downloaded the bios bios flash utility and bios file, I just need to look into a couple of things before finally deciding what to do (e.g. is a bios from a nano card necessary? If not, which one to use? What real world benefits will flashing bring?)

Do you know if 56's flashed with a 64 bios are reported by benchmarks such as 3dmark as 56's or 64's?

 

[5t3v0]

Thanks fellas. Yes, I've seen a few guides on the procedure and it looks straightforward enough. If I do it, I'll probably use the XFX Vega 64 bios because as I mentioned in a previous post, it has a nano PCB like the Pulse. I've downloaded the bios bios flash utility and bios file, I just need to look into a couple of things before finally deciding what to do (e.g. is a bios from a nano card necessary? If not, which one to use? What real world benefits will flashing bring?)

Do you know if 56's flashed with a 64 bios are reported by benchmarks such as 3dmark as 56's or 64's?

As you've probably seen in your research, you wont enable the 8 extra CUs so the only benefit is that the hbm2 voltage is increased from 1.25 to 1.35 which opens up overclocking beyond 1ghz although you might find by not much depending on your luck on the silicon lottery. Flashing appears to have no benefit on gpu overclocks because voltage is identically configurable for both cards in the driver anyway. So you'll gain a bit of extra memory bandwidth which in real world terms wont amount to much. By extrapolating the 2fps increase I got in div2 going from 800 to 980, an oc of 1200 (optimistic) would yield only another 2 fps. The extra power and heat might lead to more instability, not to mention stress on that psu of yours. The pulse has a dual bios so it's a fairly low risk experiment and potentially a bit of fun if you dont like playing games in your spare time . I just wouldn't expect big gains over what you can already achieve through driver overclocking

 

[Yadda]

As you've probably seen in your research, you wont enable the 8 extra CUs so the only benefit is that the hbm2 voltage is increased from 1.25 to 1.35 which opens up overclocking beyond 1ghz although you might find by not much depending on your luck on the silicon lottery. Flashing appears to have no benefit on gpu overclocks because voltage is identically configurable for both cards in the driver anyway. So you'll gain a bit of extra memory bandwidth which in real world terms wont amount to much. By extrapolating the 2fps increase I got in div2 going from 800 to 980, an oc of 1200 (optimistic) would yield only another 2 fps. The extra power and heat might lead to more instability, not to mention stress on that psu of yours. The pulse has a dual bios so it's a fairly low risk experiment and potentially a bit of fun if you dont like playing games in your spare time . I just wouldn't expect big gains over what you can already achieve through driver overclocking

Are you sure the gains from higher HBM clocks are that small "across the board"? I've read that Vega really likes the extra memory bandwidth and I've seen people get significant performance gains in some games.

(Edit: the PSU is now fine, btw. The problem was coil whine and I sorted it by connecting to a different mains socket on a different power strip.)