AMD Radeon VII Review: Not Ready for Launch (& Pad vs. Paste Test) 

Article: www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3437-amd-radeon-vii-review-not-ready-for-launch Learn why the Radeon VII PCB is good: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zx9rKmsxk00.html Radeon VII Tear-Down: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0b9_c4oJRTE.html

Great review Steve & team 👍 Also thanks for the help with this one, glad it wasn't just me having driver issues.

I love that Junction vs GPU Temp chart, its awesome! :)

Very fair review, will be back in 2 months time when AMD fixes the drivers.

Steve finally did it. He overclocked... _himself_

I love frametime plots because I feel like it gives a better impression of the actual gaming experience, I think you could find a better way to present that data without several overlapping line plots - there are many 3D plots that could do a better job depending on what software you're using to generate them. This way you could show a ton of cards on one timeframe plot without all the chaos.

From the drivers patch notes: -Radeon WattMan may experience issues with changed values failing to save or load and Tuning Control features failing to apply. -Radeon Overlay values for Radeon WattMan may fail to apply after Radeon Overlay is closed. -Radeon Settings may experience an application hang when loading the performance histogram in a game profile through game manager. -FRTC may fail to cap frame rates when enabled for games or may fail to disable once enabled for a game. -AMD Radeon VII may intermittently experience a system hang when attempting to perform a timeout detection and recovery on Windows®7 system configurations. -AMD Radeon VII may experience intermittent system stability issues on some X399 motherboards. -Apex Legends™ may intermittently experience line corruption on AMD Radeon VII. Yikes.

Great work as always, Steve. Thanks for the time & effort.

I would like to thank EA for causing me to always have trust issues. Nothing is disappointing to me.

1:58 finally somebody says the truth. Full memory usage doesn't mean the GPU acutally needs all of that data. Often games just load as much as possbile into the VRAM to just have it sitting there and prevent a later need of loading it. Those laod operations could have an impact on fps or frametimes but most of the time they don't because they're still in time...

Especially after seeing this, I’m sold on the frametime pacing of the VII. Right there with a 2080 and 1080 Ti as far as overall frame rates go too. I think that’s pretty badass. I guess the HMB2 is superior overall based solely on the better lows and frametime pacing. You kinda see that with Vega as well. Btw, I love that term, frametime pacing. Also, love your content GN. Never disappointed in how you present nearly unbiased and objective opinions and well gathered data. Also, I’m wearing one of your shirts rn. Lol. P.S. It’s the triblend. By far the most comfortable shirts I’ve ever owned. I’m loving the hell out of it.

Seems like AdoredTV's sources were absolutely right when they told him that the Radeon VII was a rushed filler product because Navi had to be delayed.

I had to watch at .75 in some parts, holy cow information overload. Unbelievably in depth review, well done guys congrats on the recent 500k subs as well.

Step aside Eminem.

Ironically, according to phoronix, Linux (kernel + mesa) seems to have better support for Vega 7. I never expect that this could even happen, Linux has better GPU day 1 support than Windows.

RU-vid broken again. I got Jay, Linus, der8aure video, but I have to search for this video....... PS: great video. Thanks for the good work

When going through the gaming performance charts, the speed at which Steve delivers the information is beyond impressive. This is such an information-rich video and somehow he's managed to narrate it as well as show it. Big effin' respect.

Steve talks like he is running late from a date.

So the magic drivers to wait for this time, are just properly functioning ones. Hopefully they're out soon, so that we can get some more accurate testing.

I guess the good news is the R VII is on par with the 2080/1080ti at stock and with garbage drivers. Once OC'd and updated drivers, should do much better.

Great review, the thermal pad testing was very enlightening!

Not a terrible card (poor drivers aside), just 2yrs too late, imagine if they'd launched this alongside the 1080ti, there would have been some actual choices for the high end.

Also I love the pacing in the video. I see a comment complaining about it, but I like it. Speaking fast keeps the information flowing.

So ... anyone else tempted to play this review at 75% speed? Steve. My man. You need to ease off on the cocaine sweetener in your quadruple espressos before recording.

