ASUS ROG STRIX RX Vega 56 O8G GAMING Review

It must be frustrating for you guys to put all the effort you do into quality reviews of GPUs, even as you realize that the review is (currently) of little practical value to your intended audience because, as you say, "Of course Newegg selling it for $450 over MSRP probably puts a nail in its coffin for just about any gamer."

Still, maybe someday, when the crypto boom goes bust or moves to dedicated mining chips, this review will be valuable.
Especially if the seller's market in GPUs means reduced NVidia and AMD investment in future products.
 
Zinn said:
I was asking a question, not saying you should hold ASUS responsible necessarily. But get real, pricing is a factor and this is a shit time to buy any video card. In the past you've factored pricing into a review score.

This is not just an ASUS problem, or an AMD problem, but really there needs to be some kind of "state of the union" analysis on how the PC gaming market can even continue to be a thing given that so much of the hardware (including memory and PSUs) is getting harder and harder to buy at MSRP.
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And my line of questioning fully answered your query. You can ignore it if you wish. But thanks for dragging our review thread off topic in the first reply. And I am fairly sure you don't care what I have to say on this but rather just want your point of view showcased in my thread instead of making your own to discuss your thoughts.
 
I have been waiting for a strix Vega 56 for a while. Good to see it is a strong card. Hopefully i can get lucky and find one close to retail and sell the strix 580 i got as a placeholder.
 
bufodr_T said:
I have been waiting for a strix Vega 56 for a while. Good to see it is a strong card. Hopefully i can get lucky and find one close to retail and sell the strix 580 i got as a placeholder.
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I've been thinking of doing the same with my RX 480 Strix.
 
pcgeekesq said:
It must be frustrating for you guys to put all the effort you do into quality reviews of GPUs, even as you realize that the review is (currently) of little practical value to your intended audience because, as you say, "Of course Newegg selling it for $450 over MSRP probably puts a nail in its coffin for just about any gamer."

Still, maybe someday, when the crypto boom goes bust or moves to dedicated mining chips, this review will be valuable.
Especially if the seller's market in GPUs means reduced NVidia and AMD investment in future products.
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Yeah I was almost expecting to see a Hash Rate section in the review.

Too bad this is going for stupid money, otherwise it would be right up my alley.
 
Very professional review, many sample points from old to new games, all the major API's for games and it was fun to read and follow through. GOLD AWARD! (For the [H]ardOCP team)

No mining hashrate graphs for the 10 different algorithms??? GRRRRR (Just kidding :D). This is a gaming card and the review is right on target. I do request VR testing in the future, I do believe VR is growing as time goes on and will pick up as well. Professional stuff is really starting to use VR in many ways, medical, engineering, design, education etc.

Between Nvidia very very successful Tesla line and miners (Vega mines well), HBM2 is probably in very short supply and even more expensive (my assumption). I am sure RTG can produce the GPU's but the HBM2 memory availability? I think Lisa Sue indicated that as well.

Very applicable review and great to see one while others are ignoring this at this time. For what you get compared to age past technology -> even at $1000 -> that is dirt cheap! I paid $950 back 1989 for a 20mb (yep megabyte) hard drive and 2mb(yep 2 mega bytes) of fast ram for an Amiga 500, that is like $1400 today and I thought that was great. Folks get some prospective, market drives prices. People can buy products to use as they please, it is called freedom of choice or at least some form of freedom. If you beat me to an available gaming card I don't think badly about you or curse the world. If gaming is important to you, you get a lot of enjoyment out of it or your family, can be a positive thing then what ever cost it is at present maybe worth it or even a steal for what you can do with it. I know if I wanted a gaming card if I was in the market for one - I would work at getting one. Now in this case I would not know which one would be better in VR - The 1070Ti or the ROG STRIX Vega 56, also of note is that the 1070Ti is close to the 1080 in performance - are we looking at 1080 performance or close from this card? When OC I do believe so.
 
noko said:
Very professional review, many sample points from old to new games, all the major API's for games and it was fun to read and follow through. GOLD AWARD! (For the [H]ardOCP team)

No mining hashrate graphs for the 10 different algorithms??? GRRRRR (Just kidding :D). This is a gaming card and the review is right on target. I do request VR testing in the future, I do believe VR is growing as time goes on and will pick up as well. Professional stuff is really starting to use VR in many ways, medical, engineering, design, education etc.

