AMD Vega builders thread - rx 64 & rx 56

[jackstar7]

Got my FE installed last night and did the several steps to get drivers set and switched over to game mode and made some attempts at tweaking volts. Freesync on seems to cause extensive problems across various games, still need to spend more time checking what's going on with my Wattman settings and if I need to get into the tables and mess with it that way.

Didn't seem to get too hot though, but it was a cool night. We'll see how things get as summer ramps up.

 

[EXCellR8]

Enabling FreeSync globally in Wattman shouldn't cause any issues with games unless the game is locally overriding it. Did you play around with profiles yet?

 

[jackstar7]

Enabling FreeSync globally in Wattman shouldn't cause any issues with games unless the game is locally overriding it. Did you play around with profiles yet?

Not much. Freesync (as far as I could tell) was causing blanking in menus especially. If I turned off Freesync things worked fine.

I am using the FPS limiter to 100, and have the range of my monitor extended to 40-100Hz.

Not really sure when I'll get a chance to tinker with this more before the weekend, but will report any progress/issues as I figure them out.

 

[EXCellR8]

Yea it might be the drivers then... I have zero experience with the FE though.

There are several people on here with the cards who are using them for gaming I think.

 

[jackstar7]

Yea it might be the drivers then... I have zero experience with the FE though.

There are several people on here with the cards who are using them for gaming I think.

It was happening with the V64 I had over the weekend, too, but I just need to keep testing and figuring things out. So far it is working great for my humble needs, just hoping I can get freesync working as intended so I can see what all the fuss is about...

 

[jackstar7]

Enabling FreeSync globally in Wattman shouldn't cause any issues with games unless the game is locally overriding it. Did you play around with profiles yet?

Just wanted to add that I appreciate your suggestions/thoughts on this.

 

[EXCellR8]

No problem.

Btw, what monitor and cables are you using?

 

[jackstar7]

No problem.

Btw, what monitor and cables are you using?

Monitor is the Viotek GN34C. Cables, I don't know. If you've got a suggestion, I am open to it. The price of a cable against what I've spent on monitor and card... I will gladly buy a cable and give it a shot.

 

[EXCellR8]

Only reason I ask is because you can use a lower bandwidth cable and not be getting the full refresh rate of the monitor, but it would be super obvious and you'd likely notice right away. That's what I ran into when I first moved to a FreeSync monitor. All of my hardware was good but the DP cable I used was limiting my video bandwidth.

For example, this is one that I've used with FSync and it works wonderfully.

DisplayPort Cable

You could always try another DP port or HDMI also... sorry I'm not familiar with what the FE has on the back.

 

[jackstar7]

Only reason I ask is because you can use a lower bandwidth cable and not be getting the full refresh rate of the monitor, but it would be super obvious and you'd likely notice right away. That's what I ran into when I first moved to a FreeSync monitor. All of my hardware was good but the DP cable I used was limiting my video bandwidth.

For example, this is one that I've used with FSync and it works wonderfully.

DisplayPort Cable

You could always try another DP port or HDMI also... sorry I'm not familiar with what the FE has on the back.

It's just a Vega64 with 16gb of VRam, otherwise, I'm told it's all but identical.

I like the cables I have (reliability-wise), but I'll give another one a shot to see what comes of it. Once that's settled, then I'll start checking other options. I've heard that I might need to switch to 6-bit color for bandwidth reasons, or switch something else related to bandwidth. I expect to be poking around a bit since I've yet to find a clear and definitive guide to either the undervolting part, or the freesync part.

I'm kinda glad for the tinkering required as I haven't messed with my system in a couple years and I enjoy the process of trying to track down the fly in the ointment.

 

[Lil Frier]

Finally gave in and ordered a Strix Vega 64 today (Newegg, $600). More than I wanted to pay, but I'll recoup a smidge of the money from selling the Far Cry 5 code, and going through Newegg doesn't charge tax. Once it shows up, I'll start looking at VR, but I also might start considering new monitors.

Anyone already have this one? Any issues with the temps because of the high stock voltage? I don't mind if it's a bit power hungry, but if it's getting carried away and throttling (or pushing the fans hard all the time), I would look into undervolting it to get the thermals more reasonable. Now, I've gotta start considering a couple of new monitors for this thing and a VR headset.

 

[jackstar7]

Finally gave in and ordered a Strix Vega 64 today (Newegg, $600). More than I wanted to pay, but I'll recoup a smidge of the money from selling the Far Cry 5 code, and going through Newegg doesn't charge tax. Once it shows up, I'll start looking at VR, but I also might start considering new monitors.

Anyone already have this one? Any issues with the temps because of the high stock voltage? I don't mind if it's a bit power hungry, but if it's getting carried away and throttling (or pushing the fans hard all the time), I would look into undervolting it to get the thermals more reasonable. Now, I've gotta start considering a couple of new monitors for this thing and a VR headset.

Based on only my couple days with Vega and all the reading I did beforehand, I think undervolting is all but mandatory. There seem to be only benefits from putting in the effort. Worst case scenario is that you find out that your chip can't undervolt, but you'd learn that right away with your first adjustments/benchmarking.

Either way, make sure to take look at your temp targets and fan curve.

 

[jackstar7]

New cable arrived. Only a 1m cable to keep things as close as possible, but the issue of flickering/blanking remains at this time with Freesync on. I'll need to do more testing on this. Maybe OC'ing the card will yield some benefits on this issue, but I just need time to mess around more.

 

[Krteq]

I am using the FPS limiter to 100, and have the range of my monitor extended to 40-100Hz.

Is that issue occurring in standard (not extended) factory settings range?

