Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 64 Liquid Edition Poses For Closeup Photos
Sapphire is one of AMD's premier hardware partners, so it makes sense that one of the first photo shoots of a Radeon RX Vega graphics card by a third-party belongs to the company. And unlike most pre-release photos, these are not blurry snapshots that look like they were taken with a Fisher Price camera in the middle of an earthquake—they're crisp, clear, and show the card from multiple angles.
The photos were taken by a member of the Chinese-language Chiphell forum. We do not typically dwell on packaging, though one thing that is immediately interesting to note is that the retail box simply states "Radeon RX Vega," as opposed to distinguishing the Radeon RX Vega 64 from the Radeon RX Vega 56. However, it does indicate that this is the "water cooled" variant.
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It is tough to tell from the above shot if Sapphire includes any adapters or cables with this card. If it does, they are either buried underneath liquid cooling attachment or have been already removed. Otherwise, we can see a user manual, the card itself, and the attached liquid cooling apparatus. AMD's liquid cooled model is the fastest version of the Radeon RX Vega 64 with a 1,406MHz base clock and 1,677MHz boost clock, versus 1,247MHz base and 1,546MHz boost clocks for air cooled design. However, it may not end up the fastest card, if ASUS comes out with dual-GPU model as rumored.
Click to Enlarge
Click to Enlarge
This particular model from Sapphire appears to stick with AMD's reference design. It has a brushed aluminum shroud with the Vega logo on the front and Radeon branding up top, both of which are illuminated when powered on. And while not fully shown in any of the pictures, a pair of braided tubes extend from the graphics card and over to the 120mm radiator and pump assembly, with fan attached. In most setups, the radiator will mount in the rear of the case in place of (or next to) an exhaust fan.
Click to Enlarge
A metal backplate with additional pieces of flair adorns the Radeon RX Vega 64 graphics card. Unless you own a case that lest you mount your graphics card sideways with a PCI-Express riser cable, the backplate and top of the card are typically the most visible parts.
Click to Enlarge
This model requires to 8-pin PCI-Express power connectors. Assuming the specifications stick with AMD's reference design, the board power will check in at 345W. That is quite a bit and one thing we will be examining when reviewing one of these models ourselves is what that kind of power means to thermals to acoustics.
Also visible in the above shot is a GPU tach to measure load, and a couple of LED switches. One is used to turn the LED lighting on and off, while the other lets users toggle between red and blue lighting.
Radeon RX Vega availability is scheduled for August 14, so the wait is almost over. Pricing is set at $399 for the Radeon RX Vega 56 and $499 for the Radeon RX Vega 64 Air Cooled model. According to what AMD has put out there, the only way to score a liquid cooled model is through a Radeon Pack. These Radeon Packs come with $300 in combined hardware savings towards certain items and $120 worth of games.
There will be three Radeon Packs available—the Radeon Red Back (Radeon RX Vega 56) for $499, Radeon Black Pack (Radeon RX Vega 64 Air Cooled) for $599, and Radeon Aqua Pack (Radeon RX Vega 64 Liquid Cooled) for $699. Part of AMD's intention with this Radeon Packs is to avoid having initial inventories depleted by cryptocurrency miners.
The photos were taken by a member of the Chinese-language Chiphell forum. We do not typically dwell on packaging, though one thing that is immediately interesting to note is that the retail box simply states "Radeon RX Vega," as opposed to distinguishing the Radeon RX Vega 64 from the Radeon RX Vega 56. However, it does indicate that this is the "water cooled" variant.
Click to Enlarge
It is tough to tell from the above shot if Sapphire includes any adapters or cables with this card. If it does, they are either buried underneath liquid cooling attachment or have been already removed. Otherwise, we can see a user manual, the card itself, and the attached liquid cooling apparatus. AMD's liquid cooled model is the fastest version of the Radeon RX Vega 64 with a 1,406MHz base clock and 1,677MHz boost clock, versus 1,247MHz base and 1,546MHz boost clocks for air cooled design. However, it may not end up the fastest card, if ASUS comes out with dual-GPU model as rumored.
Click to Enlarge
Click to Enlarge
This particular model from Sapphire appears to stick with AMD's reference design. It has a brushed aluminum shroud with the Vega logo on the front and Radeon branding up top, both of which are illuminated when powered on. And while not fully shown in any of the pictures, a pair of braided tubes extend from the graphics card and over to the 120mm radiator and pump assembly, with fan attached. In most setups, the radiator will mount in the rear of the case in place of (or next to) an exhaust fan.
Click to Enlarge
A metal backplate with additional pieces of flair adorns the Radeon RX Vega 64 graphics card. Unless you own a case that lest you mount your graphics card sideways with a PCI-Express riser cable, the backplate and top of the card are typically the most visible parts.
Click to Enlarge
This model requires to 8-pin PCI-Express power connectors. Assuming the specifications stick with AMD's reference design, the board power will check in at 345W. That is quite a bit and one thing we will be examining when reviewing one of these models ourselves is what that kind of power means to thermals to acoustics.
Also visible in the above shot is a GPU tach to measure load, and a couple of LED switches. One is used to turn the LED lighting on and off, while the other lets users toggle between red and blue lighting.
Radeon RX Vega availability is scheduled for August 14, so the wait is almost over. Pricing is set at $399 for the Radeon RX Vega 56 and $499 for the Radeon RX Vega 64 Air Cooled model. According to what AMD has put out there, the only way to score a liquid cooled model is through a Radeon Pack. These Radeon Packs come with $300 in combined hardware savings towards certain items and $120 worth of games.
There will be three Radeon Packs available—the Radeon Red Back (Radeon RX Vega 56) for $499, Radeon Black Pack (Radeon RX Vega 64 Air Cooled) for $599, and Radeon Aqua Pack (Radeon RX Vega 64 Liquid Cooled) for $699. Part of AMD's intention with this Radeon Packs is to avoid having initial inventories depleted by cryptocurrency miners.
