Gaming on a RX Vega 56 in 2024… Bios Mod and Overclock for under 100$

[@Bassjunkie_1]

I still own my Vega 56, which I bought back in early 2019. I ended up purchasing the Morpheus II cooler for it. It's a great card if you're happy to tinker, and I was. It's now in my girlfriend's PC.

[@ImWateringPSUs]

That’s great to hear! I’m a big fan of aftermarket GPUs coolers, love the Arctic Accelero as well and even the NZXT AIO kit. It’s a shame they stopped making them :) Great to hear you’re still putting the card to good use!

[@Bassjunkie_1]

@@ImWateringPSUs I looked at both the Nzxt and the Accelero, but I went with the core edition of the Morpheus 2 cooler, I read it had a larger die coverage for the Fiji and Vega cores. It wasn't easy to find one at the time, but I managed.

[@kingm6837]

Same here lmao

[@bervirus]

Got vega 56 for $70 last year (gigabyte gaming oc model). Great GPU but not for everyone, especially this particular model. Comes with freezing and overheating issues (black screen with max fan). Its still definitely worth it ---after I cleaned it, repaste it, replace thermal pads (5 different thickness), added heatsinks to the backplate, flashed the latest vbios (with slightly reduced power limit), tuned the fan speed (default fan curve was too slow/silent), adjusted power limit or UV, and used the Pro Edition driver. Now its running problem free, and will serve for another or couple years, probably. Scored 20800 at default (210W) on firestrike. Still scored 19600 on my UV profile (~125-135W).

[@ImWateringPSUs]

Great to see some feedback like this one! I 100% agree with you, it’s probably the best value for money card out there but one has to be prepared to do some maintenance/upgrades in terms of paste and pads and ready to undervolt it!

[@Fliptality413]

I agree mate! Have the exact same model and every now and then I get black screen with max fan speed. its annoying AF. I hae yet to find out how to fdix this problem entirely

[@PatrykG99]

High hotspot temps

[@Noctane]

people forget that you can actually enable SAM / resizeable BAR with some modded drivers, it should increase performance even further

[@JVolpe-qg4en]

How much power does it pull? I just come across the video after buying one, but its the reference model and i only have a good bronze 550w psu. Do you think its worth flashing the 64 bios on it even with a smaller increase on powerlimit?

[@ImWateringPSUs]

Very good question: total system power after the flash, with PL unlocked and no tuning was roughly 550W. After the tweak it was roughly 400W. I’d say you can definitely make do with the 550W PSU you have, I’d definitely recommend flashing it because it’s free performance but I would then undervolt (you can copy my curve). Congratulations on your buy and consider taking a look at the full Build video I have on the channel, where we paired it with an 8c i7 and a 500W cheap PSU!

[@Dandan-tg6tj]

@@ImWateringPSUs You don't actually need to manually undervolt the Vega GPU. It's done in the AMD driver if you choose so and it is almost like someone would do it manually. IO can't stress enough how important is a good PSu for a stable performance. You should recommend at least 650 good quality PSUs. I know what I am saying. I am doing electronics repairs and I know what a low quality PSU that's not giving enough power can do to a gaming system.

[@andrewjones198]

I have 5 of these, never mined on. Unbroken stickers ❤ 2 asus vega 56 2 vega 64 blower 1 vega 64 frontier edition. I am not sure if I should set them to mine (probably ergo or an ethereum style algorithm) or maybe do some really nice builds that already include the vbios flash and overclicks set up. I am capable of doing this easily

[@a1ankaymusic]

Of course it’s still a useable card. It’s Better than a RX 580 and plenty of people are still using those. I got my blower fan style Radeon Vega 56 for 40$ almost brand new on fb marketplace a few months ago and threw it in my razer x chroma egpu that is connected to my 2018 Mac mini set up. It does the job and beats the internal graphics in any Intel Mac. I also have a 1060 6gb, a 1080 ti, a 2070 super, and an evga 3070.

[@583HOUSE]

do you still lookup the comments? hope so! i got a ASRock Phantom Gaming Vega 56 with the *.0.023640 bios and the HBM2 module but it is HYNIX, and not samsung. and everybody keeps saying that i shouldn't/couldn't flash to a vega 64 because of this (hynix, not samsung). though i've got a 0.046561 bios form techpowerup. is it ok to test even on a v56 bios?

