RX Vega 56 Power Consumption: How Much Power Does The RX Vega 56 Use?
RX Vega 56 is an older high-end card that was made in 2017. It is now becoming an older card but is still able to produce a good amount of performance, equivalent to that of Nvdias GTX 1070.
The RX Vega 56 has a TGP or Total Graphics Power of 210 Watts, which is the typical wattage it produces. When gaming you should also hit around 229 Watts. However, when idle the GPU should only produce around 14 Watts of power. (Source.)
The wattage that this card uses can change depending on how powerful your gaming setup is, as well as the types of games and tasks you are doing.
For example, if you just use your computer to watch videos and scroll on the internet it will use less power than playing a very graphically intensive game.
When using your computer for media playback you should experience a power draw of around 19 watts.
Whereas gaming you should experience on average around 229 watts.
Another thing to keep in mind is multi-monitor usage.
If you use more than one monitor expect your graphics card to have a higher idle power consumption.
Typically, with an extra monitor the idle power consumption should increase to more than double that of a single monitor.
In this instance, the Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics card will produce around 16 Watts of power when idle in a dual monitor setup.
This is pretty good, as the idle power draw of the RX Vega 56 with a single monitor is only 14 watts. That is only a 2-watt increase.
When looking at a GPU’s power consumption, you want to look at the TGP (Total Graphics Power) because this shows the maximum power draw you will usually get when using your GPU for intensive tasks such as gaming.
You might also hear the phrase “TDP” which can be used interchangeably with TGP. The difference is essential in that TDP is the total power consumption of a component, and TGP is the total power consumption of a GPU specifically.
You should also know that the TGP of a GPU is not actually the maximum amount of power a GPU can draw.
The true maximum of the RX Vega 56 is 237 watts. However, your GPU will only spike this high for a few seconds and then come back down. Another thing that increases your graphics card power consumption is when you overclock it.
What Power Supply Do I Need to Use For an RX Vega 56?
I would recommend a 650-watt power supply unit for the RX Vega 56.
When purchasing a power supply for your computer you want to keep in mind that every piece of hardware in your system has a power consumption.
Although not as powerful as a graphics card, all of these little components add up and can exceed the wattage of your PSU very quickly.
That’s why you want to be safe and grab a PSU that has around a 20% increase in extra wattage than you planned for your system.
By doing this you will not only know for sure that your PSU will be able to support powering your whole system but it will also be safe from any power spikes that happen when you are gaming.
If you also want to save on your electricity bill, then you should purchase a power supply that is at least 80 plus Bronze certified, with the best rating being 80 plus Gold certified.
You should read: “How Do Power Supply Ratings Work?”
That’s why I would recommend the EVGA SuperNOVA 650 GT, 80 Plus Gold 650W,
The reason why I would recommend this power supply is that not only is it 80 Plus Gold certified, but it is made by EVGA which is a very trusted and well-known brand when it comes to making reliable PSUs
The first ever power supply I ever bought was made by EVGA and it was very reliable.
Not only that, but you get a 5-year warranty with this PSU so you don’t have to worry about it breaking down on you.
Having a PSU that is 650 watts gives you room to overclock and upgrade any components in the future without the need to upgrade to a new power supply.
Because this power supply is made by EVGA it is very reliable and will last you a long time.
This PSU model specifically, is also fully modular, which means it will create extra space since you only use the cables you need for your computer.
RX Vega 56 Power Consumption Compared to Other GPUs
The GPUs power consumption is compared using TGP. It is essential to know and compare your graphics cards to other similar models because it will help you get a grasp on the amount of power your system is going to use.
Here is a comparison of a few graphics cards that are around the performance range of the RX Vega 56.
| GPU | TGP |
| GTX 1070 | 150 Watts |
| RX Vega 56 | 210 Watts |
| RX 5500 XT | 130 Watts |
As you can see from this table, the RX Vega 56 is a very power-hungry card for its performance class.
The GPUs used in this comparison are around the same performance level as the RX Vega 56 but produce less than 200 watts for their respective TGPs.
On the other hand, the Radeon RX Vega 56 has a TGP that exceeds 200 watts, which is a fairly high power draw for a GPU of this caliber.
When we look at these cards we can see that the RX Vega 56 is the outlier in this situation, and you might think it’s because it is an older card, but the GTX 1070 was made a year before the RX Vega 56, and has a better power consumption by far.
Now when we compare the RX Vega 56 to the RX 5500 XT that’s a different conversation even though the performance is similar the RX 5500 XT is still a better GPU, and at the same time has a better power draw as well.
This is probably due to the newer technology in the RX 5500 XT (Even though it’s still a fairly old card).
But even still there is an 80-watt difference between these two cards.
If you want to compare more graphics cards on their power consumption and TGP I have provided a database where you can look at dozens of different GPUs and their power consumption, that way you don’t have to do the research yourself.
Check out the Database.
I have also provided the average power consumption when gaming, as well as the average power consumption when idle, that way you can get a better understanding.
