SAPPHIRE Radeon RX VEGA 64 DirectX 12 100410L 8GB 2048-Bit HBM2 HDMI / TRIPLE DP (UEFI) PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support ATX Video Card

Pros: Similar performance to GTX 1080 Excellent performance in DX 12 and Vulkan api titles Freesync Technology 1247mhz core clock and 1546mhz boost clock DPM7 shows potential top clock of 1630mhz 8gb HBM2 memory High Bandwidth Cache Controller PCB design and VRM setup is excellent Customizable power profiles Dual Bios GPU Tach LED’s Metal Backplate Wolfenstein ll and Prey game vouchers Drivers and software are easy to install and use

Cons: Stock blower style HSF is not capable of adequately cooling the GPU and HBM Loud and runs hot (stock cooler) Software buggy Consumes more power than GTX 1080 Price gouging Will throttle to 1401mhz (stock hsf) Slight coil whine with high frame rates 295W TDP Backplate does not actively cool components Other Thoughts (needed more space). I really wanted Vega to succeed, however I can’t really recommend the stock air cooled version for many reasons. My review extends to all stock Vega 64’s as they were all built by AMD (not just this Sapphire version). The stock cooler is so poor with the default fan profile that the card hits its thermal limits in less than a minute of full load, resulting in throttling and reduced performance. I tested this with Firestrike Stress Test, and with default out of the box settings, Vega 64 hit its thermal limit of 85C in under a minute, throttling to 1401mhz with a 2400rpm max fan speed! I was able to reduce throttling by raising the fan speed profile to 3500rpm manually and this kept the load temperatures below the target setting of 75C but it was loud at these speeds. Without throttling the card boosted to 1546mhz and sometimes hit it’s DPM 7 state of 1630mhz. At these frequencies the card performs very similarly to the stock GTX 1080. I know this because I swapped my GTX 1080 to Vega 64 in order to get the best out of my Nixeus 2560x1440 144hz IPS Freesync monitor. Once the fan speed is adjusted to avoid full load throttling, playing games with Freesync enabled is truly a delight. It’s difficult to explain unless you have tried adaptive sync, but games like BF1 and Prey look and run smoother and the overall experience is well worth the few fps that I may have lost swapping to Vega 64. Looping Firestrike becomes mesmerizing to watch without the usual frame tearing. Vega 64 can easily provide all the FPS I need for my monitor, I have no need for anything faster. My current build is Ryzen 5 1600X (at 4.0ghz), AsRock X370 Taichi, 16gb Corsair LPX PC 3200 DDR4, 1Tb Mushkin Reactor SSD and Vega 64. I wanted a change from my usual Intel/Nvidia builds and to be honest the change was prompted by some software or driver updates that resulted in stuttering in BF1 and Prey that I was not able to completely resolve. I do run a custom watercooling loop with a 360mm rad and a 240mm rad along with an Alphacool Eisblock XPX on my CPU and a shiny new EK Vega waterblock on my GPU and am very happy with the results. For me Vega 64 is as good a GPU as my old GTX 1080, however it does consume around 80W more under load that equates to an additional $2.30 or so on my annual power bill (calculated on 2 hours of game play per day and a 1kwh cost of 4 cents in Nevada)… Based on my testing Vega 64 (assuming it does not throttle runs faster than the GTX 1080 in DX12 and Vulkan based games by as much as 6-8% and 1-4% slower in Dx11 titles.

