Testing and Methodology
Test Procedure
Here at eTeknix, we endeavour to disclose vital information regarding the benchmarking process so that readers can quantify the results and attempt to replicate them using their hardware. When it comes to CPU reviews, the benchmarks are pretty self-explanatory although there are a few exceptions.
Rember that your choice of motherboard, the silicon lottery, and other factors can yield different numbers, and there’s always a margin for error when using the software. Therefore, your experience may vary. Each benchmark runs three times, and the average figure is taken to try to reduce the effect of hardware variation. Of course, any relevant details regarding the parameters will be listed below.
Test System
- Motherboard – Gigabyte Aorus Gaming 7 X470 WiFi
- RAM – G.SKILL DDR4 3400 MHz Dual Channel 16GB
- CPU Cooler – Noctua D15S with dual fans
- Graphics Card 1 – Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
- Graphics Card 2 – Sapphire Nitro+ VEGA 64
- Power Supply – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 Watt
- Main Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GB
- Chassis – Lian Li T80 Test Bench
- Operating System – Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit
Games Used
All games are tested at both 1920 x 1080 and 2160 x 3840 (4K) on a 60 Hz display with V-Sync off for all tests. Previously we would use “extreme” presets, but these have now been adjusted to “Medium” or equivalent to better test the capabilities of the CPU, not the GPU.
- Rise of the Tomb Raider (Steam)
- DX12 Medium Preset
- Pure Hair Off
- Deus Ex (Steam)
- DX12 Medium Preset
- Ghost Recon: Wildlands (Uplay)
- Medium Preset
- Turf Effects Off
- Far Cry Primal (Uplay)
- Normal Preset
- High Resolution Assets On
Software Used
- 3DMark Fire Strike (download)
- FireStrike (1080p) Benchmark
- Unigine Superposition (download)
- 1080p Extreme Benchmark
Other Notes
A rest period of 2-5 minutes is observed between each piece of software allowing the system to return to its idle power usage and temperatures. Background services like Windows Update are checked to not be running during the testing period by setting WiFi to Metered Connection.
Thanks
Thank you to Noctua, Crucial, ASUS, Gigabyte, Lian-Li, be quiet!, OCZ, for providing the hardware that helps makes these tests possible!
The Nvidia 1080 TI is clearly better. I am an ATI guy, but I think Nvidia’s recent price drop has pursueded me to go with Nvidia. If your card is just as expensive and it underperforms then it’s not a good value for customers.
Recently the Vega 64 is same price as 1080 (not ti) in Australia both $849 for Asus strix. $1349 for Ti. Different markets may be vastly different but if I purchased today I would grab the 64 and save the $500 :)
The benchmarks certainly showed that the 1080 Ti overall performs better than Vega, especially in situations with older standards such as 1080p and DX11. The Vega 64 clearly has more future potential due to it´s better performance with DX12 and Vulkan as well as in higher resolutions.
The Vega 64 is not able to reach the 1080 Ti but is was clearly not intended to primarily compete with the Ti, looking at the prices (in Germany over geizhals.de): Vega 64 -> 600€ to 635€; 1080 Ti -> 750€ to 950€. Instead is it compareable to the 1080 -> 520€ to 700€ (depending on the manufacturer and availability). Looking at the specs shows the same.
Still Vega 64 is ADMs current flagship for gaming and therefore the comparison to NVIDIAs gaming flagship is fair and necessary to show the gap in performance in relation to the release dates.
I personally would buy the Vega 64 again for my system (Ryzen 7 2700X | Aorus x470 Gaming 7 | G.Skill Trident 3200 CL14 | Acer XF270Hua 1440p 144hz): Mainly to get a future proof card for gaming and working equally, as well as my dislike for NVIDIAs company policies.
The monopoly the green team held over the years almost killed the technological progress and fucked up the pricing for consumers, therefore it would only be logical to work against the monopoly by buying cards from the competitors for anyone who is interested in positive long term developments. As AMD and Intel already have shown with their increased competition in the CPU market leading to better and less expensive products with Ryzen series and the new i7s.