Way to swing the pendulum too far in the other direction.
2060 is worse than a 1080/Vega64 but only by a very small amount, and it is also priced significantly better, so it delivers better perf/$.
This is true, but read back through, this is in context of
$250 Vega56 @ Vega64 spec (common mod, card from reputed FS/FT member) vs $350+ GTX 2060. Given these choices, $250 for better performance + additional 2GB ram is a win. Of course, you are always met with balances to consider in these situations such as new vs used, warranties, etc. Fwiw, the guy with the Vega clearly has a deep understanding of properly undervolting for efficiency, which has the knock-on effect of drastically reducing power consumption and heat. It seems manufacturing variance led AMD to set the stock power too high on Vega, when almost all of them will operate better when it's cut back a bit.
Even if he had it set to bone stock Vega56 spec, at $250 it's still neck and neck with the $350+ 2060 as seen in the Techspot roundup. Most 2060 reviews fail to compile many cards or tests unfortunately, giving some incomplete outlook on the relative performance in reality. 'Close to 2070' is a somewhat misleading observation, as it speaks to how poorly the 2070 is priced, and when you compare against good 1080s instead of the OG 1080FE, the 2070 looks even more disappointing.
I would handily support a used 1080 @ $300 or less as well over the 2060, more so if it was a really good one like a Strix, Aorus, or FTW.
Absolutely insisting on new only, $350ish or less would limit things to 580 (meh), 590 (bad value), 1070 in some closeouts (mediocre, but passable), 2060 (as long as they're actually available at 350 or less, still dislike the 6GB limit and think it's too much money for a sub 8gb GPU) .. and then whatever the 16xx turns out to be. If good AIB '1660ti' comes out, perhaps with OC that gives it very close to 2060 performance for $250ish, then that would be the best 'new' value.
Agree that Vega64 at full retail ($499+) is not an ideal choice. Not that very many new full retail options ARE very good these days