[@narcsba]

I'm in the same situation, lets see if he answers you...

[@HardWhereHero]

​@@narcsba Disregard my last comment. The bios flash supports Samsung and Hynix memory modules. Should be just fine.

[@Dandan-tg6tj]

It's written in the "details" section what memory timings it supports (8192 MB, HBM2, Samsung KHA843801B) or whatever memory supports

[@Gerry-K]

You can get these cards refurbished from MSI Air Boost for $125Cdn from N.E. They even updated the fan so that it's a lot quieter under load. I replaced my old GTX 1050 with a AB and boy was it worth it. But then again the games I play aren't that demanding on a card. The game I play went for Mid to high 80 fps too 140's stock.

[@Dandan-tg6tj]

Fan quieter under load is the stupidest thing anyone would possibly think about. Video cards have a long life if they get cooled well not if their fans are quiet. If someone need a quiet PC they should buy a sound dampening PC case not spin the fans at a lower RPM.

[@Daniel-l8m4r]

Do you use the Vega 56 or Vega 64 drivers after the bios flash?

[@Dandan-tg6tj]

Got my Sapphire one and the cooler is twice the size of the PCB. Great temps. Zero frames drop in Fortnite. Great card. Of course it is great if you pair it with a capable CPU (i3 12100 seem to be quite enough for that video card).

[@jacobglass2951]

I just bought the same strix version as you have, do I need to check something compatibility wise if I want to flash Vega 64 bios?

[@ghnlabs4114]

What version do you use to flash the Vega 56 BIOS, friend?

[@Karlington12]

In 2024 is still good gpu for the price and years… I am using this gpu already 4 years and it’s perfect! 🎉

[@dhariuslimpuasan7400]

Does it have any cons if in case you do this? Like throttling or overheating or even killing the gpu itself. Also, will it more power? Or its just as advertised at 210W. Will it also work to my Gigabyte GP-P650G PSU? Or need more power

[@ImWateringPSUs]

It’s all about how you set it. After the undervolting in the end, the card drew 150W to perform dramatically better than at stock. But if you only bios mod it with no Undervolt, it can draw as high as 300W. It will definitely work fine for your P650G PSU, check out the build video I made with it as I used it with a 550W PSU. Also consider dropping a like and subscribing if the content was useful and/or interesting:))

[@dhariuslimpuasan7400]

@@ImWateringPSUs fasho thanks man! Lovelots from Philippines

[@SakigakeMechazawa]

Is it still worth it? I want to upgrade from RX 580 8 gigs to faster card. The choice are RX Vega 56, RX 6600 XT and non XT, and RTX 2060 Super. Price range is similar for the RX 6600 XT non XT and the RTX 2060 Super. Of course, the RX Vega 56 not even a significant upgrade for me. But the price so cheap (it's only $83). I pair my card with FX 8350 btw.

[@liferescripted]

You would be better to upgrade your cpu first. The FX 8350 even when overclocked is serving as a bottleneck for your RX 580. If you spend money on your GPU, you will not see much performance gained

[@SakigakeMechazawa]

@@liferescripted Welp, my RX Vega 64 just arrived. Guess I used it 'till next CPU upgrade then.

[@ImWateringPSUs]

I think you made a great purchase with the Vega, it will go a lot faster than the 580 if tweaked properly. But yes I’d upgrade the CPU asap as well!

[@SakigakeMechazawa]

@@ImWateringPSUs Yep it's true. I undervolt and OC my RX Vega 64 and get 3-5W on idle, 60-70W while playing MGSV and Nier Automata without anti aliasing on 1280x1024 resolution. I'm happy enough with the result!

[@steaksoldier]

no please do not pair any vega card with any fx cpu. Both of those parts were famous for using waaaay too much power for their respective times. unless you have a high wattage, high dollar psu, and do not care about how much your power bill costs, upgrade your cpu to something newer first like any amd ryzen, ddr4 intel cpu, hell even a ddr3 intel cpu would do better than an fx.

[@fyre.]

I hope you answer i have a vega 56 shapire pulse (samsung memory) myself paired with a r5 3600 and only get around 100 fps on warzone with bad 1% lows do you think doing this mod with be worth it?

