Apple is upgrading the Mac Pro with AMD’s new workstation graphics cards in the high-end segment. The previous Radeon Pro Vega II and Radeon Pro Vega II Duo based on the GCN 5 will be replaced with the Radeon Pro W6800X, Radeon Pro W6900X and Radeon Pro W6800X Duo with the RDNA 2. Up to four GPUs provide 60.4 TFLOPS (FP32).
The Mac Pro in the new Tower format, which has been available since late 2019, can now be ordered with new graphics cards from AMD from 7nm production to RDNA 2nd generation. Apple is now drawing a line under the brand new GCN-5 graphics card Radeon Pro Vega II and Radeon Pro Vega II Duo. With the Radeon Pro 580X as the base model, the range still has an older GCN-4 graphics card with a Polaris GPU. In addition, the Radeon Pro W5500X and Radeon Pro W5700X will continue to be available with RDNA.
Radeon Pro W6800X with 60 CU for 3,220 Euros
Entering the GPU upper class of the Mac Pro is now the new Radeon Pro W6800X in the form of the so-called MPX module (Mac Pro Expansion Module) for 3,220 euros. The graphics card offers 16 TFLOPS FP32 performance with 60 compute units, 3,840 stream processors, 32GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit interface, 128MB infinity cache and 300W TGP.
Radeon Pro W6800X Duo with two RDNA-2 GPUs
The Radeon Pro W6800X Duo ranks above this with two GPUs on a single board, which are connected to each other via Infinity Fabric Link with 84 Gbit/s per direction and thus up to five times faster than PCI Express. Huh. At the MPX module of 5,750 euros, AMD combines a total of 120 compute units, 7,680 stream processors, 64 GB of GDDR6 (32 GB 256 bits each) and 256 MB infinity cache and thus 30.2 TFLOPS FP32 performance with a TGP of 400 watts. provides. .
Radeon Pro W6900X has 80 CUs
The top model is the Radeon Pro W6900X for 6,900 euros. The most powerful single GPU model offers FP32 performance of 22.2 TFLOPS with 80 compute units, 5,120 stream processors, 32GB GDDR6 (256bit), 128MB infinity cache and 300W TGP.
Maximum performance with four GPUs
Two MPX modules can be installed in the Mac Pro, so that maximum performance requires a combination of two Radeon Pro W6800X Duo for 11,500 euros. This amalgamation of four GPUs delivers 60.4 TFLOPS FP32 performance. For comparison: one Radeon Pro Vega II previously achieved 14.2 TFLOPS, one Radeon Pro Vega II Duo 28.4 TFLOPS and two Radeon Pro Vega II Duo achieved 56.8 TFLOPS – not much less than now with the Radeon 2.
Thunderbolt 3 and HDMI 2.0 as outputs
In parallel with the announcement of the new graphics card, Apple has an updated Mac Pro technology overview for August 2021 (PDF), in which, among other things, the new MPX module is again explained in detail and the assignment of PCIe lanes as well as Thunderbolt 3 and HDMI outputs is explained in several graphics.
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Graphics performance in OTOY Octane X and Maxon Cinema 4D (Image: Apple)
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PCIe x4 to Thunderbolt. is controlled separately through
For the Radeon Pro W6800X and Radeon Pro W6900X, their GPUs are connected via PCIe 3.0 x16, two leads to the DisplayPort Main Logic Board (MLB), the other offering an Infinity Fabric link for the MPX module, Four Titan Ridge controllers for Thunderbolt 3 and one HDMI controller for HDMI 2.0 via two separate PCIe 3.0 x4 connectors. The Radeon Pro W6800X Duo connects the board’s two GPUs via an Infinity Fabric link and also provides it for a second MPX module. Both GPUs are connected to the MLB’s PCIe 3.0 x16 slot via a PCIe switch with two PCIe 3.0 x16 units. The Radeon Pro W6800X Duo doesn’t have DisplayPort for MLB, but it also offers two Titan Ridge controllers connected separately via PCIe 3.0 x4 for up to four Thunderbolt 3 in addition to HDMI 2.0.
For new purchase and as a kit
Apple sells new MPX modules for new configurations of the Mac Pro as well as as a standalone kit for existing systems to bring them back with greater graphics performance. Apple has taken the Radeon Pro Vega II and Radeon Pro Vega II Duo’s MPX modules out of its range for new configurations, but still offers them as a standalone kit to upgrade or as a spare part. Has been doing.
New Intel CPUs to follow
The upgrade in the CPU area has not happened till date. The Mac Pro Intel is said to be about to switch from Cascade Lake to Ice Lake-W. The number of physical cores or available threads will increase from 28/56 to 38/72. In addition, the platform itself will bring a higher IPC and increase the DDR4 RAM limit from 1.5 TB to 4 TB. CPU to be upgraded, according to Apple insider Mark Gurman later in the year respectively. The company will probably be the last to switch to Apple silicon for the Mac Pro. Apple already said when it announced its own processors that new Intel Macs would continue to arrive until the end of 2022 for conversion.
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