Graphics

[colesdav]

Hi,

I think AMD claimed that RX Vega would compete with GTX1080 originally.
I don't know where claims of it beating an GTX1080Ti came from.

It looks to me like the Vega Frontier Edition is competitive with the Titan Xp in the "Radeon Pro" Applications mode.
AMD stated  this card is not a Gaming Card.
Based on this one initial review it looks like the Vega FE is currently sitting between a GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 with the Driver in "Gamer Mode".
Also note in the review they had some issues with Fan speeds, and Overclocking and Memory clocks, so the initial driver may be buggy.

It might be the case that the Vega based Gaming Drivers will not be optimised fully until the RX Vega cards are released at the end of this month.

We will all have to wait and see how good the RX Vega cards are when they are launched, and what the price/performance trade off is.
Maybe once RX Vega Cards are launced the RX Vega Drivers might help with improvements with the the Vega Frontier Edition "Gamer mode" driver  performance.

I just watched a review of the PCB and VRMs of the reference card and it looks really high quality design apart from one potential improvement possible  on the Voltager Regulator used for the HBM2 memory (the reviewer thinks a 2 phase regulator *might* potentially be needed to improve performance versus 1 phase used). Note the size of the PCB and the large dead space for the Fan and heatsink used in the blower design. Hopefully they will be able to create R9 Nano style Vega Cards with a two slot wide internal fan and/or watercooler.  

The video is here: Radeon Vega: FE Vcore Behemoth - VRM & PCB Analysis - YouTube

Fingers crossed the RX Vega launch will show more impressive gaming performance and improved gaming mode drivers for the
Vega Frontier Edition in future. It is still very early after launch of the Vega FE.

Cheers.

[willyfisch]

The 1080ti comparison comes from an interview conducted by Tom's Hardware http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-ama,5018-11.html

Q: "how does Vega compare to the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and the Nvidia Titan Xp?"

A: "It looks really nice."

So yeah, being beat out by it is far from "really nice".

I did see the PCB is high quality, which is good to see, but in the end it needs to have competitive gaming performance.

I have no doubt that there is still performance to gain with drivers. They did have a lot of time now, since they had running Vega silicon last year already.

[black_zion]

Having prototype silicon with a new architecture, pre-release drivers, and programs which do not have optimizations, and having retail silicon running for months with refined drivers and optimized programs are two entirely different things.

[colesdav]

Ok, I had seen that comment before.

I stll think we need to give it time for the RX Vega launch and reviews to get a better idea of what the true gaming potential of the RX Vega is.
Fingers crossed it will at least beat a GTX1080 at launch, and be available at a decent price.
We only need to wait 1 more month to find out.

Cheers. 

[colesdav]

At last some live details on the RX Vega Limited Edition, and some information on what a Holocube is ...

Unboxing RX VEGA & THREADRIPPER + Mystery Holocube - YouTube

Full article here:
https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/carl/amd-teases-radeon-rx-vega-exclusively-with-lin...

[colesdav]

Here is an explanation of Pro versus Gaming Mode for the Vega Frontier Edition:
AMD on Gaming vs. Pro Mode: “Not a Placeholder” in FE | GamersNexus - Gaming PC Builds & Hardware Be...

The explanation of the two modes is to allow loading more frequently updated "Gaming Drivers" for testing / or gaming  whilst staying on
~ more stable "Professional Drivers" for the Radeon Pro type applications.

The Professional Drivers should eventually get gaming related updates / new features.

It will be interesting to see how the Vega FE performs with its first round of updated drivers versus the drivers avaailable at release.

[colesdav]

Full Info here: https://gaming.radeon.com/en-us/rxvega/

Launch Video here: Introducing Radeon™ RX Vega - YouTube

Cheers.

[colesdav]

This is worth a watch I think: AMD Vega & Threadripper - PRICING & SPECS! - YouTube

Radeon Packs look really good if you were doing a new build with a Ryzen 7 CPU and new motherboard and a new Freesync monitor.

It is a pity there is no similar Vega FE / Epyc or Threadripper.

I really look forward to seeing benchmark results running on the latest drivers and on games designed to run on RX Vega / Vega FE.  

For RX Vega or Vega FE I  am very interested in the the liquid cooled versions.

Still not sure what a Holocube is though ... ;-).

[colesdav]

PC Perspectives have already done some good Articles on AMD Vega FE air and liquid cooled versions.

Here is an article on the RX Vega launch.

AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 and Vega 56 Specs, Prices, Power Detailed | PC Perspective

Cheers.

[colesdav]

Gamers Nexus article on RX Vega Launch.
RX Vega 64 & 56 Power Consumption, Price, & Threadripper Spacers | GamersNexus - Gaming PC Builds & ...

Again looking forward to the detailed review.

Bye.