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The RX Vega 56 Owners Thread

Soldato
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18 Oct 2002
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Out of interest, what driver version do you find to be the best for the Vega 56?

Pretty sure I'm rocking an old version (uses the old style control panel) and well out of the loop with drivers!
 
Associate
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16 Dec 2009
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I did it on my old 56 reference, was well worth the effort a which tbh wasn't a lot!

As long as you have dual BIOS on the card it's safe to do and the increases you see because of the raised voltage HBM are pretty impressive.

I undervolted the core and overclocked the HBM, Card ran great and cool

Only big important things are:
1. backup your original BIOS first
2. make sure you use the BIOS from EXACTLY the same brand / model of 64 that your 56 is.

There is a full library of BIOS files here -
https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/

I dont see a 64 bios version for Sapphire PULSE RX Vega 64, is there even a 64 version of the Pulse ?
 
Soldato
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Last edited:
Associate
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@nitram100 have a look through my previous posts regarding my o/c settings they might help mate. Minor adjustments aside, for circa over a year now I have been running my Vega 56 Pulse as follows... MHz / mV... State 0 - 852 / 800, State 1 – 1012 / 900, State 2 – 1162 / 950, State 3 – 1292 / 960, State 4 – 1337 / 970, State 5 1502 / 980, State 6 1567 / 1015, State 7 – 1622 / 1020. A custom fan curve that maxes out at 2300rpm and keeps the hot spot temp at a max of 80 degrees c. HBM @ 935MHz and the power limit at 17%. GPUz shows the GPU core clock @ 1622MHz, having just checked Horizon Zero Dawn the game is running @ 1580MHz core clock. Furmark burn maxes the card out at 180 watts and all temps are well within specifications. I can max my card out to run at 1704MHz core o/c running 100% fan speed, borderline max temps and specifications if decibels are not a factor and that interests you, let me know and I will post the settings. I seen just a circa 1 to 2 fps increase going from my daily overclock to the max overclock on Horizon Zero Dawn stanting still in the same place. IMO anything over 1600MHz core clock on a Vega 56 is pointless, I never bothered flashing my card for the same reason.
 
Associate
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I have posted previously pertinent to why the Vega 56 bios flash to the 64 is not worth it and have compared data with other users to clarify such to a certain extent. Max core overclocks are unlikely to increase and can actually decrease somewhat subsequent to the bios update. A stock bios Vega 56 with Samsung HBM typically reaches an overclock of circa 930 – 950MHz, with a bios update to the 64 it might reach circa 1000MHz, and up to 1100MHz if you are very lucky, BUT that bios mod and increase in speed comes with more volts to the HBM. Samsung HBM on the Vega 56 is rated at a maximum of 80 degrees c before it starts massively thermal throttling, the extra volts and overclock from the bios mod can easily see the HBM actually underperforming. Undervolt and overclock the core and HBM the best you can and forget about the bios mod. Only outlier cards make worthwhile gains.
 

Kei

Kei

Soldato
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24 Oct 2008
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South Wales
Flashing a 64 bios was worth it on mine. HBM clocks went from about 980 max up to 1200 max. Core clocks could still manage around 1730 too. Everyday sensible clocks I run are 1630/1100 +50% which I've been running for nearly 3 years already. Helps having a waterblock though as the core stays around 50 and hot spot doesn't get far past 65. For the record, I have a reference power colour model that was cheapest at the time in 2017.
 
Soldato
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I flashed from 56 to 64, hbm at 1060, but it was annoying after a few days as I lost the 0 rpm fan mode, so swapped back to stock 56, a week later it died :p
 
Associate
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@nitram100 have a look through my previous posts regarding my o/c settings they might help mate. Minor adjustments aside, for circa over a year now I have been running my Vega 56 Pulse as follows... MHz / mV... State 0 - 852 / 800, State 1 – 1012 / 900, State 2 – 1162 / 950, State 3 – 1292 / 960, State 4 – 1337 / 970, State 5 1502 / 980, State 6 1567 / 1015, State 7 – 1622 / 1020. A custom fan curve that maxes out at 2300rpm and keeps the hot spot temp at a max of 80 degrees c. HBM @ 935MHz and the power limit at 17%. GPUz shows the GPU core clock @ 1622MHz, having just checked Horizon Zero Dawn the game is running @ 1580MHz core clock. Furmark burn maxes the card out at 180 watts and all temps are well within specifications. I can max my card out to run at 1704MHz core o/c running 100% fan speed, borderline max temps and specifications if decibels are not a factor and that interests you, let me know and I will post the settings. I seen just a circa 1 to 2 fps increase going from my daily overclock to the max overclock on Horizon Zero Dawn stanting still in the same place. IMO anything over 1600MHz core clock on a Vega 56 is pointless, I never bothered flashing my card for the same reason.