Between Nvidia very very successful Tesla line and miners (Vega mines well), HBM2 is probably in very short supply and even more expensive (my assumption). I am sure RTG can produce the GPU's but the HBM2 memory availability? I think Lisa Sue indicated that as well.

Very applicable review and great to see one while others are ignoring this at this time. For what you get compared to age past technology -> even at $1000 -> that is dirt cheap! I paid $950 back 1989 for a 20mb (yep megabyte) hard drive and 2mb(yep 2 mega bytes) of fast ram for an Amiga 500, that is like $1400 today and I thought that was great. Folks get some prospective, market drives prices. People can buy products to use as they please, it is called freedom of choice or at least some form of freedom. If you beat me to an available gaming card I don't think badly about you or curse the world. If gaming is important to you, you get a lot of enjoyment out of it or your family, can be a positive thing then what ever cost it is at present maybe worth it or even a steal for what you can do with it. I know if I wanted a gaming card if I was in the market for one - I would work at getting one. Now in this case I would not know which one would be better in VR - The 1070Ti or the ROG STRIX Vega 56, also of note is that the 1070Ti is close to the 1080 in performance - are we looking at 1080 performance or close from this card? When OC I do believe so.
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Comparing what you paid in 1989 to now is sort of intellectually dishonest. Especially considering the big increase in GPU prices that occurred over the past year. Most of these cards were made for PC gaming and now are being used for something else. I can 100% understand the ire of people who just want to upgrade/build a new PC and have to pay a huge premium due to the mining craze. I should note I'm not even opposed to Kyle & co. doing a hash rate comparison section of the review. Just the reality we live in now.
 
I am just waiting to be able to buy any new for a replacement to my well aged 7870 2g..ias it is too "weak" to have a new system built around it and want to start piecing together one.

I have been waiting and waiting since Ryzen came out for prices to settle down on memory etc as well as any quirks to have been sorted out
(still a number of them no matter the mainboard maker)
I also really do not want to buy "used" because who knows how they treated it, how hard it was ran etc, rather get new and at least have the warranty backing.

I did find one place can get a brand new RX 570 or 580 4gb model for around $100-$150 more than MSRP ($399.95 CAD..of course being in Canada, automatically nailed with "canada tax" i.e more pricey than should otherwise be just because BS) is a hell of alot better than most that want to sell them at $500+ ($200+ more)

But still, money not grow on trees, and what should have been ~$1500 build sits at ~$1800+ (my really want system part for part now is ~$2500 :mad: the one my younger brother built just before christmas 2017 on my suggestion (he ran with it) his build cost him $2450 tax/shipped, now would be ~$2900-$3200....

I dont blame "miners" I blame the greed of the vendors, it is the world we live in, but disgusting nonetheless, exception of course would be that if the memory itself or the Vregs etc cost more 6 months down the line than they did when they first put the card on the shelf, they have no choice but to adjust price up (from the producers side) which would increase the and customers final purchasing price (but not by a few hundred dollars difference, geedy mofos)
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anyways...my current setup I have a mild gpu bottleneck, unless I clock my phenom II to ~4.2Ghz, which is not worth it IMO, not want to shit kick the system when I do not really need the oomph behind it (for what currently am playing) as well it has many years behind it.

I very much "dread" having to go to Windows 10 and the slew of crud that brings to the table, having to download extra stuff just to make "functional" let alone stuff that I currently have that likely not be supported because in MSFT infinite wisdom 1 step forward 10 steps behind :D
 
Furious_Styles said:
Comparing what you paid in 1989 to now is sort of intellectually dishonest. Especially considering the big increase in GPU prices that occurred over the past year. Most of these cards were made for PC gaming and now are being used for something else. I can 100% understand the ire of people who just want to upgrade/build a new PC and have to pay a huge premium due to the mining craze. I should note I'm not even opposed to Kyle & co. doing a hash rate comparison section of the review. Just the reality we live in now.
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No I hope Kyle or Brent does not do a hash rate comparison - these are meant for gaming and they did it right. A separate review would be more appropriate since it is a totally different use for the GPU in my opinion.

