i5-3570K + Sapphire Vega64 w/EK waterblock Testing

[Evildead666]

So its been a couple of years since I did some Benchmarks

I finally had to upgrade, the 290 being the limiting factor in my build.

So I got a Vega64 for 507€, and an EK Waterblock for just over 110€.
They should both arrive this week if i'm lucky, and I might have it up and running by next weekend, we'll see.

[Evildead666]

Well, have the Vega64 and the Waterblock.
I'm hoping there will be no problem with the mounting, as removing the aircooler from my card will invalidate the warranty, and thats the only way to find out what type of GPU package I have under there.
For those that haven't followed, there are apparently 3 or 4 different GPU packages doing the rounds, and the heights of the HBM differ by small amounts.
afaik, EK used the GPU package with epoxy filler, and a fully flat GPU as an example, and made the Waterblock to those specifications.

I have family over this weekend, so might not be able to get it done, as I also have to inverse all 8 fans, so I have the air coming in through the top CPU radiator, and out the front GPU radiator.
this is due to the heat generated by the GPU, and my 290 is already making my CPU hotter when I try and do GPU intensive tasks, and CPU intensive tasks at the same time.
Gaming is not a problem, as that doesn't tax the CPU so much, but it still gets pretty warmed up by the GPU.

Its probably a good time to do a thorough clean of the rads and fans, before putting it all back together.

[Elie]

Congrats!! You must have spent a fortune to get this card They are not cheap.
All I could afford when i built my Intel 7700K system was a Nvidia GTX 1060, which is a good little card, since I play Battlefield 4.0 / 1.0 and Battlefront 1 and the new 2 when it's out.
My benchmarks with everything on Ultra with all the Antialiasing and Ambient Occlusion turned off is around 130fps.
In Battlefiled 1 I get around 90FPS with the same settings.

However... when I play online, I change the settings so that most are medium to low with a couple set to Utra, I get in BF4.0 200FPS (maxed out) and in BF1 I get 140FPS.

I can't wait for the new Nvidia cards to be released so that I get get a hold of a 1080 TI for cheap

[VJ]

So I got a Vega64 for 507€, and an EK Waterblock for just over 110€.

Watercooling always fascinated me, but I never made any attempts... Are you planning flexible tubing or this hard tubing?

I can't wait for the new Nvidia cards to be released so that I get get a hold of a 1080 TI for cheap

I'm still planning to add some good gaming when I get back to Poland... When I bought the computer, I did not even get a videocard but used the onboard Intel. While ok for our purpose at the time, we got a few games we would like to run in higher quality. Still, my return is still one and a half year away from now, so for sure by then I can get something with GTX1070-like performance for a reasonable price.

[Evildead666]

Its the standard flexible tubing, i'm just going to pop in it as a replacement for my Watercooled 290.
I set it up so there would be the least corners, and all the tubes are actually straight. I got slightly angled connectors

The Volta cards won't be here until the new year, probably CES or something.
Highly unlikely they will hit before Xmas.

I ordered the Vega on release day (we had the day off here, since the tuesday 15th was a bank holiday )
It was pretty cheap at 507€ (considering the recommended price), and there was a rumour that the prices were going to go up, so I just bought it.
Then ordered the WB.

Doesn't look like I'll have the time to do it this weekend, it'll just have to wait until next weekend. I really don't want to rush it
I also want to try and get some benches of my 290 done, so I can compare the two cards in an identical system setup.

[Evildead666]

Warning : The enlarged versions of the images are a lot blurrier than the originals.

The New Stuff, next to the R9-290



The Old R9-290, which is going to a good home



The Naked Vega 64, uncleaned.



The Thermal Paste used.



The Naked Vega64 Die (clean)



Close up of the new EK Waterblock for vega



And finally, the Waterblock installed on the card.



I have completed my preliminary testing, I re-did some Benchmarks runs with my 290, on the exact same driver, and settings where possible, before switching out for the Vega.

I have to table up and graph the results out tonight.

