Do you want to build a laptop? Very good idea ! Such an initiative will certainly help you to create a device that suits you and which will offer satisfactory end results. However, to achieve such a feat, you will need quality equipment that combines robustness and performance.
Apart from choosing a processor, a case or a motherboard, the interested party will also have to choose a high performance graphics card, especially if you want to carry out large-scale work or view content in high definition.
The choice of a graphic is not done at random. This, in addition to being compatible with the computer's operating system, must adapt to the needs of the user. We invite you to discover the AMD Radeon R7 graphics card . What is it really worth? Here is our full, unbiased review.
The AMD Radeon R7 graphics card in brief
The AMD Radeon 7 is a graphics card designed to stand up to the Nvidia card. The latter is the very first graphics card equipped with a GPU. The graphics card, released 18 months after the Radeon RX Vega 64, has something to seduce. AMD can pride itself on having developed a high-end graphics card, allowing gaming in WQHD (1440p) at high bandwidth.
Engraved at 7nm, it is known for its shiny and energy-intensive appearance. Even though it offers very good performance, the Radeon R7 will not be able to compete with Nvidia's GeForce RTX 2070 in all aspects. For the design of its Radeon R7 7 graphics card, AMD declares that it has revised the architecture. The improvements made on the Vega GPU generation will help keep the frequency at a very high level. Let's see the main features of this graphics card in more detail.
AMD Radeon 7: price and availability
Because it is equipped with a GPY, AMD has revised the price of its Radeon 7 upwards compared to its predecessor Radeon Vega 64. More precisely, it starts at the price of €679. However, the price of this card is close to that of its competitor the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 which starts at €699. On the other hand, the brand has announced that the product will be in limited stock. But until now, you will still find this product in most online stores like Amazon. According to the latest reports that we have seen, The Radeon 7 graphics card has been available to everyone since its release.
AMD Radeon 7 Features
For those who still don't know, among the first graphics cards designed with 7nm architecture, Radeon occupies first position. Its 7nm solution allowed AMD to produce a GPU card whose performance increased by up to 25% compared to the previous year's model without requiring more power. With this GPU, the user will be offered more video memory unlike the previous model with a VRAM of 16 GB HBM2.
For now, the only graphics card known to offer more video memory is the Nvidia Titan RTX for a price of $2499. This amount of video memory is more than sufficient for video games, since HD video games generally only need 8 GB of memory. People who use creative software like Adobe Lightroom or Sony Vegas will appreciate the features of this software.
Radeon VII integrates 3840 Core Next GCN graphics cores into its armor. The card also has a power supply clock, setting at 1800 MHz, including 300 MHz higher than the Vega 64. There are no cores for ray tracing on this Radeon 7. Despite this, the graphics card is able to handle ray tracing production much better than Nvidia's RTX 20 series cards.
However, we deplore the fact that this card only has a PCIe 3.0 connector. 3rd RYen cards can support a PCIe 4.0 connector, which will double the throughput of connected devices.
Performance
Performance-wise, if we had to choose between the Radeon 7 and the Nvidia RTX 2080, we would lean towards the first graphics card. His performance is impressive. It beats the Nvidia RTX 2080 graphics card by far, but only in certain aspects. However, the Radeon 7 disappointed quite a few people in Direct X 12 gaming modes.
We very much hope that AMD will improve its product by performing driver updates in the future to optimize DirectX12 performance. This will further reassure game developers. Although several improvements are still made on the Radeon 7, the graphics card constitutes a significant generational leap, compared to the Vega 64.
We noted during our various tests that this product offered acceptable scores with games that oscillated between 5 and 15 frames per second, which was not the case with the Nvidia GTX 1080 or GTX 2080 card. We were also delighted to know that a 16 GB VRAM made it possible to navigate ultra-modern games with 4K resolution by requesting a Battlefield V as well as quality performance with up to 14 VRAM.
Readon 7: what is it worth for games?
In our test on the operating frequency of this test sample we were satisfied. In fact, we ran the Radeon VII graphics card for 30 minutes in a closed case with a game at 4K resolution, the frequency varying between 1611 MHz and 1785 MHz. This data is more important than the Vega 64 with its frequency of 1380 MHz, observed under the same conditions. We also note that the average frequency can be high on a certain number of games.
When it comes to gaming, the Radeo 7 graphics card has been touted as one of the main competitors to the GeForce RTX 2080; an argument which explains the high price of this graphics card. Although we find the Radeon 7 graphics card to be more neck and neck with the GeForce RTX 2070, it poses as a better compromise for gaming. The card promises a start of 50fps in several game titles, but its speed may fall below in other titles.
The good news is that you can lower the definition of your graphics card. By doing so, it will offer more than 60fps in almost all games. Which puts the card 30% above Vega 64 and 10% above the entry-level RTX 2070.
Furthermore, we also note the fact that the graphics card will feel comfortable on Full HD resolution regardless of the graphics settings you have made.
Editorial opinion
Through testing on the AMW Radeon 7, we were satisfied, but not 100%. AMD, we will not deny it, is the very first manufacturer to have designed a GPU graphics card. Its chip engraved in 7n makes it an exceptional graphics card which will delight many fans of the brand. However, this characteristic will not allow the brand to rise to the top against Nvidia, even if AMD declares having unleashed all the horsepower on the Vega architecture.
On the other hand, regarding performance, we were most satisfied. Overall, they are decent, allowing you to play in WQHD without having to make concessions on graphics options. The Radeon 7 offers a leap forward from the previous model, but its performance is not enough to take the lead compared to the GeForce RTX 2080.
However, overall, the graphics card is designed with high quality materials. Its metal finishes are flawless. It integrates 14 power supply phases which are distributed all around the chip which brings together GPUs and 4 HBM2 memory modules.
In addition, there are 2 PCI power supply cables which will be useful to make everything work. As for connectivity, there are 3 DisplayPort 1.4 inputs and one HDMI 2.0b input. In terms of software, AMD's latest graphics cards have seen a clear evolution compared to previous models. Thanks to the Overlay system, you will be able to control the work of the graphics card. Furthermore, there are game options that will allow you to capture as you wish.
Ultimately, the Radeon VII isn't the graphics card that put AMD back on top, but it was certainly the start of its rise and powerful enough to put Nvidia on notice. Although it doesn't feature any new RT or AI cores, this graphics card packs a ton of video memory, which is good for playing even the most modern games.