 

[EXCellR8]

New cable arrived. Only a 1m cable to keep things as close as possible, but the issue of flickering/blanking remains at this time with Freesync on. I'll need to do more testing on this. Maybe OC'ing the card will yield some benefits on this issue, but I just need time to mess around more.

I doubt OC'ing would do much except throw a bit more heat. What is the normal range of that monitor?

 

[jackstar7]

I doubt OC'ing would do much except throw a bit more heat. What is the normal range of that monitor?

Out of the box is 80-100Hz. I'd seen in various locations that it could be extended via CRU to 40-100Hz, which on the surface has worked. I might put it back to 80-100Hz to see if the problem persists. I tried it again last night with the recent Tomb Raider (not the Rise of, just the reboot from a few years ago) and got blanking with Freesync on.

The other games I've been testing are: Battlefront 2 and PUBG. I also saw significant issues with old stuff like TF2/L4D2 that could only be corrected by adjusting their launch options.

 

[jackstar7]

Is that issue occurring in standard (not extended) factory settings range?

I think it was... but I'll test again this weekend. I had trouble extending the range in the first place. I feel like I saw the issue before I had completed the extension, but I'll be more diligent about checking things out at "stock" now that I have everything.

 

[jackstar7]

Set everything to stock settings and still got blanking, so Freesync is just going to stay off until the Q3 drivers show up and whatever gaming drivers are bundled with them. I read one guide that suggested shifting all P states to whatever your max is so that the card doesn't bounce around, but I need to work out what the card can handle and at what volts before I try that out.

I still like the monitor for it's 60+Hz and the curve isn't bothering me as I feared it might.

Now I'll just focus on trying to tune the FE to see how cool I can get it to run. I need to investigate editing the power tables and trying out OverdriverNTool at some point.

 

[EXCellR8]

Could always borrow or purchase another/a different monitor temporarily to see if that makes a difference. It should work without issue out of the box, even on Vega FE.

 

[richaron]

Out of the box is 80-100Hz. I'd seen in various locations that it could be extended via CRU to 40-100Hz, which on the surface has worked. I might put it back to 80-100Hz to see if the problem persists. I tried it again last night with the recent Tomb Raider (not the Rise of, just the reboot from a few years ago) and got blanking with Freesync on.

The other games I've been testing are: Battlefront 2 and PUBG. I also saw significant issues with old stuff like TF2/L4D2 that could only be corrected by adjusting their launch options.

From my research with the first gen UWQHD 100Hz Freesync monitors I found flickering appeared quite often as a problem. But usually the flickering was worst when playing around the lower threshold of the panel's refresh. For example mine has a range of 48-100Hz, and reviews show flickering is worst when jumping between 45-50fps.

I've also read a few review of the Sammy CF791, which also has the 80-100Hz in default mode. Another mode extends this to 48-100Hz, but this second mode has the most problem with flickering throughout the range 48-80Hz. So I wouldn't be surprised a haxed extended range on your monitor also has problems... except it also has problems in a normal non-haxed situation.

FWIW I've come to "understand" the flickering has something to do with the brightness of each frame, with the lower speed frames needing different settings to the higher ones. I guess it makes more sense when considering flickering at the lower end of the range when LFC kicks in/out and the frame rate can be halved/doubled in an instant. Which again might not help your situation. But in this case it's a problem with the controllers in the monitor and not something a GPU driver will fix..

I know none of the above might help your situation. Personally I don't think it's a GPU issue, but who knows. I just felt like adding my 2c with a little bit of info from my research in the area.

 

[Justinbaileyman]

Hey guys, is Vega 64 considered a gaming card? Sorry but i dont really know anything about the Vega series.
Considering either Vega 64 or GTX 1070 ti since they are in the $450-$500 range. Wanted to wait for 11xx series but cant afford $700+ right now. Any comparisons or graphs I could take a gander at?

 

[Paratus]

Hey guys, is Vega 64 considered a gaming card? Sorry but i dont really know anything about the Vega series.
Considering either Vega 64 or GTX 1070 ti since they are in the $450-$500 range. Wanted to wait for 11xx series but cant afford $700+ right now. Any comparisons or graphs I could take a gander at?

Yes Vega 64 is a gaming card.

In order of performance on average:

RX Vega56 ~ 1070Ti < 1080 < RX Vega 64

In truth it really depends on the game and card.
Stock Vega 56’s are the slowest

Aftermarket Vega56 is a bit faster than 1070Ti stock. OC’d it’s close to or faster than 1080 and Vega 64 stock

1070Tis can be OC’d past stock 1080 / Vega 64

1080s can OC past Vega 64 stock

Vega 64 Liquid Cooled or aftermarket OC’d are neck and neck with OC’d 1080s

All this is dependent on the games. So get which ever is the best price to performance for the games you play.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/powercolor-red-devil-rx-vega-64-8gb,5517-3.html

Checkout Toms or other sites for comparisons

 

[Justinbaileyman]

So is Vega 64 the card to get right now? Also I could be crazy here, but I could have sworn some one said there is a 16gb version? Would this be the best card or doesnt it matter?

 

[Shmee]

^ That would be the frontier edition. More of a workstation card, but can be used for gaming too.

 

[jackstar7]

So is Vega 64 the card to get right now? Also I could be crazy here, but I could have sworn some one said there is a 16gb version? Would this be the best card or doesnt it matter?

The 16gb card is the Frontier Edition. It was marketed as a card in-between gaming and production and my understanding is that it's a Vega64 with the additional ram. Whether that ram will actually do anything for you is another matter altogether.

I have seen used Vega64s and Frontier Editions go for "reasonable" amounts of money... but it's not easy getting either at a reasonable price new.

Also, avoid the Gigabyte Vega64 custom cooled card. All I've heard is that it's a disaster.