MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition Review
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X | AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 | 32.00"
When Vega was first introduced in August of 2017 it replaced AMD’s Fiji architecture. Ever since, AMD has revamped the manufacturing process and introduced the 7-nm AMD Radeon VII. The focus of this review, however, is the older generation AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, and we want to look at how well it has aged and whether or not it is still capable of running the latest games smoothly. One of its main features at launch was its ability to address large amounts of VRAM, and a graphics card with 8 GB of VRAM is anything but outdated even in 2019.
The chip dubbed Vega 10 by AMD consists of roughly 12.5 billion transistors on a 14 nm FinFET die. At just 495 mm2 it is significantly smaller than Fiji. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 features a total of 3,584 shaders as well as a 2,048-bit memory bus.
Its TDP of 210 W is much lower than its bigger brother’s, the RX Vega 64’s 295 W. Both GPUs feature the same basic cooling system with a single radial fan. It is a known fact at this point that this particular cooling solution was not, shall we say, ideal for this GPU, as was proven time and again by various reviewers. It also turned out to be the GPU’s biggest weakness in our review as well.
External ports include three DisplayPort 1.4 ports and a single HDMI 2.0b port. Internally, the GPU requires two 8-pin power connectors.
Specification | MSI RX Vega 56 | RX Vega 56 | RX Vega 64 | AMD Radeon VII | GTX 1070 | RTX 2060 |
Chip | Vega 10 | Vega 10 | Vega 10 | Vega 20 | GP104 | TU106 |
Manufactured | 14 nm | 14 nm | 14 nm | 7 nm | 16 nm | 12 nm |
Shader | 3584 | 3584 | 4096 | 3840 | 1920 | 1920 |
Texture Units | 224 | 224 | 256 | 240 | 120 | 120 |
Tensor Cores | - | - | - | - | - | 240 |
RT Cores | - | - | - | - | - | 30 |
GPU Base Clock | 1,181 MHz | 1,138 MHz | 1,200 MHz | 1,400 MHz | 1,506 MHz | 1,365 MHz |
GPU Boost Clock | 1,520 MHz | 1,474 MHz | 1,536 MHz | 1,750 MHz | 1,683 MHz | 1,680 MHz |
Memory Bus | 2,096 Bit | 2,048 Bit | 2,048 Bit | 4,048 Bit | 256 Bit | 192 Bit |
Memory Bandwidth | 409.6 GB/s | 409.6 GB/s | 483.8 GB/s | 1024 GB/s | 256.3 GB/s | 336 GB/s |
Memory Size | 8 GB HBM2 | 8 GB HBM2 | 8 GB HBM2 | 16 GB HBM2 | 8 GB GDDR5 | 6 GB GDDR6 |
Power (Watt) | 210 W | 210 W | 295 W | 295 W | 150 W | 160 W |
Our test system was comprised of Gigabyte’s X470 Aorus Gaming 7 Wi-Fi motherboard equipped with a powerful AMD Ryzen 7 2700X CPU, a Be Quiet Silent Loop 280 mm AIO CPU cooler, 16 GB of G-Skill DDR4 memory running at 3,400 MHz, and an Acer Predator XB321HK UHD display. We would like to thank AMD for providing us with this test platform.
Case | Corsair Carbide Air 540 ATX Cube |
GPU | MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition |
CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 2700X |
CPU Cooler | Be Quiet Silent Loop 280mm |
RAM | G-Skill Sniper X 16 GB DDR4 3.400 MHz |
Mainboard | Gigabyte X470 Aorus Gaming 7 WiFi |
Display | Acer Predator XB321HK 4K |
SSD | ADATA SP900 M.2 SSD |
HDD | 2 TB Western Digital (for games) |
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit (Version 1809) |
Drivers | Adrenalin 19.4.1 |
AMD’s Radeon RX Vega 56 is a high-end desktop GPU that was first introduced in August of 2017. It is based on the Vega architecture (Vega 10) and equipped with fast HBM2 VRAM. When it was first introduced, it was the second fastest AMD GPU available, only bested by the RX Vega 64 that launched on the very same day. At the time of writing, both GPUs have been replaced by their respective Radeon VII successors.
