PowerColor
Radeon RX VEGA 56 8GB HBM2 PCI-Express Graphics Card - STAND ALONE

Product information:

Radeon RX VEGA 56 8GB HBM2 PCI-Express Graphics Card - STAND ALONE

For the Gamers

As a true high-end graphics card for gamers the AMD Radeon RX Vega comes kitted out with a multitude of features and is designed for gaming in 4K as well as immersive VR to give gaming a whole new feel. Originally introduced on the Radeon R9 Fury X, the Texas chip manufacturer utilises 8 GB of revolutionary 2nd generation High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). This card will be of particular interest to PC gamers looking to pair it with a FreeSync monitor for an incredibly smooth and tear-free gaming experience!

The PowerColor Radeon RX Vega 56 offered here provides 8 GB HBM2 memory clocked at 800 MHz and connected to the GPU via a 2048-bit memory bus interface. One of the unique features of HBM memory is the fact that it is located on the GPU die (that is to say, in the graphics chip) and not, as is normally the case, distributed around the GPU. The GPU itself is clocked at 1.156 MHz and can be clocked up to 1.471 MHz in Boost Mode.

The better cooling the GPU receives, the longer it can maintain its boost clocks. The cooling of the PowerColor Radeon RX Vega 56 is provided by a radial-style cooler design. The fan is located in the rear of the card, acting to cool the PCB and then push the air out of the case. The advantage of this style of cooling is that warm air is exhausted directly out of the case.

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The Architecture of AMD Radeon Vega Graphics Cards

The Vega architecture not only contains a variety of optimisation in comparison to the Graphics Core Next architecture of previous generations, instead it represents a completely new element. In this way Vega GPU architecture builds on a foundation consisting of four new pillars:

• High Bandwidth Cache Controller (HBCC)
• Rapid Packed Math (RPM) of Next-Gen Compute Units (NCU)
• New Programmable Geometry Pipeline
• Enhanced Pixel Engine

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High Bandwidth Cache Controller (HBCC)

The High Bandwidth Cache Controller (HBCC) enables a marked improvement in the effective utilisation of the HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) modules when compared to Fiji-generation GPUs which were the first to benefit from this unique type of memory. The HBC Controller also allows for highly efficient memory control as well as increasing the minimum Frames per Second (FPS) in many games by up to 100% and the maximum FPS by more than 50%. This means the 8 GB HBM2-VRAM of the Radeon RX Vega performs to a similar level as 16 GB of GDDR5!

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Next-Gen Compute Unit (NCU) & Rapid Packed Math (RPM)

Rapid Packed Math (RPM) is a feature of the Next-Gen Compute Unit (NCU) and utilises the highly flexible core structure of the new compute units. For example, RPM accelerates FP16 calculations to allow mathematically-oriented processes to be calculated more quickly. With RPM activated this doubles the number of calculations capable of being carried out per second without requiring additional resources. Rapid Packed Math is of particular benefit to physics-based calculations, as seen in large explosions featuring in games.

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New Programmable Geometry Pipeline

The new programmable geometry pipeline of the Vega architecture is capable of processing, thanks to its efficient load balancing, many millions of polygons simultaneously. The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition Air offers a maximum geometry calculation capacity of 11 polygons (with the help of 4 Geometry Units) per clock, doubling that of the Radeon R9 Fury X with its 4 polygons per clock. Modelling applications in particular benefit from this, and furthermore this enables large 3D models to be renders in near real-time.

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Enhanced Pixel Engine

The Enhanced Pixel Engine also unleashes an optimised Shade Unit design, one which provides notable performance increases at high resolutions (WQHD, UHD) and in displaying virtual reality. In specific terms the Enhanced Pixel Engine provides a new rasterizer technology which optimises cache localisation while creating more efficient rendering processes.

In order for the card to reach its maximum potential, new drivers should be downloaded and installed at regular intervals from the AMD website.

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Technical Details:

• Dimensions: 283 x 40 x 127 mm (W × H × D)
• Slot Height: 2-Slot
• GPU: AMD Radeon Vega ("Vega 10")
  Manufacturing Process: 14 nm
  GPU Frequency: 1.156 MHz
  GPU Frequency (Boost): 1.471 MHz
  Shader Units: 3.584
• VRAM: 8.192 MB
  Memory Frequency: 800 MHz
  Type: High Bandwidth Generation 2 Memory (HBM2)
  Memory Bus Bandwidth: 2.048 Bit
  Memory Throughput: approx. 410 GB/s
  
• Skit Type: PCIe x16 (PCIe / PCIe 2.x / PCIe 3.0)
• Ports:
  3x DisplayPort 1.4 HBR3/HDR Ready
  1x HDMI
• Typical Power Usage Under Load: 210 Watt
• Power Supply Connectors: 2x 8-Pin PCIe
  Recommended Power Supply: min. 750 Watt
• Features: OpenCL 2.0, OpenGL 4.5, Vulkan API, AMD Eyefinity Technology, AMD PowerTune Technology, AMD FreeSync Technology Support, AMD XConnect Technology