[@ImWateringPSUs]

It will 100% be worth it! But your limiting factor is also the CPU, you should get a R5 5600X if you can

[@ryLisa2022-k4y]

Can i overclock vega 56 using hynix memory like your's in the video?

[@ImWateringPSUs]

Absolutely yes!

[@ryLisa2022-k4y]

@@ImWateringPSUs thank god you help me

[@NicHolasBrody44]

I have a vega 64 and I got a graphics score of 25.455 in the fire stark test (overclock & uv). What were your overclock and uv settings and how many watts of power did it draw from the outlet?

[@NicHolasBrody44]

And your video is really useful. You tell people how they can seriously strengthen a 100 dollar graphics card with a simple BIOS update. Once people realize this, they will stop buying cards like RTX 3050 or RTX 2060/s.

[@ImWateringPSUs]

You got a massive score there! Great settings :) Also thanks a lot for your feedback, I really hope GPUs like these go more mainstream! My Vega drew roughly 180W under full load, total system power was roughly 350W. The UV settings I show a bit in the video, I show the curve. Memory overclock 1150/1200Mhz

[@WainerMedina]

Rx vega 64 or Rx vega 56 ?

[@b0ne91]

@@NicHolasBrody44 Nvidia is like Apple. People buy it because it's a brand, "it just works" and fEaTuReS as if RT works on a 3060. They aren't doing it because they're informed and looking for good price/performance.

[@Quan5021]

Hi I would like to know what the power draw of the card is

[@Balu-1988]

Dear author, thank you for the guide. I managed to flash the Powercolor Red Dragon version and overclock it. After tune I got 24197 points in firestrike graphics test. But I had a question, can u please answer. Using stock bios 56 it consumed 185w, stock 64 220w. Now the peak values reach 300w. Is this normal, does it harm the graphics card? Temps and noise are ok

[@understandingtruth10]

I just purchased one just like yours but when I tried to do the ATI flash I am unable to see the screen when you select the new bios. I sent three hours working on it last night, I ended up replacing the paste and putting new thermal pads on it. I’m just having issues with the ATI program I’ve even tried the older version I’m wondering if it’s not compatible with windows 11. After much research apparently you need and old version of windows 10 to make this work real bummer. Please correct me, or inform me of a workaround if anyone has one.

[@VictorPavaoO]

Resolveu? Encontrou uma solução?

[@collbrian5885]

I bought an RX Vega 56, does it work well on an MSI A520M-A Pro board? The processor would be a Ryzen 5 5500

[@QuisquamHam]

I got my vega 56 for 170 in 2018, it worked good

[@ImWateringPSUs]

To be honest that was a VERY good deal in 2018! Great stuff :)

[@rondigle7554]

Can you post link on the bios you used for the firmware?

[@Sandykroy]

Nowadays which is the better driver for Vega 56? Thanks in Advanced!

[@MPHI77]

23.8.2 ist the last best Driver for OC\UV

[@captkrunch9966]

I have a vega 56 powercolor red dragon, which vega 64 bios should i use. there is not a vega 64 red dragon, only the standard 64 and a red devil?

[@Balu-1988]

same red dragon version. I used standart 64 it has power limit 220w. red devil version has 260. My stock vega56 185w - i was afraid to choose red devil version

[@THE-UNKNOWN_7163]

but what CPU did you pair it with?

[@NoSi32]

can u pls provide the bios etc. ? 😢

[@idk-p3v]

I hope you answer can do the same with vega 64 strix verson

[@sacsophone]

Scusa ma più o meno sarebbe comparabile ad una 3060 o 2060? In ogni caso la ritieni migliore da una 1660 super?

[@ImWateringPSUs]

Dopo la bios mod e l’overclock/undervolt riesce a raggiungere una 3060, rimane tuttavia priva di ray tracing etc etc. Sicuramente come rapporto qualità prezzo è superiore!

[@remlanzon5535]

hi i just got vega 56 airboost for only 71.72$, hows the performance is it good??

[@WXSTANG]

I have been rocking mine since it was released and made all the same mods. I have never seen a reason to upgrade it.

