Can anyone recommend me an AMD graphics card to replace my Vega 56 on Debian Stable?

Software & Operating Systems Linux
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So I’ve had a Vega 56 for quite awhile now, and it does work well with Debian 10 thanks to amdgpu. Only problem is it’s stupidly loud (blower) and it’s starting to show it’s age with artifacting and slower framerates. I fired up Crusader Kings III and the Vega 56 sounds like a jet engine, though it does hit 144fps.

Like everyone I’m excited for the new lineup from AMD (e.g. the RX 6800) but I’m assuming it’s going to be awhile before Debian catches up in terms of amdgpu and mesa. That said, Debian 11 is looking like it will ship with kernel 5.10 LTS so it might just happen.

I don’t need anything too overkill since I’m running at 1080p 144hz. But a bit of future-proofing would be nice. I’ve got a Ryzen 2700 as the CPU currently.

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If you want the same performance but on newer architecture, then you cannot go wrong with the RX 5700XT. but buying a new GPU right now is not ideal due to scalpers and price inflation.

If you want to future proof (which you have to be careful of doing this) I would say that you could get away with a RX 6000 (non-XT) and be able to upgrade to 1440P later on. If you plan on going 2160P in the future, then you might as well get a 6800XT or 6900XT, but again wait, as scalpers have increased price. New batches should come out in Q1 2021.

**Edit
I run Debian Unstable. If you need some packages, you should be able to run Debian Testing with no issues, but the backports repo should take care of most of your needs.

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I forgot about the scalpers. I think I might as well wait for Debian 11 since by then we’ll have a newer kernel and (hopefully) no scalpers.

Not looking to massively future-proof. I’ve only just upgraded to 1080p.

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Yeah, so 5XXXXT should be more than enough for you.

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Have you entertained changing out the cooler, as a holdover? [if noise is the main problem; maybe thermal paste/pads have taken their toll]

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I’ll go with goldenangel and suggest you change the thermal compound at least

see if you can improve acoustics and thermals on your case instead of doing some horizontal upgrades

aren’t there aftermarket coolers for the vega 56?

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I would’ve liked to say Arctic Coolings Accelero Extreme series, but they haven’t updated compatibility information, for quite a while [still only validated up to R9 Gen3 boards]… It worked wonders, against an R9 390Xs [garbage] reference blower.

I’d be more inclined, to bring up Raijinteks U N I T of a HS* [*2x120mm fans needed]
https://www.raijintek.com/en/products_detail.php?ProductID=94

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I might give the aftermarket cooler a try to bridge the gap between now and my next GPU.

Honestly though, looking at the specs of the RX 5700XT in comparison to the Vega 56 I’m tempted to just wait until Debian is able to run on the RX 6800. The RX 5700XT doesn’t seem like that much of a leap given the current price tags (though that’s mainly due to scalpers I’m guessing).

That said the noise of the Vega 56 isn’t my biggest issue with it, it’s just that it simply can’t reach 144hz in my experience with it on various Linux distributions (including Arch with mesa-git). Though it’s Linux support is fantastic.

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