In order to improve the Radeon product, the drivers need to be changed to allow idle memory clock for 2560x1440 144hz refresh rates to be at the low p-state, similar to 120hz and 60hz.
I am running triple AOC Agon AG241QX 1440p monitors and found that when using 120hz refresh rates for all 3, the RX Vega 64 HBM clock idles at 167mhz. This is great because it allows the GPU idle temp to be as low as 29C and HBM temps 32C. The GPU power draw is only 5W and the Sapphire Nitro+ RX Vega 64 is cool to the touch and the fans don't have to spin. This behavior reaches parity with what the competition offers.
However, if running the monitors at 144Hz which is the advertised max refresh rate of these monitors, the HBM memory clock runs at the full 945Mhz; the high memory p-state. This doubles the idle power draw and also causes the HBM temperature to creep up to 50C eventually causing the fans to turn on and off repeatedly to drop the temps to around 48C before they climb back up to 50C. These are high idle temps and this higher memory clock rate for idle desktop for 144Hz is outdated considering the competition is able to run the same 3 monitors at 144Hz with the low p-state.
I strongly advise RTG engineers to look into this behavior as it comes across as a lower performing product in the areas of energy efficiency, product usability/behavior (i.e. idle fans spinning and stopping due to high idle temp on partner boards). It can also lead to the perception of the competition having a better product.
Test Setup:
GPU: Sapphire NITRO+ RX Vega 64
CPU: Ryzen 7 1800X
MOBO: MSI X370 XPOWER Gaming Titanium
RAM: 32GB 2933mhz CL16
PSU: Corsair HX1200
Samsung 840 EVO 500GB
Drivers:
18.8.1