The RX Vega 56 reference design features 56 CUs running at 1,138-1,474 MHz (Boost) and 8 GB of HBM2 VRAM running at 800 MHz connected via a 2,048-bit memory bus resulting in a memory bandwidth of 409.6 GB/s.
Features
Vega 10 is still produced in a 10-nm manufacturing process. The die consists of roughly 12.5 billion transistors and measures 495 mm2 in size. The newer Vega 20 chip, which AMD’s current Radeon VII is based on, features around 13.2 billion transistors. Applications have access to a total of 3,584 shaders, but the GPU lacks the dedicated Raytracing and Tensor cores that can be found on Nvidia’s latest RTX generation of GPUs.
Performance
Performance-wise, the RX Vega 56 is comparable to an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070, and thus best categorized as upper middle-class. Games released in 2018 and 2019 should run perfectly fine and smooth in high details on WQHD (2560 x 1440).
Power Consumption
According to AMD, the RX Vega 56’s maximum power consumption is 210 W. Given the GTX 1070’s power consumption of just 150 W, the Vega 56 cannot keep up with its direct competitor in regards to performance-per-watt ratio.
AMD Radeon RX Vega Series
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Codename | Vega | |||||||||||||||||||||
Architecture | Vega | |||||||||||||||||||||
Pipelines | 3584 - unified | |||||||||||||||||||||
Core Speed | 1138 - 1474 (Boost) MHz | |||||||||||||||||||||
Memory Speed | 800 MHz | |||||||||||||||||||||
Memory Bus Width | 409.6 Bit | |||||||||||||||||||||
Memory Type | HBM2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Max. Amount of Memory | 8 GB | |||||||||||||||||||||
Shared Memory | no | |||||||||||||||||||||
API | DirectX 12_1, Shader 6.2, OpenGL 4.6 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Power Consumption | 210 Watt | |||||||||||||||||||||
Transistor Count | 12.5 Billion | |||||||||||||||||||||
technology | 14 nm | |||||||||||||||||||||
Features | 64 ROPs, 224 TMUs | |||||||||||||||||||||
Date of Announcement | 14.08.2017 |
As can be seen in the table above, MSI’s OC edition of AMD’s RX Vega 56 is clocked slightly higher than cards based on the reference design. Its base clock speed sits at 1,181 MHz (+ 43 MHz), and its turbo boost is set at 1,520 MHz (+ 46 MHz). We will find out later whether or not these increased clock speeds resulted in a tangible performance boost.
Unfortunately, the cooling solution follows AMD’s reference design. MSI only customized its look and put a logo on the front plastic cover as well as the backplate.
Our review sample did fairly well in our synthetic benchmarks and managed to outperform its direct competitor, the Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1070. It was even capable of keeping up with a GeForce RTX 2060 and outperformed the MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G quite often. In return, it was around 10% slower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 and the MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G. Overall, performance was very solid and the RX Vega 56 was more than capable of keeping up with Nvidia’s latest Turing generation.
Unigine Valley 1.0 | |
1920x1080 Extreme HD DirectX AA:x8 | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI Gaming X GeForce GTX 1080 Desktop PC | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
1920x1080 Extreme HD Preset OpenGL AA:x8 | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB |
Gaming performance depended on the game and varied much more than on competing Nvidia GPUs. In low resolutions, the RX Vega 56 occasionally outperformed the MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G, although that remained the exception rather than the rule. All things considered, Nvidia’s Turing GPUs offered a better performance, and even the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 that was still bested by the Vega 56 in the synthetic benchmarks turned out to be faster in the gaming benchmarks, sometimes by significant margins (Far Cry 5, For Honor, and Fortnite).
Overall, MSI’s AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition offered a decent performance, save for the 4K benchmarks. If you do not intend to play in 4K or higher and have no intentions of purchasing a 4K display anytime soon, the AMD RX Vega 56 can be an excellent choice. It was more than powerful enough for gaming in WQHD (2560x1440).