Thank you GN for who you are (both in front of and behind the camera) and for the reviews you make. I have a few comments. First: I LOVE the progress bars at both sides of the screens when you show graphics. They make it so much easier to plan for pausing the video or where to prioritise where to look before the next slide comes up. Second: At ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n9rhtSwAVfI.html, how about adjusting the Y axis to start at your noise floor (or just a few dBs under for a future improvement margin)? That would increase the resolution of the diagram making it easier to differentiate between the performers. (This can obviously be applied to other tables too where you normally will never go beyond or below a certain number.) Third: The tables where you show FPS are sorted by max FPS, like for instance ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n9rhtSwAVfI.html. I'm thinking, there seem to be a lot of room for a secondary table if you move the first to either side. The secondary could be sorted after minimum FPS (either 1% or 0.1%), a number I am much more interested in (a "worst case scenario" table). I applaud you for providing frame time tables though. Speaking of tables, in my personal opinion I would prefer that all non factory overclocked results should be displayed in a lighter contrast/color compared to non overclocked. This would help my eyes navigate through the many product names and performance numbers. (I usually only overclock at home, not at work.) Also, love that you test more than just games. I'm a gamer for sure and interested in FPS, but many times when I really need to know what to purchase I look at "enterprise" reviews, tables of number crunching applications, as it's when I'm working that I'm loosing time/money when things don't perform to my benefit. Anyway, this is a really great channel. Thank you! =)

See... THIS is a proper review. JayzTwoCents barely talked about the card, and was too afraid to de-lid it. Hardware Canucks barely showed more (though to be fair it wasn't Dmitry review the card); ditto for Bitwit (he did have slightly more to say). But Gamer's Nexus is basically ripping everything apart, looking at it from every conceivable angle, the inner workings, the levels of the parts etc. He even does tests up the wazoo....see THAT'S how you review it.

I really think that this card is the most interesting component I've ever seen. Everything about it is unique. From the way we were introduced to it, with zero leaks, a total surprise. To the shaky introduction into the market with drivers, to the strange place it finds itself now. Overclocking this card has been such a journey. What a unique card. Wish GN would revisit.

Good review, just please do some more OC with official drivers.

Does anyone else think this video was a bit long? That being said, wonderful and in-depth review. Thanks!

At least it has a clever name. VII, as in Vega II and VII, as in the roman numeral for 7nm

This is my Radeon 7 review tour wrap up on RU-vid! I started with JayzTwoCents, then to Bitwit, then Paul's Hardware, then HardwareCanucks, then LinusTechTips, and NOW Tech Jesus himself, Steve from Gamers Nexus!!!!!! Yay

Half finished software you say? Where have I read about that in the last 12 months.

Lovely charts and nice in depth review. Low 1% is often neglected by other reviews.

Yup, just watched Roman's video and OCing is completely broken is the main takeaway (that and Steve has a helluva German accent). This was practically the only major selling point of first gen Vega, how'd AMD manage to fuck this up so bad?!

I'd just like to mention that I can barely read the text in the charts on my 13" laptop screen with the video at fullscreen. It's just too small. I'd prefer to see less cards listed or the list split in 2 so I have a chance to read the content that isn't spoken about. Great review, at least as great as possible while the driver problems exist. Keep up the great content.

Could you please retest some of it after drivers have been fixed?

Hi Steve. TPU got Temperature dropped by around 10°C, by increase the mouthing pressure with washers @t "Changing the thermal paste didn't make much of a difference (barely 1-2°C better). My trick for such situations is increasing mounting pressure by adding little metal washers. Pictured above you see two of the washers: one to get a better look and a second one below one of the mounting screws, to indicate the location I placed it in. Of course you want to use a total of four washers - one for each screw. With the washers installed, my Radeon VII Junction Temperature dropped by around 10°C to 100°C, which is a significant improvement."

Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.2.1 Highlights Support For AMD Radeon VII Known Issues Radeon WattMan may experience issues with changed values failing to save or load and Tuning Control features failing to apply. Radeon Overlay values for Radeon WattMan may fail to apply after Radeon Overlay is closed. Radeon Settings may experience an application hang when loading the performance histogram in a game profile through game manager. FRTC may fail to cap frame rates when enabled for games or may fail to disable once enabled for a game. AMD Radeon VII may intermittently experience a system hang when attempting to perform a timeout detection and recovery on Windows®7 system configurations. AMD Radeon VII may experience intermittent system stability issues on some X399 motherboards. Apex Legends™ may intermittently experience line corruption on AMD Radeon VII.

You really blew me away with this review. I have been checking reviews all day now, just to see if it is worth it. And somehow you managed to read my mind regarding the RTX fiasco and now the current driver fiasco. Great and fair review, quality of the top shelf, and I'll wait untill I have seen your updated review before making a purchase. Thanks again!

so it's basically the same performance as rtx 2080, same price, more vram, less ray tracing and a few months late?