Overall Review: The cost of this card has spiked, making the value proposition poor at best. If this card actually hit market at $499 then I might be able to overlook the performance to power ratio, however I bought this stock card at $599, which hurt somewhat as the GTX 1080 is currently cheaper. I was going to buy Wolfenstein ll, so saved $60 with the game voucher and gave the Prey game code to my son, so all was not lost once I factored in the $120 worth of software that I did not have to pay for. But not everyone wants Wolfenstein or Prey though! The gpu is well behaved under water, the PCB is extremely well designed and the powerful VRM is likely one of the better stock manufactured VRM’s I’ve seen. I have no plans to overclock this video card, however I can now run the card without throttling at its maximum DMP7 clocks of 1630mhz while undervolting to 1080mV. Having said this, it was quite easy, even when air cooled to increase the power limit by 50%, setting memory at 1050mhz and adding 5% to core frequency, this would result in core frequency of 1712mhz under load. However the stock cooler would need to be set at a howling 4500rpm to keep temperatures below 85C. I don’t have to worry about fan noise as my load temps hit 58C maximum during looped benchmarks now that I have my waterblock installed. Running some Timespy tests with the Vega 64 at stock, the graphic score was 7069, after overclocking, the graphic score rose to 7820 which is a 10% improvement and peak sustained frequencies rose from 1630mhz to 1712mhz. I’m positive that more performance can be gained by further overclocking, but as I mentioned I’m not that bothered, I don’t believe that the additional power and heat are worth the extra fps. Installing the driver packages was simple, the new Crimson drivers are easy to use and update. Some of the clock reporting and power reporting in Wattman is not accurate, so I have been using Watt Tool to adjust clocks and voltages. Radeon Chill can help tame power in game, but only if your game is listed (currently I believe that 30 plus games are supported). I’m happy to report that AMD drivers are not the mess that they used to be. There are some bugs, but I am an early adopter and hopefully these will be fixed soon, along with some added optimizations that will make Vega 64 even better. Should you buy this card??? Not at any price over $499. Not if you want to keep the stock cooler. Not if you want better performance than GTX 1080. Not if you are don’t have Freesync monitor. The only real reason I can see for people to buy Vega 64 over the GTX 1080 is if you intend to pair it with a 1440p Freesync monitor for high refresh rate gaming like me. For me this is a good card, almost as fast as my GTX 1080 in DX 11 and older titles and slightly faster with modern api’s like DX12 and Vulkan. It’s not really power hungry in balanced mode compared to the GTX 1080, the difference is around 80W and now that I have undervolted it to 1080mV it’s about the same. The cost of additional power is not really a show stopper once you do the math, however the by-product of additional power is heat and this may be an issue for some. At a pinch you could keep the stock cooler, but the fan profile would need to be adjusted to 3500rpm in order to keep temperatures below 85C full load and this will increase the noise output. Paying $599 for this card with the stock hsf and then adding another $120 for an EK Waterblock takes the cost up to cheapest GTX 1080ti and the 1080ti card provides much more performance with a lower power draw. I don’t regret my purchase, I would have been happier if I could have purchased the card at its suggested MSRP of $499. If you are an AMD fanboy, then this card is a definite upgrade to Fury X and RX 580, however I would likely wait for an AIB to bring customized Vega 64’s to market with better HSF’s as the stock cooler is not great. If you have a freesync monitor, then this card will be an excellent choice, however, again I would likely wait for AIB’s to bring custom versions to market with better coolers. If like me you intend to replace the stock HSF with a waterblock, then the design of the PCB and strong VRM make this a good buy (assuming price goes down to MSRP). If you are not an AMD fanboy, or invested in Freesync, then a GTX 1080 will cost the same, or in some cases less than the Vega 64, and will be quieter, run cooler and use less power while providing the same level of performance. I have taken off 1 egg for the poor stock HSF and current cost to performance ratio, but this is more a reflection of AMD design and not a Sapphire specific issue.

Pros: -Nice design, GPU Tach returns, Radeon logo lights up red on the side. -Excellent 1440p GPU (60fps or better in practically all DX11 and DX12 games) -Dual Bios with Power Saver, Balanced, Turbo, and Custom Presets available in Wattman

Cons: -Loud, while gaming. 2400rpm while gaming on Balanced Preset (default) -High Power consumption requiring a good power supply though this is most likely going in an enthusiast PC.

Overall Review: -Great upgrade for 1440p Freesync.