We run The Witcher 3 in a loop on Ultra settings in order to determine long-term sustained performance. After an initial 5-6 FPS drop the GPU settled at around 72 FPS. Frame rates were inconspicuous after all and even slightly higher than on the AMD Radeon VII.
Call of Duty Black Ops 4 | |
1920x1080 Very High / On | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
3840x2160 Very High / On | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 |
Assassin´s Creed Odyssey | |
1920x1080 Ultra High Preset | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Ultra High Preset | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB |
FIFA 19 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:4x MS | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset AA:4x MS | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB |
Forza Horizon 4 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:2xMS | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset AA:2xMS | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB |
F1 2018 | |
1920x1080 Ultra High Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Ultra High Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB |
Monster Hunter World | |
1920x1080 Highest Preset (Image Quality High) | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Highest Preset (Image Quality High) | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB |
Far Cry 5 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:T | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset AA:T | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB |
The Crew 2 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB |
Assassin´s Creed Origins | |
1920x1080 Ultra High Preset | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Ultra High Preset | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB |
Kingdom Come: Deliverance | |
1920x1080 Ultra High Preset | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Ultra High Preset | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB |
Fortnite | |
1920x1080 Epic Preset | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Epic Preset | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark | |
1920x1080 High Quality | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
3840x2160 High Quality | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB |
Destiny 2 | |
1920x1080 Highest Preset AA:SM AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
3840x2160 Highest Preset AA:SM AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 |
The Witcher 3 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Graphics & Postprocessing (HBAO+) | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI Gaming X GeForce GTX 1080 Desktop PC | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
3840x2160 High Graphics & Postprocessing (Nvidia HairWorks Off) | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI Gaming X GeForce GTX 1080 Desktop PC | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB |
For Honor | |
1920x1080 Extreme Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
3840x2160 High Preset AA:T AF:8x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB |
Ghost Recon Wildlands | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
Asus ROG Strix RX 580 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition |
GTA V | |
1920x1080 Highest Settings possible AA:4xMSAA + FX AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI Gaming X GeForce GTX 1080 Desktop PC | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
3840x2160 High/On (Advanced Graphics Off) AA:FX AF:8x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI Gaming X GeForce GTX 1080 Desktop PC | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB |
Hitman 2 | |
1920x1080 Ultra AF:16x | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Ultra AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB |
Farming Simulator 19 | |
1920x1080 Very High Preset | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Very High Preset | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB |
Just Cause 4 | |
1920x1080 Very High / On AA:SM AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Very High / On AA:SM AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB |
Apex Legends | |
1920x1080 Maximum Settings AA:TS AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Maximum Settings AA:TS AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB |
Far Cry New Dawn | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB |
Metro Exodus | |
