Always stay cool: Sapphire RX Vega64 Nitro+ in review

Sapphire took its time, which certainly did not harm the whole project. While some competitors have already scattered PVT samples, i.e. the small series, among the media before the start of the actual mass production, S... Board layout Sapphire differs significantly from AMD's reference design when designing the board. This even makes sense in many places, as the cooling has been optimized and is in the foreground. Due to the elimination of the external spokes... Important preliminary remark In some games we were able to register the phenomenon that the nominally faster Sapphire RX Vega64 Nitro+ fell behind the reference card of the RX Vega. However, that this is not a measurement error or even ... Results in WQHD (2560 x 1440 Pixel) Breathe in sapphires, because the much cooler card now (as expected) not only has the reference card fully under control, but also scores above all with the frame times and thus also the minimum frame rates. You... Results in WQHD (2560 x 1440 Pixel) Although Destiny 2 is actually a DirectX-11-based game, which should be more the GeForce cards, AMD's Vega cards can stand up to their GeForce competitors. The Sapphire RX V... Results in WQHD (2560 x 1440 Pixel) Now the picture returns, because the Sapphire card is slightly slowed down (obviously by the driver), which makes it just behind the reference card. But you don't have the GeForce cards... Results in WQHD (2560 x 1440 Pixel) Doom and Volcano are not anything that could shake the RX Vega64. Here, the Sapphire RX Vega64 Nitro+ is again, as expected, in front of the nominally weaker reference card, although not quite as clear as... Results in WQHD (2560 x 1440 Pixel) Even if the RX Vega64 has to be sorted just behind Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1080, the hierarchy within the AMD guild remains consistent. The Sapphire card is in front of the reference model, if only breathless... Results in WQHD (2560 x 1440 Pixel) All three interesting cards are in fact equal, with the Sapphire card surprisingly pulling the shortest in this trio. Driver optimizations shouldn't really come into play here ... Results in WQHD (2560 x 1440 Pixel) If one had to name a prime example of the advantage of a board partner card, then this game, at least in WQHD, would probably be a really good candidate. Despite DirectX11, you have the GeForce GTX 10...results in WQHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) All relevant cards are very close together, with the Sapphire RX Vega64 Nitro+ leading the upper-middle-class trio as expected. However, the lead is very close. Results in U... Power consumption at different loads The power consumption in the gaming loop is at the measured approx. 327 watts well above the 300 watt mark and thus also above what was measured in the reference model. For this there is the more constant leis... Overclocking Due to the good cooler, the limits of this map are well above what the reference map can do and even comes close in places to the water-cooled conversions. But more than what we have achieved is hardly anything more ... Cooling system and backplate Of course, the generated waste heat is directly related to the recorded power, for which the cooling solution is responsible for optimum dissipation. This cooling system, which is therefore almost monumental, is designed by a rie... Summary Since we have not been able to definitively clarify the question of the drivers and some of the performance disadvantages of the board partner cards compared to the reference at this point, we leave this point out of un...

Summary

Since we have not been able to definitively clarify the question of the drivers and some of the performance disadvantages of the Board Partner cards compared to the reference at this time, we leave this point from our overall assessment of the card. to be fair. Because if the drivers did what you would expect from them, then the Sapphire RX Vega64 Nitro+ was often superior to the reference model in terms of performance, in some situations even significantly. That is why we are placing more emphasis on technical implementation in the overall assessment.

If you are looking for a board partner solution of the RX Vega64, then it should look like this and also work just as well. Much more is technically just not possible at the moment and what we might have had to include in the text in the end with some small limitations is definitely not sapphire. Loyal AMD customers can therefore once again look forward to a hole in the belly that Sapphire produces AMD-exclusive cards and is thus once again considered a safe bank for a solidly cooled card.

It is cool and pleasingly quiet for its circumstances. The latter must always be seen in connection with the waste heat to be dissipated, where in areas around 400 watts there are also the physical limits of what is possible with an air cooling system. The at least 150 MHz extra clock, which the card can actually hold ex works compared to a reference card after it has inevitably run into the temperature limit, are of course a nice gain, but does not make it faster by classes. Of course, the ten percent more clock pays off (depending on the game at the end more or less), but leave only a little room for another manual overclocking.

In our view, however, the ex-works usable settings and the performance that can be called up in this way is the best compromise if you think more in a performance-oriented way and still don't like a hair dryer in the computer. Sapphire did that quite well. If you want to optimize as a customer, then you should think in the opposite direction, where it remains much more economical, as well as cooler and quieter. But then the Sapphire RX Vega64, however martial it may look, is barely acoustically perceptible. So it's up to everyone to decide which BIOS or preset they choose at the end.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, we can only speculate about the actual availability and whether the long-term factor in the form of the road price will really come into play one day remains open for the time being. Nevertheless, it is a great product, at the price of 679 euros incl. Vat. or 659 USD (excluding taxes) as a non-binding retail price recommendation the ghosts will probably be a little different at the moment, although it should hardly be due to the performance. For the time being, the card is unlikely to be much cheaper, unless the market is able to pump disproportionately, which is unlikely to happen.

Therefore, the award is to be seen more as an appreciation of the technical implementation by Sapphire and not a real buying tip by us. A lover will find this card due to the certain exclusivity even without advertising by us and for an explicit purchase recommendation it would have to become available in the general public. However, there is nothing wrong with spending the money on this card, if you are one of the lucky ones who can get one at all.

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