[@Drako1t-l3d]

I have amd Radeon Rx vega56 is that the same mine is 500 dollars and runs Fortnite epic graphics and 4k runs 200 fps

[@dhariuslimpuasan7400]

Bro, I just picked up this MSI Vega 56, and it seems to have Black Screen issue, do you happen to have any tips for it?

[@ImWateringPSUs]

If the card boots and sometimes black screens, a different bios can help. If it doesn’t boot at all heh, it’s difficult to fix my man😅

[@dhariuslimpuasan7400]

@@ImWateringPSUs Bro are you using windows 11? I'm in 10 right now, does it make any difference if I upgraded to 11? Also what driver and driver version are you using right now.

[@hotrod6919]

Ive been beating the living fuck outta my Vega 64 and R5 3600. Day in day, out Pushing high settings on 1440p since Jan. 2018. Card is a MSI Boost OC.. Basically Just a branded reference card So the first few years was tike living with a leaf blower! With that shitty fan always screaming at %100. Until I Got the nzxt AIO mounted. Didn't feel like drilling holes or looking for screws So i just grabbed a lil thermo paste and some zip ties. Lol they worked great for 3-4 years now.

[@abelesteve9881]

I bought mine vega 64 for 100aud that is like 60 euros just trying to find which cpu will work well in a budget happy with 1440p if someone has any tip thanks

[@danielbernhard1250]

Ryzen5 1600 or Something Like a 8600k should bei plenty of Power. My sister rund an ryzen 5 1400 Quad Code 16gb RAM and an rx580. She quiet Happy with this Setup

[@abelesteve9881]

@@danielbernhard1250 i have a 1600af and is not powerfull enough cpu will 100% lagging in 1440p i got finally 5600x and was perfect even for som 4k

[@CosmekPC]

hey i have a vega 56 air soft msi and a 5600x do you think i should do this? do i need to unisstall something?

[@ImWateringPSUs]

I would definitely recommend doing this, yes! No need to uninstall anything :))

[@jasonphillips6400]

I have same card. It should have dual bios. You can flash the 64 bios on one and have the regular 56 bios on the other. I have had that card draw upwards of 300 watts of power and it is really finicky. When the 5600XT came out I compared the vega 56 to it and ran benchmarks. Always got ~10-15% better performance on the 56 over the 5600XT(with the 56 bios on the vega). However over the last year and a half, that has drastically changed. I am talking a 20-30% swing. Haven't really delved into it much, although I have used modded AMD drivers from NimeZ for SAM and other features but really no difference. I am running a 5600X processor and I have since it was released. I jumped about 10-15 fps in Heaven and in the games I play like WoW, COD, The assassin's creed franchise, on both cards, upgrading to the 5600X from the 3600. And that drastically changed sometime in early 2023 I believe because on Heaven alone, I would average about 100-105 fps total in the full benchmark with the 5600XT and anywhere from 110-115 with the vega in 1080p. Now, its the opposite. 95-105 fps on vega, 110-115 with 5600XT. nothing changed in my PC but the updated drivers. I firmly believe AMD has purposefully left out the vegas in driver optimizations because its coming up on EOL. And is exactly why last summer I switched to team green and will never buy another AMD video card. Their decision to scuttle Polaris and Vega architecture support is mind boggling. I have never owned anything but AMD Video cards until they pulled this crap. Shame on them.

[@CosmekPC]

@@jasonphillips6400 so what are the down sides?

[@tacconiluca94]

Tra questa e una 3060 oc 12 gb a 200€ cosa consigleresti? Utilizzo per giocare in fullhd e fare editing video

[@ImWateringPSUs]

Come rapporto qualità prezzo vince la Vega nettamente! Ma ovviamente la 3060 è molto più semplice come upgrade dato che basta collegarla, installare i driver e giocare :)

[@xbytu]

hello m8 , do you know how to change lights on this card?

[@ImWateringPSUs]

Yes!!! This is actually an underrated question with a very tricky answer. You need to get the 2016-2018 version of Aura from Asus. It’s the old lighting control software. It’s a bit tricky to find online, but once you get it you’ll have full control. Took me a while too lol

[@valeriotantalo8492]

Is it worth the upgrade from an undervolted 1070?