1920x1080 Ultra Quality AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Ultra Quality AF:16x | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB |
Anthem - 1920x1080 Ultra Preset | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB |
Dirt Rally 2.0 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
3840x2160 Ultra Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio | |
AMD Radeon VII | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB |
low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | |
Battlefield 4 (2013) | 199 | 200 | 200 | 130 | 71 | |
GTA V (2015) | 142 | 128 | 110 | 78 | 50.4 | |
The Witcher 3 (2015) | 293 | 207 | 124 | 74 | 44.4 | |
Rainbow Six Siege (2015) | 319.5 | 271.8 | 233.2 | 201.6 | 89.2 | |
Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) | 251 | 173 | 107 | 86 | 44.7 | |
Far Cry Primal (2016) | 124 | 111 | 101 | 94 | 40 | |
The Division (2016) | 226.4 | 181.4 | 119.4 | 94.8 | 47.7 | |
Doom (2016) | 91 | 84 | 83 | 83 | 52.6 | |
Overwatch (2016) | 300 | 300 | 189 | 101 | 107 | |
Deus Ex Mankind Divided (2016) | 132.2 | 124.1 | 96.3 | 49.4 | 33.7 | |
Battlefield 1 (2016) | 195 | 182 | 150 | 136 | 62 | |
Watch Dogs 2 (2016) | 107 | 98 | 87 | 60 | 32.7 | |
For Honor (2017) | 299.8 | 147.2 | 140.6 | 111 | 45.5 | |
Ghost Recon Wildlands (2017) | 129.7 | 94.3 | 88.8 | 52.1 | 35.8 | |
Dirt 4 (2017) | 324 | 251 | 176 | 112 | 63 | |
Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) (2017) | 167 | 153 | 137 | 120 | 44.3 | |
Destiny 2 (2017) | 150 | 141 | 134 | 115 | 80 | 43.2 |
Assassin´s Creed Origins (2017) | 71 | 66 | 64 | 59 | 52 | 33 |
Call of Duty WWII (2017) | 201 | 201 | 140 | 118 | 95 | 57.6 |
Fortnite (2018) | 167 | 150 | 139 | 108 | 74 | 36.7 |
Kingdom Come: Deliverance (2018) | 139 | 115 | 92 | 69 | 45.6 | 22.8 |
Far Cry 5 (2018) | 117 | 98 | 93 | 89 | 74 | 39 |
The Crew 2 (2018) | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 33.4 |
Monster Hunter World (2018) | 125 | 100 | 94 | 74 | 50.3 | 25.4 |
F1 2018 (2018) | 222 | 184 | 146 | 111 | 87 | 51 |
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018) | 137 | 105 | 96 | 85 | 58 | 31 |
FIFA 19 (2018) | 292 | 293 | 272 | 272 | 268 | 195 |
Forza Horizon 4 (2018) | 195 | 141 | 134 | 109 | 88 | 59 |
Assassin´s Creed Odyssey (2018) | 83 | 77 | 70 | 52 | 44 | 27 |
Call of Duty Black Ops 4 (2018) | 235 | 164 | 156 | 150 | 98 | 46.2 |
Hitman 2 (2018) | 93 | 88 | 86 | 80 | 67 | 34.5 |
Fallout 76 (2018) | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 59.9 | 44.8 |
Battlefield V (2018) | 182 | 151 | 140 | 131 | 99 | 54.7 |
Farming Simulator 19 (2018) | 174 | 132 | 116 | 99 | 71 | 39.1 |
Darksiders III (2018) | 185 | 128 | 123 | 93 | 64 | 32.8 |
Just Cause 4 (2018) | 121 | 114 | 90 | 86 | 59.6 | 32.1 |
Apex Legends (2019) | 143 | 144 | 119 | 118 | 84 | 45.5 |
Far Cry New Dawn (2019) | 102 | 96 | 93 | 84 | 74 | 42 |
Metro Exodus (2019) | 136.3 | 94.8 | 62.6 | 52 | 41.8 | 26.7 |
Anthem (2019) | 108 | 101 | 96 | 89 | 66 | 36.6 |
Dirt Rally 2.0 (2019) | 247 | 192 | 173 | 95 | 71 | 40.5 |
The Division 2 (2019) | 163 | 123 | 95 | 75 | 58 | 30 |
Compute performance benchmark results were very similar to our gaming performance benchmark results. In Luxmark, the Vega 10 architecture was incapable of keeping up with Nvidia’s Turing and was outperformed, albeit only slightly, by the MSI GeForce RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G. It performed better and closed the performance gap in ComputeMark and even managed to outperform the RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G in some tests.
These results show once again that in terms of raw performance, AMD’s RX Vega 56 is still capable of keeping up with the big guns.
Almost all AMD GPUs perform exceptionally well in the two SPECviewPerf benchmarks that we use to determine application level performance. In some benchmarks, the RX Vega 56 even managed to best the MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio. In other words: Despite its age AMD’s Radeon RX Vega 56 is still a more than capable GPU offering a high level of professional-level application performance even in 2019.
It is a known fact that the Vega 10 architecture is not particularly energy-efficient. Specified at 210 W and 295 W, respectively, the RX Vega 56 and Vega 64 require a lot of power under load. These requirements show in our benchmarks. When running The Witcher 3 on Ultra, our RX Vega 64 test system required around 60 W more power than an identical RX Vega 56-equipped test system. The latter consumed around 345 W and was slightly more efficient than an MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G.