Thanks Steve. Look forward to seeing further testing when drivers get sorted.

pretty much exactly as expected. this isn't a consumer card, AMD is just selling some of their instinct cards at a cheaper price cause it's cheaper than making a whole new GPU. nice gesture to the fans, but not a rational purchase in any way. you don't need 16 gigs of hbm2 for gaming. at the moment your best bet is to look for used pascal cards or used vegas, or to cling on to whatever gpu you have. i've pointed a fan at the back of my 980ti's VRM area cause that thing will have to last for a while it seems... Buying CPUs is awesome at the moment, while the GPU market is completely broken.

In the UK, the RTX 2080 launched at £750 (no free games). The Radeon VII is launching at £650 (with Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry 5 and The Division 2 included for free). You can now get two free games with any RTX 2060, 2070, 2080 or 2080 Ti (Battlefield 5 and Anthem). As the RTX 2080 has been out for almost six months now, they start at £640. I think things are currently very competitive.

Quite the power house in OpenCL otherwise just another 2080 as expected.

So ? AMD prelaunch drivers suck ☑ Card looks to be of quality architecture ☑ Flagship launch botched ☑ Has anybody heard if launch day drivers fixed any issues ? In my search for new info I am only finding negative reviews of prelaunch press drivers . Nothing on driver state as of today . Most reviews out today (or all ) , are on testing done a week ago with press drivers . Relevant yes . Helpful today, not so much ..... Great job as always GN . You can only work with what you have . Thank you for being thorough and honest .

"In today's benchmarks we'll look at....." Now that's a lot of data

Far and above the best reporting of any outlet for this card that I've seen so far. Well done gents!

Radeon VII: nice AMD Drivers: oof

Im late but I love your videos! keep up the great stuff. I watch you over all of the other reviewers particularly because of the exceptional temp testing and the bars on the sides of the video telling when the next segment is!

And once again AMD stupidly overvolted the cards, thus destroying efficiently and making them sound like jet engines. Computerbase.de managed to undervolted their RX Vega VII by 0.1v and they got some 60-70W off their card without any mentionable performance decrease. Like that, RX Vega VII easily beats the RTX2080 in pref/watt. Why RTG, why do you keep screwing up launches like this? -_-

Always great information. However I find the speed you go through the videos makes it feel rushed... And it is most videos not just this one video. I personally would like to see you slow down a little, a little longer of a video would be better in my opinion so that all information more clearly understood.

Linux performance is really good, better than 2080 and driver support flawless (apart from flaky temp reading). How could they screw it up on Windows?! Testing on phoronix.com

So, Jensen (do you like my leather jacket) Huang was correct with what he said at CES. If Navi doesn't deliver then AMD may as well throw in the discrete GPU towel. Not a terrible card if you are deaf, play games in cold winter months and have free power. Did they release these drivers for Win98. Bat shit crazy.

I guess it makes sense that an extremly limited card wich was rushed out last minute has buggy drivers... at least it works on stock!

Excellent launch day review Steve! Here’s hoping the AMD driver team manages to pul their heads out and get into the game with solid driver fixes. I look forward to your follow-up reviews when they do.

It doesn't really matter as it is impossible to buy radeon 7... i am trying since midnight it is nowhere to be found.

11:23 Those frametimes are so good. Actual gameplay and fluidity seems better with VII. If drivers improve and undervolting improves stability like it always does, this card looks like the one to get as far as actual perceptive experience goes. Now the drivers just have to improve and then also allow undervolting and overclocking. Give me that stability over a higher stuttery framerate any day. And those 1% and 0.1% lows too, wow. Except in the one RTX game where VII loses to Vega 56 at 1080p somehow. Nice one, Nvidia. Thank you for the in-depth video! I love this channel.

fixed drivers, and $599.99 and people would actually start buying them. otherwise this is gonna be a flop. but I guess that's what happens with filler products most of the time.

The information density in your videos beats a black hole

Maybe it's better as a compute card and works best in productivity. For gaming, just buy a used 1080ti on Ebay.

on benchmark day I immediately come to Gamers Nexus channel to get the in-depth reviews and objective analysis

I mean, is anyone even really surprised?

How did I miss this? It's been out for 4 months, yet I only found this out just now at random.

Sadness.

Im watching this because Jayz said to watch other review! Steve also said to watch other review so im going to watch Jayz. Im caught in a loop!!!

Guess I'll keep my 1080ti for a little longer then.