Pros: - Upgraded for Gaming/Mining it's an absolute monster at both - 124 FPS in BF1, DX12, Ultra, 1440P, 64 player map in balanced power mode! - Bought at MSRP + discounts so worth every penny - Top of the line AMD card for less than a 1080 - Great overclocking potential while undervolting - Can upgrade to any aftermarket air cooler for less than a non-reference Vega 64 (which don't even have a release date right now) - Super easy install + great drivers - Got this overnight (probably just super lucky) - Really don't think you can go wrong with this especially if you're an enthusiast who likes customizing and upgrading your hardware

Cons: - Reference design cooler, it runs pretty hot during Furmark burn-in, it topped at 85 before going back down to 75, not to mention the room it's in is freezing cold - Extremely power hungry; it maxes my 650W Gold power supply using almost 419 watts in balanced mode, considering using a separate PSU I have for the main board and the 650W for only the Vega - I've read Crossfire doesn't work well but, that actually falls on developers to implement now after dx12 (technically not a con)

Overall Review: - Will probably buy a second one soon if price holds up - Will probably install an aftermarket air cooler like the Morpheus II

Pros: Got it at MSRP $499 Runs games like a boss Love the look and the red led RADEON on the side Would recommend to anyone! Runs everything I have thrown at it on ultra.

Cons: Gets a lil warm but haven't had any problems with it, make sure your case is well ventilated or has plenty of airflow.

Overall Review: I haven't tried it yet, but I have read you can undervolt the card and temps drop dramatically while overclocking it also. Something to think about.

Pros: It worked for 5 months.

Cons: It worked for 5 months. Games often didn't perform as well as they would have on Nvidia cards that cost less. The driver was flaky and would crash a couple times per day while gaming (although this could be related to a failing card)

Overall Review: This was the second Sapphire RX Vega 64 card I tried, because the first one failed to function right out of the box. This second one has failed after only 5 months. I can't speak for Vega 64 cards in general, but I'd avoid this one like the plague.

Pros: Coming from a previous Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X, this card immediately blew my mind as to how vastly improved my game's performance was. However, I should also note that I'm strictly a 1080P (primary res[avid FPS gamer]) and sometimes 1440P (depending on the game, usually for MMORPGs and 4X strat games). I don't really enjoy 4K that much when gaming unless it's a more cinematic, narrative experience like Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice or Quantum Break. Paired with my BenQ 144Hz monitor (model number eludes me atm), everything I've played so far is a smooth-as-butter, visually surreal experience. I'm used to hitting 144fps constant in less-than-visually-stellar games like CS:GO. I was NOT prepared to get 144FPS in Dead Rising 3 (after some INI tweaking I was able to remove the 30 fps cap), and oh my goodness is it amazing. Dying Light? I took vsync off and was pushing upwards of 200+ frames. I haven't been this impressed since I was a teenager years ago upgrading my GeForce MX440 to a GeForce 6800Ti in anticipation of creating a Battlefield 2-capable computer. I paired this bad boy with 32 GB of DDR4 3200 TridentZ by G.Skill (I've used G.Skill in 3 of the last computers I've built over the last 5 years, and I've grown to absolutely love their memory for overclocking and gaming), as well as a Ryzen 1700X cpu plugged into an ASRock X370 Taichi. And, having absolute faith in EVGA for all of my power needs, I decidedly opted for the platinum rated 1000W SuperNova PSU. So far, so good. Just a slight step-up of 125mhz on both the memory and gpu clocks and a 100mV increase and it's running rock solid without any hiccups; I'm waiting to get my liquid cooling kit before I go HAM on the clockspeeds. Since I'm running a full array of SSD/SSHD's, I can honestly say this is without a doubt the fastest computer I've ever made. I absolutely love it, and I'm definitely all over AMD's jock now as I anticipate to see what these drivers do as they flesh out all the new features the card has to offer (the main reason I bought this card was because I'm whole-heartedly impressed by the HBM2 and the new system they have of using SSD/RAM in lieu of VRAM) and I'm definitely looking forward to more Vulkan API title (DOOM has never, ever looked so good.. Vulkan let me get 120+fps on my R9 290, on this rxv64 I've more than doubled that) The GeForce 1080Ti fanboys probably won't let AMD fanboys get away with bragging about the Vega, but I think it's premature to say this card can't compare with the 1080Ti. AMD is notorious for driver performance and I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt here (mainly because I was also so impressed with my last AMD gpu purchase) and wait to see how and when (or even IF) those benchmark numbers improve. What I CAN definitively say is that, if you are like me and are an avid 1080p/1440p gamer, this card is your wet dream. I was very apprehensive about dropping the 7 bills needed to buy this card but as of right now I can say that all my anxiety has been assuaged and has been replaced with full confidence in my purchase. Great job Sapphire, Great job AMD, and fantastic job Nvidia for keeping AMD on its toes and allowing this enthusiast-competition loop to bequeath us with such beautiful and powerful hardware :-D