When idle, AMD’s power-saving features kick in and do a great job shutting down unnecessary parts of the GPU, thereby lowering power consumption to just 80 W. While running our stress test the system required 330 W on factory settings, which can however be increased dramatically given that the MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition’s power target can be raised by a whopping 50%. We are not going to judge at this point whether or not this even makes sense but after increasing the power target to 150% the power meter read an astonishing 456 W, and thus it was 126 W more than before.
Unfortunately, the temperatures reached their target of 85 °C on factory settings already. The cooling design rendered increasing the power target by 50% completely moot. The radial fan was very loud under load, and boosting the power target made it even louder.
If you are looking for a quiet system we advise you to either steer clear of AMD’s Radeon RX Vega 56 reference design or replace the cooler with an aftermarket solution.
Power Consumption - 1920x1080 The Witcher 3 ultra (external Monitor) | |
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (Idle: 74.3 W) | |
MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio (Idle: 87.78 W) | |
XFX AMD Radeon RX 590 OC+ 8 GB | |
MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition (Idle: 79.2 W) | |
MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z 8G (Idle: 73.3 W) | |
AMD Radeon VII (Idle: 81.39 W) | |
MSI Gaming X GeForce GTX 1080 Desktop PC (Idle: 71.1 W) | |
MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z 6G (Idle: 74.66 W) | |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition (Idle: 68 W) |
* ... smaller is better
More often than not you can boost performance slightly by overclocking the GPU and VRAM manually. In theory, the elbowroom provided by the possible power target increase should translate into a respectable OC potential. Unfortunately, this was all foiled by the inadequate reference design cooler that pushed the envelope on factory settings already and thus shattered all dreams of squeezing more performance out of this GPU.
Obviously, we had to try anyway and were able to squeeze out another roughly 100 MHz from both the CPU and VRAM. Unfortunately, performance did not really improve any further beyond what it already was capable of on factory settings. Given that MSI’s AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition is already overclocked ex factory this leaves even less leeway for manual overclocking when compared to a stock RX Vega 56.
Our review unit featured two BIOS chips with different TDP settings. The default setting of 210 W can be lowered to just 150 W if so desired. We ran benchmarks with both settings and were able to discover that the GPU was not much slower when running with the 150 W BIOS than the 210 W BIOS. Thus, it can make sense to enable the more power-efficient BIOS permanently. It will not only reduce the power consumption but also noise emissions. While the fan remained very audible with the 150 W BIOS, it was significantly quieter than before.
At launch, AMD asked for more than $400 for a Radeon RX Vega 56. While the price rose even further due to the crypto-mining boom, GPU prices have finally dropped to normal levels again. The Radeon RX Vega 56 can still be purchased brand-new and will now set you back less than $250 - a fair price for a graphics card capable of running all current games smoothly in 1440p. Even an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 will cost more than that. In regard to performance, the RX Vega 56 is comparable to Nvidia’s Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 - a GPU that will cost at least $100 more.
Overall, the MSI AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Air Boost OC Edition offered a decent and solid performance. We failed to notice its age of 1.5 years, and AMD actively works on drivers in order to squeeze the most out of its GPUs. In hindsight it turned out to be an incredibly smart move to equip this particular GPU with 8 GB of VRAM back in 2017, thanks to which it is more than capable of keeping up with the competition even in 2019.
AMD’s Radeon RX Vega 56 remains an insider tip even in 2019 thanks to its 8 GB of HBM2 VRAM.
If you are not interested in tuning and optimizing your setup, the Vega 56 may not the best choice when it comes to performance-per-watt. The default settings can be significantly optimized by undervolting or, even better, running the GPU off of its 150 W TDP BIOS. We noticed no real performance difference, and it brings the RX Vega 56 and the GTX 1070 to the same TDP level. However, the Vega 56 was much faster than the GTX 1070 in our gaming and professional application benchmarks.
