AMD Radeon RX Vega is here

During a major event in Los Angeles, AMD finally presents the next generation of Vega graphics cards. Vega is the company’s attempt to reach the enthusiast market again, where according to its own statement they have been inactive in favor of the biggest competitor Nvidia. The recipe is lower price levels and a lot of new features.

Even before the unveiling, rumors have been circulating that the Vega family will perform much like a Geforce GTX 1080 and cost about as much as a Geforce GTX 1080 Ti, which fortunately is not entirely true. The Radeon Vega family consists of two main models (SKUs) in the form of RX Vega 64 and RX Vega 56.

Specifications: – AMD Radeon RX Vega

AMD Radeon Vega 64 is based on a circuit called Vega 10 and in its full version it is equipped with 64 computing clusters (CUs), 8 GB HBM2 graphics memory and 4,096 stream processors. The graphics processor has a base speed of 1,247 MHz and a turbo speed of 1,536 MHz.

As previously revealed, the new memory technology HBM2 is used, where a total of 8 GB is connected via a memory bus of 2,048 bits. Despite promises of massive bandwidth, the results in the Vega cards will be exactly the same as offered in Nvidia’s Geforce GTX 1080 Ti with GDDR5X memory, ie 484 GB / s. However, memory should be more energy efficient, according to AMD 3.5 times compared to GDDR5.

The next generation Radeon

Despite these standard speeds, AMD mentions that the new architecture on which Vega is based is built to run at higher speeds, up to 1,700 MHz in its current version. The architecture is called the Next-Generation Compute Unit (NCU) and is equipped with a lot of new features and features.

According to AMD, the main addition to the functional path is the High Bandwidth Cache Controller (HBCC) itself. HBCC makes it possible to use local video memory as a final cache level for both system memory and storage, and can handle up to 512 TB of virtual memory addresses.

HBCC was shown in a demonstration where an OpenGL scene was rendered in real time with 27 GB of data resources and 0.5 billion triangles simultaneously. According to AMD, this will make it possible to both create significantly more complex scenes than before, or more detailed and complex open game worlds.

The next big feature is something called Rapidly Packed Math, an addition to the instruction set that lets the circuit calculate 16-bit floating point (16-bit ops) at double speed and more energy efficient than before. The function was demonstrated with the help of 3DMark Sierra, where Rapidly Packed Math will result in a 20-25 percent saving in mathematical calculations.

As today’s developer interfaces such as DirectX 12 and Vulkan already support 16-bit floating point numbers, this feature will be useful immediately. In other areas of developer interface, AMD claims that the Radeon RX Vega will be the only graphics circuit that fully supports the latest feature sets in DirectX 12 and Vulkan, including the upcoming Shader Intrinsics add-on in DirectX Shader Model 3.

The Vega architecture has also been equipped with enhancements for image synchronization via Freesync 2, which now supports 4K playback at 120 Hz and HDR via Displayport 1.4. Furthermore, there is support for HBR3 which enables higher bandwidth over the same cable compared to before, as well as 4K UHD over HDMI 2.0.

Models

The Radeon RX Vega 64 is the flagship, which in turn will be available in three models. The air-cooled version of the Radeon RX Vega 64 is the basic variant and has a target price of USD 499, corresponding to a Swedish price of around SEK 5,100 including VAT. The other two Radeon RX 64 models are currently listed only as part of what AMD calls the Radeon Packs.

The other two models are called RX Vega Limited Edition and RX Vega Liquid Cooled Edition and the prices for these right now indicate what they cost as part of a Radeon Pack. Both special versions boast a more lavish aluminum casing, and as the name reveals, the latter has a water cooling solution pre-assembled.

Radeon Packs is the name of AMD’s strategy to connect customers to its own ecosystem of products, and to prevent gaming enthusiasts from buying the company’s graphics cards due to their popularity in the cryptocurrency industry – so-called mining. These models give the customer a discount on selected accessories when they are placed in the shopping cart in the store.

When the customer decides to buy a package, he receives a discount on a gaming-related product, for example $ 100 settled on a motherboard or a Ryzen 7 processor, or $ 200 on a Freesync 2-equipped gaming screen from Samsung. Radeon Packs will apply to all of AMD’s operating regions, but products and prices may vary by region.

More overrated is the model AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, a simplified version of the larger sibling that loses eight calculation clusters (CUs) which gives the name extension 56. In addition to the smaller number of calculation clusters, the circuit is fully equipped and has a capacity of 10.5 TFLOP / s, to compare with 8,873 TFLOP / S for Geforce GTX 1080 Founder’s Edition.

In terms of performance, AMD compares with Nvidia’s older performance circuits Geforce GTX 980 Ti and GTX 1080. According to the company, the Radeon RX Vega 64 performs at the same level as GTX 1080, but AMD wants to highlight that the new cards have a higher minimum level for fps, which in combination with Freesync 2-equipped screens will provide a better overall experience.

The AMD Radeon Vega RX family looks to be a return to relevance in the enthusiast segment for AMD also on the graphics front. The cards do not seem to be able to raw on Nvidia’s heavyweight Geforce GTX 1080 Ti, and it remains to be seen what AMD’s answer will be when Nvidia releases the next generation Volta graphics card.

The new features and additions to the instruction set can be something of an ace up the sleeve though. If game developers start to take advantage of these to a large extent, it may reduce the distance to more powerful circuits from Nvidia, but it remains to be seen.