I have inverted the cooling, so the Air now comes in thru the top, onto the CPU radiator, and then thru the case, out the front, to the GPU radiator.
All fans and pumps at 12V, on the external power brick.

GPU at stock everything, max temp was 40/41°C
GPU Overclocked (+5% GPU clock / 1170mV and 1100MHz HBM at 1060mV) I hit 44°C after a few hours.

I have hit the Power wall, where I got a higher clock dropping the voltage down from the stock 1200mV to 1170mV.
At 1160mV the GPU crashed, and at 1175mV I had slightly lower clocks so 1170mV was it.

I tested the clocks under That Superposition benchmark, on the 1080p Exterme test.
The one with things flying around a lab.
Max clocks were 1684MHz, and it stayed very close to that ( it dropped to 1675 sometimes, and then sped right back up).

Got 4462 max iirc in 1080p Extreme. I think I got a screencap of that one.
I'll put it up tonight with the graphs.

On its way tonight : GTA5, Assetto Corsa, Fallout4, Star Citizen, Stalker:Lost Alpha, Stalker CoP:Complete, and DOOM (The new one ).

I am also doing some testing on Wolfenstein : The New Order, but won't have 290 comparisons, due to me not having it installed before I added the Vega.
I remember at the time, playing for about 10-15mins, or so, and getting a black screen on my 290.
It was a driver problem back then, but I never got back to the game. Until now.
Its probably the most recent Game Engine i have at the moment (apart from the Lumberyard with Star Citizen).

[Evildead666]

PC Specs at time of tests :
i5-3570K @ 4.2GHz 4core boost.
4x4GB DDR3 1866MHz (It resets after every crash, and the Vega crashed a lot, so I stopped setting it back to 2000, will do later on).
Boot disk Samsung 850 Pro, Apps disk 840 EVO.
Other apps disk Raid of 2x7200rpm laptop WD Black, 1.5GB total.
- R9-290 @ 1050MHz, 4GB VRAM @ 1250MHz (EK Watercooled)
- Vega64 @ Stock (EK Watercooled)
edit : All Benchmarks at 2560x1440, unless otherwise stated

For the Superposition bench, these settings were used on Vega : +5% OC/1175mV - 8GB VRAM @ 1100MHz/1000mV / +50% Power / Target+Max Temps set to 85°C.

The driver used was the 17.8.2 for both cards.

With that out of the way, lets get on to the Benchmark results

[Evildead666]

Superposition Benchmark. 1080p EXTREME setting.

R9-290



Vega64 OC (Not Liquid BIOS)



Vega64 hit 1684MHz at MAx, and dropped to 1666MHz on the low end.

[VJ]

Well... I don't know much about attainable speeds... but nice!

Small question... how noisy is watercooling? I mean, in the end you still have fans and even a pump. From what I can find, it seems that for a CPU - if you are not overclocking - a good aircooler and good airflow can be more silent, but for videocards it still can make a difference due to those standard cooling fans they use. What is your take in that?

[Evildead666]

My fans make more noise than the pump, due to being all at 12V.
For a silent build, the pump will make the most noise.

I Just have 5m long USB, DP+DVI and PS/2 cables, and pass them under the door.
Move it far enough away so you aren't bothered by the noise any more.


ALL TESTS OF VEGA64 BELOW ARE AT STOCK SETTINGS : OVERCLOCKED RESULTS WILL COME LATER

[Evildead666]

Assetto Corsa - NordSchleife Track. One full lap (no where near exact each time lol )

[Evildead666]

Doom 4 - OpenGL mode. Fraps doesn't work in Vulkan. I get killed pretty quickly on this level...

[Evildead666]

Fallout 4 - I will have to redo these, since i seem to have left a VSync somewhere....

[Evildead666]

GTA V - Some settings are not the same between the tests. The Vega tests are done with everything ON, the 290 test doesn't have extra Shadow Distance scaling. Also, the end of the third vega test has MSAA x4 enabled, which didn't change the FPS at all.

[Evildead666]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Lost Alpha