Yes if one uses 2 year old pricing for today one may have some grief - still it is your money - if it is worth it then buy it, meaning the product is worth more than the money burning in your pocket or bank. Also if one compares current pricing with last year or previous, I sure can compare it to older technology pricing and what folks were willing to pay for it for virtually nothing compared to today's technologies. We need these reviews, folks can make an inform decision if the going price is right for them or not for what they get. There are folks deciding today and getting these video cards and [H]ardOCP has help them make a better decision if they read the review. These cards are available and for some well worth it and will never mine with it. Also as an option, one could buy one at $1000 and mine with it and believe it or not may pay the whole cost in a year at today's rates or at least make the real cost somewhat less.
 
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Very good review as always, about the only thing missing is OC vs OC but since there are plenty of variances there I guess its ok. I don't agree with the gold award though, then again I got a 1070Ti myself so...


Too bad you can't really buy any of those cards right now, unless you can spare a kidney or two.
 
Nice review Brent/Kyle, good to see it can compete with the 1070Ti. Its a shame about the price situation, but such is life !! (Bloody miners !!)
 
Stoly said:
Very good review as always, about the only thing missing is OC vs OC
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Agreed. The reviews are good, but they would be perfect if we had more of a apples to apples comparison with a direct competitor. Factory stock-OC vs factory stock-OC versions of cards and then max OC vs max OC of both. If it's too much work, at least compare it to another factory OC model and not the standard one.
 
Poor Vega.

In another universe, it may have been another R9 290X, flawed, power hungry, but a good value alternative.

As it stands today, with total scarcity and overpricing, its a turd.
 
On 2nd thought I reallly wouldn't consider Vega56, (and I didn't) over a 1070Ti since the Ti when overclocked is basically a GTX1080 while consuming less power than Vega56 at stock.
 
Stoly said:
On 2nd thought I reallly wouldn't consider Vega56, (and I didn't) over a 1070Ti since the Ti when overclocked is basically a GTX1080 while consuming less power than Vega56 at stock.
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Late last year when I upgraded I was looking forward to getting a Vega 56 for $400. Was going to pair it with a new ultra wide free sync monitor.

Unfortunately Vega appears to be the greatest paper launch of all time. Now I'm just camping on my rx480 and will remain here, on my old monitor as well, for the foreseeable future. 1080p isn't that bad...
 
Meeho said:
Agreed. The reviews are good, but they would be perfect if we had more of a apples to apples comparison with a direct competitor. Factory stock-OC vs factory stock-OC versions of cards and then max OC vs max OC of both. If it's too much work, at least compare it to another factory OC model and not the standard one.
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Sometimes too many comparisons, can be confusing, and it's important to focus on certain comparisons. This also leaves room for follow-ups, which we love to do, as that brings focus to other comparisons you can make. Point is, if it is important enough for our readers, we can and do often more testing and follow-ups with the video card. I always write down everyone's opinions on other comparisons they'd like to see from the forum threads. Keep in mind we can never do every single comparison possible, in just one article.
 
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By the time either crypto mining bursts or I can justify the cost of this second tier video card, those games will be in the $1 bin on Steam.
So I guess it will be a win?
Great review!
I'll just subscribe to the thread so my grandkids will know what old video card I longed for when I have Alzheimer's. Lol
 
Brent_Justice said:
Sometimes too many comparisons, can be confusing, and it's important to focus on certain comparisons. This also leaves room for follow-ups, which we love to do, as that brings focus to other comparisons you can make. Point is, if it is important enough for our readers, we can and do often more testing and follow-ups with the video card. I always write down everyone's opinions on other comparisons they'd like to see from the forum threads. Keep in mind we can never do every single comparison possible, in just one article.
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I understand. You could use a factory OCed card instead of the basic one, though, while keeping the same review workload. That would at least provide us with a factory OC vs factory OC comparison, which seems better suited for this user base anyway.
 
Meeho said:
I understand. You could use a factory OCed card instead of the basic one, though, while keeping the same review workload. That would at least provide us with a factory OC vs factory OC comparison, which seems better suited for this user base anyway.
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Thanks for your input.
 
Meeho said:
I understand. You could use a factory OCed card instead of the basic one, though, while keeping the same review workload. That would at least provide us with a factory OC vs factory OC comparison, which seems better suited for this user base anyway.
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In this particular case there are no factory overclocked GTX1070Ti as per nvidia policy.
 
Another great review of an obviously good video card.

I feel bad though since you guys put lots of effort into your reviews of these cards and yet (most) of us would never go anywhere near this for a build. Strange times for hardware enthusiasts.
 
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