ASUS STRIX Radeon RX Vega 64 8GB Graphics Card Review

Final Thoughts

Price

Much like most GPUs right now, the stock is pretty baron. Nailing down a proper retail price is not easy, although any other models that are in stock vary from £600 to around £650. You can pick up a powerful Strix GTX 1070 for around £488, while a Strix 1080 is around £630. That puts the VEGA 64 in a tight spot, as the GTX 1070 is better value for money, and the price is close to the slightly more expensive, albeit slightly faster GTX 1080. In terms of performance, it’s priced about right, but with limited stock, the Nvidia cards are obviously going to be a tempting alternative for many.

Overview

There’s a lot to love about this card, it’s certainly one of the greatest AMD graphics cards ever seen, and that’s no bad thing. If you’re a die-hard fan of the Red Team, this is what you’ll be wanting to spend your money on. Does it beat what Nvidia has to offer? That’s hard to answer, as it both does, and it doesn’t at the same time.

It was never going to beat the 1080 Ti, which costs a lot more money, and simply has it beaten in terms of cores and speed, so that’s no big shock. Then again, it wasn’t designed to either. This card has its heart set on hitting the GTX 1070 and 1080 where it hurts, and for the most part, it has done that. It’s close to the GTX 1080 in terms of performance, and it’s a bit cheaper. It’s faster than the GTX 1070, but a fair bit more expensive, and there lies the problem.

Value

Without a doubt, market prices for this card are meant to be lower than they are. There’s no reason why this shouldn’t be cheaper than the GTX 1070, and it would be amazing value. That’s likely due to extremely high demand due to mining, and gamers, fighting for what few are left in stock. The sooner we see about £100 knocked off the price, the better.

Added Value

FreeSync 2 is a welcome feature on AMD cards. It’s true that FreeSync monitors are a heck of a lot cheaper than G-Sync models, which is great for consumers. Of course, the latest Radeon ReLive software is superb, and you get Enhanced Sync, Radeon Chill, Frame Rate Targeting Control, Custom Resolutions, Game Streaming and more. These are all great tools for any gamer.

Aesthetics

I love the ASUS cooler designs, they’re some of the best around. The huge three fan cooler has presence that’s sure to look impressive in any system. The card is a hot beast already, but I think ASUS has done a solid job of keeping that under control. The inclusion of some RGB lighting is nice, giving it some unique customisation options, and the added backplate is sure to keep many happy, as well as help prevent GPU droop.

Video

Pros

• Great gaming performance
• Works great at 4K
• Fantastic build quality
• RGB lighting
• Factory overclocked
• One click overclocking (ASUS Software)
• Fantastic overall design

Cons

• Finding stock at the right price is a nightmare

Neutral

• Power requirements and temperatures could be lower.

“The ASUS Strix Vega 64 is the best AMD graphics card we’ve ever tested. For fans of the red team, it’s a solid investment that’s great for gaming at all resolutions, if you can find one at the right price of course.”