ASUS ROG Strix Vega 64 Unboxed: The First Custom RX Vega

ASUS Has The First Custom Radeon RX Vega 64

AMD had its big launch of Radeon RX Vega a few weeks ago now, and while it hasn't been smooth sailing by any means, ASUS is the first in the world with a custom Radeon RX Vega 64 graphics card. The new ASUS ROG Strix Vega 64 graphics card is a better offering than what AMD has to offer in reference form, but just how much better? That's something we'll have to wait for the full review, but for now, we'll give you a look and what I've been up to all week.

Inside, we have the Radeon RX Vega 64 with its full 4096 stream processors and 8GB of HBM2 with a 2048-bit memory bus. ASUS use their own MaxContact Technology that provides 2X more contact with the GPU for improved thermal performance, except Vega is so hot it simply doesn't matter what ASUS throws under the hood.

ASUS also throws in their Aura Sync RGB LED technology, which gives the card a beautiful look and style - fitting in with any other ROG Strix product. There's also VR-friendly HDMI ports, just in case you have multiple HDMI-enabled TVs or monitors, or a VR headset. A nice touch.

ASUS ROG Strix RX Vega 64 Unboxed

ASUS doesn't disappoint with retail packaging, so the box for the ROG Strix RX Vega 64 looking great isn't a surprise. I love the massive inclusion of the RX Vega 'V' logo in the top right, and massive AMD branding all over the place. Performance wise, RX Vega might be disappointing, but they've nailed their marketing in some really effective ways.

The front of the box, showing that the RX Vega 64 has High Bandwidth Cache, NCUs, and support for Radeon FreeSync 2.

On the back, we have some more details on the MaxConnect Technology, ASUS Aura Sync, and more.

What's better than one RX Vega 64? Two of them.

The ASUS ROG Strix RX Vega 64 in the flesh, with its triple-fan cooler.

Once again from the front.

We have 8+8-pin PCIe power connectors are required, a staple of Radeon RX Vega.

On the back of the card, we have the ASUS ROG eye that also looks great, and a military-theme on the back.

Full Review Coming Soon

Final Thoughts

If you were expecting large leaps in performance from the ASUS ROG Strix RX Vega 64... you'll be disappointed. If you were expecting big drops in temperatures, you'd also be wrong. I'll cover all of this in the full review in the coming days, but ASUS does what they can with the ROG Strix RX Vega 64.

One of the best parts of what ASUS has done with the card is that with the fans spinning at 100%, the card isn't awfully loud, unlike the reference AMD cards which are freakin' monsters when their fans are cranked up. During all of my benchmarking the card would stick under 70C with the fans at 100%, roughly the same results as the reference card, but it was magnitudes quieter than the reference card with the fans at 100% speed.

All in all, if you want to get a Radeon RX Vega 64 graphics card, then the ASUS ROG Strix RX Vega 64 is for you. More so if you're a FreeSync monitor owner, and didn't want to make the shift to a G-Sync display. I wouldn't bother buying reference right now, jump straight into the arms of the ASUS ROG Strix RX Vega 64 instead.