Reality check

[staffsMike]

It’s been a while...since a build/upgrade and since I’ve been here!

So this is where I have got to with an upgrade

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/4FqffH

So the biggest problem I have is the GFX card/monitor situation. I really like the idea of that monitor (or similar).

I’ve only played eSports titles at 144hz before and honestly I feel like it’s only place I will care. I’m quite happy at 60fps or even a bit less for other games, I’ve gone this long doing it!

So am I going to miss the freesync? (I’ve Never used it before)

What is the best vega card? I’ve never bought ATi/AMD...ever

And feel free to critique anything else you like.

[philehidiot]

The best Vega card is the Vega64 currently retailing at around £400 at best. They run hot, they're about a year old but they trade blows in benchmarks with the RTX 2070, priced at around £470. The newer card will last long with better driver updates but I think to assume you'll see any kind of decent frame rate out of this with ray tracing on at a decent resolution is optimistic. To compare it to the previous generation 1070, the performance is very similar which, for 3 years of R&D is, in my view an absolute mickey take of the customer. Going on all of that, I'd say the Vega64 is properly priced for the market and given it's newer than the 1070, is a good buy. It's very power hungry, runs hot and the drivers aren't anywhere near as seamless as Nvidia's. Does it do the job? Oh yes, very much so. I also love the hardware design - I think it's brilliant but it's how it performs that matters. I'd do some price / performance numbers on that 1070 at £300 as it's a fine price. I'm honestly not sure the extra performance and the Freesync of the Vega64 is worth the extra £100. If you do go Vega64, I'd get a beefier PSU than 550W. I was using a 620W and that was borderline for a Vega64 and I had an i5 not i7.

If you get a monitor with low frame rate compensation I'm told Freesync, etc are very good. I've never used one and I'm a little bit disappointed that I didn't push the boat out and get one. I didn't know I was going to get on my moralistic high horse about Nvidia at that point. I'm also told that once you've used a 144Hz monitor, you won't go back - evidenty you aren't adhering to this "rule". If Freesync and a little bit more performance is worth an extra £100 to go from 1070 to Vega 64 I'm honestly not sure. Those with freesync experience would be far better to comment on this.

I'd always say if you can get Freesync without paying loads extra, just get it. I find my monitors last way longer than GPUs and so, even if you don't get an AMD card now, you may get one (or an Intel one) in future with the tech on it.

Case - I have one of these which is huge but is awesome to work with. I love it and if you have space I'd seriously recommend it. If you don't have the space or it's going to be tight, well, yeh don't bother but do consider a big case as it make everything soooo much easier. Also the Vega64 is a huge card so do check on case space.

/ramble.

[DanceswithUnix]

Freesync is nice, but the 144Hz will help if you don't have it.

Vega 56 is slightly better than 1070 performance and tend to run somewhat cooler than the Vega 64, but looking on Overclockers who tend to have good Vega pricing you only save about £40 vs the Vega 64 price.

Do check case size, my Vega 56 is a triple fan model. It's very quiet but I had to hack drive bays off my case to get it to fit.

There is a Vega56 Nano which could be ideal, but I could only see it on NewEgg. https://www.newegg.com/global/uk-en/...82E16814131741