Anticipating the launch of the AMD Rx 5700 and 5700 XT, NVIDIA has introduced RTX 2060 Super and 2070 Super. The new cards demonstrates that NVIDIA has learned from its errors and taken memo of the community requests deciding to increase performance and at the same time lower pricing. But if I have a previous generation card, it's worth changing to the new one or not? Today we begin a series of articles dedicated to this topic, starting from a confrontation between RTX 2060 Super and Vega 56.
NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super and RX VEGA 56 Specs
Let's start our comparison taking a look on the tech specs of the two opponents.
On one side we have the RTX 2060 Super that is based on the TU106 graphics processor (12 nm), in its TU106-410-A1 variant and features 2176 shading units, a 1650 MHz boost clock, and 8 GB of GDDR6 memory (instead of the 6 GB of the previous RTX 2060). It is available starting from 399,99 USD.
On the other side of the comparison, the AMD RX VEGA 56 is built on Vega 10 XL gpu (14 nm) and features 3584 shading units, a 1474 MHz boost clock, and like the NVIDIA counterpart 8 GB of memory (in this case HBM2 and not GDDR6). Today it starts from a price of 279,99 USD.
TEST SETUP
Our GPU test rig is based on an Intel's Z370 platform. Specifically, we use the MSI Z370 Sli Plus paired with an Intel Core i7-8700K cooled by the always reliable Noctua NH-U14S. At the side of the CPU we put 16GB (2 x 8GB) of GSkill Trident Z RGB DDR4 clocked at 3,600MHz. The system use a Crucial MX500 1TB SSD and is powered by the EVGA Supernova G2 750. The operating system is Windows 10 64-bit (latest update).
In this test we used a MSI RX Vega 56 Air Boost (not OC) and a ZOTAC RTX 2060 SUPER Mini.
CPU: Intel i7 8700k
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z 16 gb @ 3600MHz
Motherboard: MSI Z370 Sli Plus
Cooling: NH-U14S
SSD: Crucial MX500 1TB
Power Supply: EVGA Supernova G2 750
GPU: - ZOTAC RTX 2060 SUPER Mini
- MSI RX Vega 56 Air Boost (not OC)
All the components have been supplied by courtesy of our wallet.
And now let's go with games tests.
BATTLEFIELD 1
At 1080p the RTX 2060 Super card performs at 128 fps AVG, while the the Vega 56 doesn't go beyond 109 fps. This means a difference around 17% in favour of the green side.
The gap is also confirmed in 1440p, where Nvidia's offer reaches 93 Fps and Radeon marks an average of 79.
FAR CRY 5
At 1080p, 2060 Super ends up at 109 FPS AVG. The lead over the Vega's 119FPS AVG is about 11,22%.
At the 1440p scenario Amd's card behaves slightly better by reducing the gap to 9.4% (81 Fps vs 74).
HITMAN
In Hitman the comparison between the two cards becomes tighter. The RTX exceeds only del 6.5% Vega at 1080p ( 119 to 112 ); while at 1440p it comes out as the winner for a very little, only 2 Fps (2,3%).
OVERWATCH
AMD has historically done bad in Overwatch, therefore it is not surprising the big difference between the two cards: 27,6% in 1080p test ( 203 Fps vs 159 in favour of the 2060 Super) and a huge 39% at 1440p (139 to 100).
THE WITCHER III: WILD HUNT
The Witcher III is a classic that doesn't have to lack in every bench or review. At 1080 we see a 23% advantage for the Nvidia card, that signs 101 Fps.
As we see in some of the previous game, Vega 56 reduces the discard at 1440, in this case to 15%.
F1 2018
In F1 2018 we see the same of the previous tests, with a gap, for the AMD proposal, of 15,4% at FHD resolution and 13% at 1440p.
SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider the Team Red's gpu preform good at 1080 resolution, losing only 12,9 percent in comparison to the opponent.
The difference widens at QHD to 16,07%: 65 to 56 Fps.
WOLFENSTEIN - NEW COLOSSUS
At the end we have Wolfenstein – New Colossus and it confirms the previous datas: 158 to 147 at Full HD resolution for the 2060 Super, and 118 to 101 at 2560 × 1440 ( + 16,83% over the RX VEGA 56).
GPU POWER CONSUMPTION
In this graph we look exclusively GPU power and we can see that the RTX 2070 Super consumes 38,5% less power than the RX Vega 56.
PERFORMANCE PER DOLLAR
We close our examination with a performance per dollar analisis On one side we have the RTX 2060 Super, with is price that start from 399,99 $, that offers 0,27 FPS per dollar. On the other side there is the Vega 56 that, after AMD recent discount, is priced starting from 279,99 $, and reach 0,34 FPS per dollar. This means that Amd proposal has still a 25,9% better value for money.
CLOSING THOUGHTS With this 2060 Super (and even more with the 2070 Super) has done a great jump to cover its self from AMD's RX 5700 and 5700XT.
But it is enough to justify a change from the RX Vega 56?
I think the answer is no. Indeed the Vega is still a great card that offers yet a fantastic bang for bucks value (considering also that is possible to extract from it an additional potential with overclock); so if you have one of it, you will hardly wish to change it for around a 15% better performances.
But if I have to build a new rig?In this case I have two differnt answer for you:
1) if you are budget limited go for the Vega 56 that is actually the card with the better FPS /dollar value. And invest the saved money on good power supply (not do like many people wich, for purchasing the dream gpu, buy mediocre PSU that create only a lot of problems).
2) If you aren't budget limited, go for the RTX 2060 Super or better for the RX 5700 XT.
Thanks for reading. Tech's Interceptor