Cons: A wee bit noisy. Large (but what high end GPU isn't?). My CM Stryker had no problem fitting this big guy in there though. (Ps. the CM Stryker is a well built Full ATX case in case you're in the market for one) Power draw looks to be around 300-350 on average, but with a Platinum 1000W PSU i'm not worried about any surges or failures. Reference design is always so bland, i would have preferred a more aggressive/muscular/muscle car look like my Tri-X had.

Overall Review: I definitely would recommend this to anyone who likes AMD, or 1080p gaming in general. I've also always had great luck overclocking AMD cards on air, so if you're not heart-set on a water cooling rig and what good performance on air than give this card a whirl. I've only had the card a day so it is easy to talk it up since everything runs well (usually) in the first 24 hours. I'll update my review if I run into any problems.

Pros: Great performance @1440p in all newer titles I've played.

Cons: Runs warm but given the fact it is a blower style card I expected this. so no eggs deducted for that.

Overall Review: Guys this is not a GTX 1080 ti and is not meant to compete with it. I believe it is giving the GTX 1080 a run for it's money though, especially in the future when we see HBCC utilized. I was about to purchase a GTX 1080 but talked myself out of it because Vega is newer and I can deal with poor driver optimization until they work the bugs out.

Pros: After 2 weeks it's shinning my stars. Did some minor league clockwork which made it even better. We're gonna be friends a long time.

Cons: It's hot. Turned off the heater and opened the widow slightly. Outside, it's in the low 40f. Vega 64 temps topped @68c. These temps are gaming without clock measurements. Giving Battlefield games (3, 4, Battlefront & Bf1) a real go, was above 82c In Call of Duty Ghost and Advance Warfare it maxed @58c without clocks. Clocked above 1600mhz, the temps rose to 77c. Gonna be comfy this winter.

Overall Review: Cooling is a problem. Contemplating watercooling in the spring. Too comfy to think about now. The Vegas' blower fan can move more air going out than air going in. I may experiment using an air scoop over Vega's fan. Will update later. 6 yrs. ago, I did an experiment using a scoop intake over the fan (on a HD7950). I cut rubber ball into quarters (1/4) and taped one quarter over the 7950s' fan, open side of the ball facing the front intake fans of the computer case. Replaced 90mm case fans with 140mm. Had a steady 6c to 8c difference. From 76c+to 68c+ in graphic intense games and games with large, mulitplayer maps. Frequently going lower. I got the idea of scoops from my neighbor who use to drag race cars. He called it, 'force air' or 'ram air induction'. He says cars and planes use scoops for years and still do. Scoops wouldn't be around if they weren't a proven technology so I tried it. The amount of extra gpu cooling wasn't much but shaved off the more hazardous temperatures. The draw backs were -it was big, noisy and look tacky having 'taped' the scoops on. There are better ways to attach them on a gpu card but for the experiment it was fine.