[@ImWateringPSUs]

Honestly, 100% yes! Considering that you can also sell your 1070 it’s really a no brainer

[@ryLisa2022-k4y]

Can i do this with my vega 56 airboost?

[@OSAKOBEATZ]

What cpu were you using ???

[@ImWateringPSUs]

I tested with a R7 5800X3D but I also a build video with it paired to a 10th gen i7

[@FilippoCarrux]

Grandissimo come sempre! Si riesce a tenerla a bada con un 650w bronze?

[@ImWateringPSUs]

Troppo gentile :) Con un buon 650W bronze, se la CPU non è un i9/Ryzen 9 decisamente si!

[@ImWateringPSUs]

Troppo gentile :) Con un buon 650W bronze, se la CPU non è un i9/Ryzen 9 decisamente si!

[@FilippoCarrux]

@@ImWateringPSUs ti ringrazio! Se trovo una buona offerta su quella scheda la valuterò per qualche flip!

[@osamamuftah9076]

Very nice video thank you very much, it would be very helpful if you showed us what's the Temps are :(

[@ImWateringPSUs]

I show that and a lot of benchmarks in the full build video!

[@Quan5021]

​@@ImWateringPSUscould you link iy please

[@kristanapinan6088]

can you use a vega 56 with a 500w psu?

[@ImWateringPSUs]

100% yes, if you check on the channel we actually used it with a PSU with just 380W effective power on the 12V line!

[@adonissruagic6200]

i cant get past the cmd unlocked rom part i dont get it

[@ImWateringPSUs]

Basically on some GPUs you do need to unlock the flash manually via CMD. Worst case you’ll need to actually perform the flash via CMD so you have higher privileges, but it’s truly simple, just copy the commands I use in the video and run everything as an admin and CD C:/yourpath to run the exe

[@adonissruagic6200]

i made it and did everything but i get artifacts on my screen when i game is there a solution ?@@ImWateringPSUs

[@Cillo000]

che bello vedere un'italiano che fa' video del genere

[@randomdude62568]

I just found a vega 56 for like 40 bucks locally it has some problems with the drivers I think it should be an easy fix thanks for the informative video!

[@ImWateringPSUs]

Man that’s a REALLY good buy! Pretty much the exact same deal I got :))

[@Bezzerkus]

Do you think a vega 64 would be worth for 60$?

[@sadscarecrow]

but what is the best used gpu under 100$ with max 1x8pin power?

[@ImWateringPSUs]

Tricky question😂 But if you take a look at the PC build from this Friday, in which we used this RX Vega 56, you’ll see that the PSU had a single 8Pin! So I’d still say Vega 56 :)

[@SuperMau8]

Ciao complimenti per il video! Se capisco bene riesci a fare girare la Vega 56 con un solo connettore 8PIN? Chiaramente dopo che hai fatto UV giusto? Grazie mille!

[@LeventYakin]

Wow... He really flashed it twice haha

[@israellewis5484]

lol. better safe than sorry. cmd is always better for flashing

[@cds5067]

Just save for a 1080 ti they're 110USD.

[@therealjones-o6x]

The newest AMD driver versions are shit tho in use with this card.

[@therealjones-o6x]

Can you elucidate please

[@yesboss7569]

After your video a new driver from MF amd and nvidia will rollout drops more performance of these gpus and gave the proof that theyve sold their family to destroy gamers

[@baumstamp5989]

ppl pay hundreds of dollars more for nvidia cards that run slower or just as fast.

[@ImWateringPSUs]

Ahahahah we can’t generalize but yes, that’s definitely the case this time :)

[@AshtonCoolman]

Save up a little bit and get an RX 6600 that'll crush every Vega😂

[@sohaibahmadpoor3215]

Hi. I want your Card which you did repaste and flashed bios. Im in UK I also pay for shiping. Please dont disappoint me ☹️🥲

[@ImWateringPSUs]

Hi, thanks a lot for reaching out but unfortunately I sold it already😅

[@sohaibahmadpoor3215]

@@ImWateringPSUs thats a shame. What other good gpus you have which you cleaned and repasted? My pc is not working im on igpu and price of new gpus are skyrocketting and I am only able to afford used

[@agustinhvolpe3903]

Can you post link on the bios you used for the firmware?