Radeon Pro W6000X: Mac Pro gets AMD RDNA 2 with four GPUs

Apple is upgrading the Mac Pro in the advanced segment with new workstation graphics cards from AMD. Radeon Pro W6800X, Radeon Pro W6900X and Radeon Pro W6800X Duo based on GCN 5 will replace the previous Radeon Pro Vega II and Radeon Pro Vega II Duo with RDNA 2. A maximum of four GPUs provide 60.4 TFLOPS (FP32).

The Mac Pro, in the form of a new tower, will be available from the end of 2019, and you can now order new graphics cards from AMD to RTNA 2 generation from 7Nm production. Apple is now drawing a line under the new GCN-5 graphics cards Radeon Pro Vega II and Radeon Pro Vega II Duo. Although the Radeon Pro 580X is the base model, the older GCN-4 graphics card is in the Polaris GPU range. Additionally, the Radeon Pro W5500X and Radeon Pro W5700X come with RDNA.

Radeon Pro W6800X with 60 CUs for 3,220 euros

Entering Mac Pro’s GPU Upper Class The new Radeon Pro W6800X is now known as the MPX module (Mac Pro expansion module) for 2 3,220. The graphics card offers 60 compute units, 3,840 stream processors, 32GB GTDR6 256 bit interface, 128MB infinity cache and 16 DFLOPS FP32 performance with 300 watts DGP.

Radeon Pro W6800X Duo with two RDNA-2 GPUs

The Radeon Pro W6800X Dio is connected five times faster via PCI Express with two GPUs on one board and 84 GB / s via Infiniti Fabric Link. For MP 5,750 in the MPX module, AMD combines a total of 120 compute units, 7,680 stream processors, 64 GB of GDDR6 (32 GB by 256 bits each) and 256 MB of Infinity cache. .

The Radeon Pro W6900X has 80 CUs

Best Model Radeon Pro W6900X for 6,900 euros. The most powerful single GPU model offers 80 compute units, 5,120 stream processors, 32 GB GDDR6 (256 bit), 128 MB Infinity cache and FP32 performance of 22.2 TFLOPS 300 watts DGP.

Maximum performance with four GPUs

Up to two MPX modules can be installed on the Mac Pro, so a combination of two Radeon Pro W6800X Duos is required for maximum performance of 11,500 euros. This integration of the four GPUs provides 60.4 TFLOPS FP32 performance. For comparison: a Radeon Pro Vega II previously had 14.2 TFLOPS, a Radeon Pro Vega II doubles 28.4 TFLOPS and two Radeon Pro Vega II Dio 56.8 TFLOPS – now no less with RDNA 2.

As Thunderbolt 3 and HDMI 2.0 releases

Parallel to the announcement of the new graphics cards, Apple has an updated Mac Pro technology overview for August 2021 (PDF), In which, among other things, the new MPX modules are again detailed and the functions of the PCIe paths and the Thunderbolt 3 and HDMI releases are explained in several graphics.

Thunderbolt is handled separately via PCIe x4

For the Radeon Pro W6800X and Radeon Pro W6900X, their GPUs are connected via PCIe 3.0 x16, two display ports leading to the main logic board (MLB), and an infinity Fabric Link to the second MPX module, each connected individually via PCIe 3.0 x4 An HDMI controller for ridge controllers and HDMI 2.0. The Radeon Pro W6800X Duo connects the two GPUs on the board via the Infinity Fabric link, which also delivers a second MPX module. Both GPUs are connected to MLB’s PCIe 3.0 x16 slot via a PCIe switch with two PCIe 3.0 x16 units. The Radeon Pro W6800X Duo does not have a display port for MLB, but in addition to HDMI 2.0 the four Thunderbolt 3 also offers two Titan Ridge controllers connected separately via PCIe 3.0 x4.

For new purchases and as a package

Apple is re-selling the new MPX modules for Mac Pro’s new configurations and as a separate kit for existing systems with higher graphics performance. Apple has taken the MPX modules of the Radeon Pro Vega II and Radeon Pro Vega II Dio from its range for new configurations, but offers them as a complete package for upgrading or as a spare part.

New Intel CPUs are to be followed

An upgrade to the CPU area has not yet taken place. The Mac Pro is said to be switching from Intel Cascade Lake to Ice Lake-W. The number of physics cores or available texts will increase from 28/56 to 38/72. In addition, the platform will bring more IPC and increase the DTR4 RAM range from 1.5dB to 4Tb. According to Apple insider Mark Kurman, the CPU is upgrading Later in the year Respectively. The company last switched to Apple Silicon for the Mac Pro. When Apple already announced its own processors, it said that the new Intel Mac would continue until the end of the transition by the end of 2022.