Just because the Radeon Vega RX 56 targets Nvidia’s GTX 1070, the Vega RX 64 is AMD’s precision strike on the mighty GTX 1080. About rattling time, too – by focusing solely on the mid-range and entry-level RX 400 and RX 500 sequence, AMD has given Nvidia free reign of the premium marketplace for about two years. Time for some competitors, methinks.
The mannequin I’m testing is Asus’ ROG Strix model, or to make use of its full title for the one time on this evaluation, the Asus ROG Strix RX Vega 64 OC Edition. The poetically-named ARSRV64OCE builds on AMD’s tech – which incorporates 8GB of High Bandwidth Memory 2 (HBM2), which stacks its reminiscence modules models on prime of one another, supposedly dashing up how lengthy it takes to speak to your CPU – with a nifty three-fan air cooler and, because the title suggests, overclocked cores. It’s solely slightly bump, thoughts, upping the bottom clock from 1247MHz to 1298MHz and the increase clock from 1549MHz to 1590MHz. As as to whether all that makes the RX 64 as succesful because the GTX 1080 at 1440p and, maybe most significantly, 4K, the reply is: sure! Pretty a lot!
It unsurprisingly tore via Doom with barely any seen distinction between maxed-out 1080p and 1440p (honest warning, I’ll be saying that so much), and 4K appeared actually quite pretty as properly. You may inform that the framerate had taken a knock, however not almost to the extent that it seems unsatisfactory.
Hitman additionally produced no points to talk of, aside from the truth that – and I’ll admit I do not know why this may very well be – it gave the impression to be barely extra secure throughout huge crowd scenes at 1440p than at 1080p. 4K additionally held up properly, without having to show down any settings until you need to get probably the most frames out of a 144Hz monitor.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War was additionally spared any huge dips on the decrease resolutions; we’re certain there was a distinction in smoothness between 1080p and 1440p, however you’d want a body fee counter to see it. 4K, conversely, was the place we first noticed the RX 64 below some actual pressure, hesitating ever-so-slightly in the course of the extra bombastic motion moments. It all the time remained playable, to make sure, however it’ll be a matter of style whether or not to suck up these drops in alternate for the very best quality settings or to decrease them for higher consistency.
Rise of the Tomb Raider bought a bit dicey at 4K, too, notably when there’s an abundance of particle results or foliage onscreen. It in all probability is price disabling a number of the extra opulent choices right here, although at 1080p and 1440p, the RX 64 appeared rather more comfy with every part on full.
Total War: Warhammer II appeared about nearly as good as you possibly can anticipate from this sport at 1080p with a single GPU, each on the marketing campaign and battle maps. Switching to 1440p made Asus’ followers pipe up, however the sport itself nonetheless appeared grand, occupying the candy spot between shininess and smoothness. 4K efficiency, sadly, wasn’t as much as snuff – on the battle map, it’s jittery once you’re each up-close on models and excessive in regards to the subject, and the marketing campaign map fares even worse. There are some excessive factors on the latter, although, so playable 4K isn’t out of attain – you’ll simply must sacrifice some constancy for it.
Again, Wolfenstein II: The New Order made the followers go into wind tunnel mode, however it was price it: the RX 64 makes it fantastically clean at each 1080p and 1440p, with do drops, stutters or lurches in any respect. I anticipated it to stumble at 4K, however impressively, it by no means did. In truth, to my eyes it runs virtually as glossy because it does at 1440p, at the very least throughout any indoor hall shooty bits (which, to be honest, make up a good chunk of the sport).
The Witcher III isn’t fairly so spectacular on the RX 64, however it’s nonetheless a reasonably image at 1080p and 1440p. Transitions between tight, extremely detailed areas and big expanses are dealt with notably properly. 4K takes the sheen off a tiny bit – I most popular it operating with High presets as an alternative of Ultra – however it’s a small value to pay (not counting the a whole lot of kilos you’ve simply spent on the cardboard, I assume) to get the Witcher’s world wanting this good.
Rounding issues out, we will add Assassin’s Creed Origins to the record of video games that look actually bloody good on this card. Even next-tier-down playing cards just like the GTX 1070Ti can stumble at 1440p and above, however right here, all of the resolutions as much as and together with 4K deal with ultra-high settings with ease.
Props additionally to Asus, who’ve finished a characteristically good job with their additions. IP5X mud resistance was a nice shock – I can’t say I’ve ever misplaced a graphics card to an onslaught of that super-fine, heat-treated muck you solely get inside PCs, however as somebody who doesn’t have a cleanout as typically as he ought to, it’s some additional peace of thoughts on the very least.
Another good contact is that this has two HDMI ports as an alternative of 1; this may very well be very useful when you personal or want a VR headset and you have already got a monitor connected by way of HDMI, as digital actuality gear usually additionally makes use of this connector. With an additional, you’re much less more likely to be quick on ports.
Here’s the issue, nonetheless: this specific card has vanished from on-line retailers (I’m informed it’s been on Scan within the not-so-distant previous), and I’m nonetheless ready on Asus to verify when it’ll be again up, and at what value. In truth, most partner-customised RX 64s aren’t even out but, in the event that they’re even within the works in any respect. Asus and XFX are the one ones who’ve proven theirs off in the meanwhile.
This simply leaves playing cards which are, for all intents and functions, the reference design, with its boxy, loud blower-style cooler. Prices start at around £480-500, identical because the GTX 1080 – that’s, overclocked, better-cooled companion variations of the GTX 1080. With little or no separating the 2 in efficiency, our recommendation could be to both wait till customised RX 64s are extra… existent, or go forward with the GTX 1080.