Never overclocked before, though i have the same card as you vega 56 pulse i have mine set to these settings, is this good ? anything i should change?

 
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Never overclocked before, though i have the same card as you vega 56 pulse i have mine set to these settings, is this good ? anything i should change?

You got your settings pretty much the same as my daily settings mate, with two exceptions I can see...One - Your HBM mV is higher than my 960mV, and two - your fan curve is lower than mine. HBM mV has a bios locked maximum so that setting is irrelevant, BUT the fan curve is important. I set my fan curve using Furmark and the GPU hotspot temp from GPUZ. The GPU hotspot temp is more important than the GPU core temp the Radeon Software uses. Our cards have a maximum hot spot temp of 105 degrees c, you should aim to keep it at most 95 degrees c during a Furmark bench. The GPU temp will typically be 20 degrees c cooler than the GPU hot spot temp. I posted the max individual component operating temps and volts etc for the card a while back, have a trawl through the posts. Things like the fact the HBM massively throttles over 80 degrees and that the Pulses cooling maxes out at about 210 watts at circa an acceptable 70% fan speed can have major impacts on overclocking. Pushing more than circa 1600MHz core has diminishing returns as shown in previous posts. If you wish to push your card a little more however try the following...Frequency / Voltage State 0, 852/800. State 1, 1012/900. State 2, 1162/950. State 3, 1292/960. State 4, 1337/970. State 5, 1502/980. State 6, 1567/1015. State 7, 1662/1045. Set the fan curve to 100% and set the power limit to 25%, slowly lower your fan curve from there and monitor your temps using GPUZ. I found my GPU was stable in most games using those settings, the Witcher 3 and Mass Effect Andromeda asside.
 
Associate
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Flashing a 64 bios was worth it on mine. HBM clocks went from about 980 max up to 1200 max. Core clocks could still manage around 1730 too. Everyday sensible clocks I run are 1630/1100 +50% which I've been running for nearly 3 years already. Helps having a waterblock though as the core stays around 50 and hot spot doesn't get far past 65. For the record, I have a reference power colour model that was cheapest at the time in 2017.
Flashing a 64 bios was worth it on mine. HBM clocks went from about 980 max up to 1200 max. Core clocks could still manage around 1730 too. Everyday sensible clocks I run are 1630/1100 +50% which I've been running for nearly 3 years already. Helps having a waterblock though as the core stays around 50 and hot spot doesn't get far past 65. For the record, I have a reference power colour model that was cheapest at the time in 2017.
Now mate, hope your doing good. We and the wider community had similar conversations about this a while ago if I remember correct? A few of us deffo won the silicon lottery with our Vega 56 cards. My Vega 56 Pulse daily overclock is 1662/935 (I can game and benchmark 1700/935, but thats 1.2mV state 7, 50% power limit and 100% fan speed). Horizon Zero Dawn runs 100% usage at circa 1630/935 as an actual in game example. That is with a state 7 mV of just 1045mV, a power limit of just 24%, and a 60% max fan profile. Furmark max power draw is 222 watts and all temps are well under max specs. Your card is probably an outlier pertinent to how high your HBM can overclock in the same way my gpu core can overclock with such low mV and power limit. My Vega 56 has Samsung memory and it artefacts above 935MHz, flashing to a 64 bios increases volts to the HBM resulting in additional heat. The Samsung HBM on the Vega 56 throttles down massively in operating frequency from 80 degrees c onwards. I would assume the Vega 64's get the better rated HBM for the most part and stick to the best overclock and undervolt the card can achieve. Do not forget some people on this thread will be running the not fit for purpose Gigabyte Vega 56's that at best throttle but typically melt at anything above 160 watts.
 
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