The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.
low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Division 2 | 163 | 123 | 95 | 75 | 58 | 30 |
Dirt Rally 2.0 | 247 | 192 | 173 | 95 | 71 | 40.5 |
Anthem | 108 | 101 | 96 | 89 | 66 | 36.6 |
Far Cry New Dawn | 102 | 96 | 93 | 84 | 74 | 42 |
Metro Exodus | 136.3 | 94.8 | 62.6 | 52 | 41.8 | 26.7 |
Apex Legends | 143 | 144 | 119 | 118 | 84 | 45.5 |
Just Cause 4 | 121 | 114 | 90 | 86 | 59.6 | 32.1 |
Darksiders III | 185 | 128 | 123 | 93 | 64 | 32.8 |
Battlefield V | 182 | 151 | 140 | 131 | 99 | 54.7 |
Farming Simulator 19 | 174 | 132 | 116 | 99 | 71 | 39.1 |
Fallout 76 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 59.9 | 44.8 |
Hitman 2 | 93 | 88 | 86 | 80 | 67 | 34.5 |
Call of Duty Black Ops 4 | 235 | 164 | 156 | 150 | 98 | 46.2 |
Assassin´s Creed Odyssey | 83 | 77 | 70 | 52 | 44 | 27 |
Forza Horizon 4 | 195 | 141 | 134 | 109 | 88 | 59 |
FIFA 19 | 292 | 293 | 272 | 272 | 268 | 195 |
Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 137 | 105 | 96 | 85 | 58 | 31 |
F1 2018 | 222 | 184 | 146 | 111 | 87 | 51 |
Monster Hunter World | 125 | 100 | 94 | 74 | 50.3 | 25.4 |
The Crew 2 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 33.4 |
Far Cry 5 | 117 | 98 | 93 | 89 | 74 | 39 |
Kingdom Come: Deliverance | 139 | 115 | 92 | 69 | 45.6 | 22.8 |
Fortnite | 167 | 150 | 139 | 108 | 74 | 36.7 |
Call of Duty WWII | 201 | 201 | 140 | 118 | 95 | 57.6 |
Assassin´s Creed Origins | 71 | 66 | 64 | 59 | 52 | 33 |
Destiny 2 | 150 | 141 | 134 | 115 | 80 | 43.2 |
Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) | 167 | 153 | 137 | 120 | 44.3 | |
Dirt 4 | 324 | 251 | 176 | 112 | 63 | |
Ghost Recon Wildlands | 129.7 | 94.3 | 88.8 | 52.1 | 35.8 | |
For Honor | 299.8 | 147.2 | 140.6 | 111 | 45.5 | |
Watch Dogs 2 | 107 | 98 | 87 | 60 | 32.7 | |
Battlefield 1 | 195 | 182 | 150 | 136 | 62 | |
Deus Ex Mankind Divided | 132.2 | 124.1 | 96.3 | 49.4 | 33.7 | |
Overwatch | 300 | 300 | 189 | 101 | 107 | |
Doom | 91 | 84 | 83 | 83 | 52.6 | |
The Division | 226.4 | 181.4 | 119.4 | 94.8 | 47.7 | |
Far Cry Primal | 124 | 111 | 101 | 94 | 40 | |
Rise of the Tomb Raider | 251 | 173 | 107 | 86 | 44.7 | |
Rainbow Six Siege | 319.5 | 271.8 | 233.2 | 201.6 | 89.2 | |
The Witcher 3 | 293 | 207 | 124 | 74 | 44.4 | |
GTA V | 142 | 128 | 110 | 78 | 50.4 | |
Battlefield 4 | 199 | 200 | 200 | 130 | 71 | |
< 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | 10 32 | 17 25 | 24 18 | 5 30 7 | 9 16 1 | 4 32 5 1 |
For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List
Acer Predator Helios 500 PH517-61-R1DQ: AMD Ryzen 7 2700, 17.30", 4 kg
External Review » Acer Predator Helios 500 PH517-61-R1DQ