Nvidia is *not* the only option for CUDA code. You *can* compile CUDA code for AMD GPUs using AMDs compilers.

Did AMD feel legitimated to do such a bad launch after the RTX one? Come on

This is the review we were all so waiting for!

So this is directly comparable to the 1080ti. Could get better over time and has more functionality. If the price is competitive... it wouldn't be a bad buy. Note the average low and 1% at 13:00. This card could be a serious winner if priced a bit below the RTX 2080. 16GB HBM2 RAM.... I don't think it's a dud card at all.

Alot of information here! Great work as usual

Radeon VII vs RTX 2080 for the same price .... then the winner of my money is Nvidia

@2:20, Steve's talking about not being able to see how much vram the app is actually using. I'm pretty sure DXVK (translates dx11 to vulkan API calls) can show this, it's got memory requested and used as 2 separate displays as part of its fps overlay. It might show higher than actual numbers since translation to vulkan increases mem usage, but it's gunna be more reliable than looking at requested memory. DXVK is a linux oriented library but I'm pretty sure it works in windows 10.

👌🏼

at 15:16 it seems to me that the rx 570 is placed higher than it should be. Thanks for another helpful review.

Nvidia fanboys - "AMD fanboys @ RTX launch: LOL wait for RTX games AMD fanboys @ Vega 7 launch: Wait for driver fixes and new games, it'll be better!" AMD fanboys in reality... "Hope it matches the 2080...."

The VII stand for the 7 review videos in a row in my subscription feed.

I really don't understand why they decided to release this. At best it's just comparable to a 2080, and that's ignoring the driver issues, and noise. It only beats it fully in that compute test. Plus the 2080 made it to market first. I'm not convinced they're going to sell a lot of these. It just seems like it would have been smarter to not market this as a gaming GPU at all, and instead as a more production oriented card for the extra compute power and the video memory. I know they're sort of doing that, but they're only going halfway. I think they're sort of biting themselves in the foot marketing this as a gaming card at all when where it really shines is elsewhere.

Wattman does work for me on my Rx 590, though I am still using driver version 19.1.1 In fact, it's working really well. I can overclock with the stock cooler and heatsink on my Sapphire Nitro+ Rx 590, from 1560Mhz boost clock to 1625Mhz, and memory from 2100 to 2200Mhz while increasing the power limit in Wattman by +20%. Never had any crashes with this setup either

Meh. Can't find another way to describe it.

fair review. Hoping drivers get fixed up. Rooting for you AMD

AMD driver issues? Color me shocked...

Great review, you did the more than the best you could with the drivers supplied! Thank you very much for your review, it must have took you ages to finish it...

Pathetic that the most reasonable GPU for gaming in February 2019 is a GTX 1080 Ti released in March 2017. At least you can find it for ~$400 on Ebay.

I'm still holding onto my trusty 970, playing all the latest games just fine. I'm waiting for the next Unicorn to come along. Hopefully it's Navi, because as much as I love the 970, it's starting to show its age.

All websites that made benchmarks on a lot of games are posting results nowhere close to 2080 performance, typically more than 10% lower. This is far from "performance is about the same".

GN Reviews are so thorough and unbiased. Good Job

You guys can drop the GTX 9xx series and R9 290x series cards from the charts. The bars are getting ridiculously small and hard to read. They aren't remotely relevant to a modern day high end GPU comparison.

thanks for the coverage steve

Great depth to your videos. Thank you. Hopefully drivers will be worked out in the next few weeks. Perhaps future game titles will benefit strongly from surplus of HBM2, we will see. Team red over here, so I took the plunge this morning (F5 ftw).

Remember Linus Tech Tips?

Thanks Steve for an in-depth review.

With blotched drivers, it is still holding up against nvidia, I now want to see, rtx 2080 vs radeon vii when both drivers are more mature..... And I don't care about Ray Tracing.....

Thank you for saying that you'll come back to it when the drivers get fixed. I know a lot of reviewers look at something at launch and then leave it behind, but given what a hot mess this is, you're going to give them a second chance, which is awesome.

Buggy AMD drivers? That's a first.....

No oveclocking because missing api calls is because this silicon was not originally for gaming.

AMD fanboys @ RTX launch: LOL wait for RTX games AMD fanboys @ Vega 7 launch: Wait for driver fixes and new games, it'll be better!

Could you put the noise graph on a logarithmic scale next time? As you said, decibels are NOT linear so it doesn't make sense to display them on a linear scale

AMD = Another Massive Disappointment

Best review of the card I have seen so far =D