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deconstruct60

macrumors G5
Mar 10, 2009
12,309
3,900
Ow.

It seems like a better option to wait for the 5700. The generic PC Cards won't drive the internal Thunderbolt ports.

It would just be a shame if Apple got the 5700 MPX module out just in time for AMD to drop a 5800.

It wouldn't be a shame ... .it would be consistent ( "dog ate my homework" event. )


We'll see. I suspect though that AMD will start the RDNA II rollout out up above the 5700 though ( to help give it a full 12 months in its price space. ). The successor to 5700 would be 6700 or 5702 ( where either a prefix or suffix update). "5800" is probably going to be in a higher space than entry mid-range price point.

But yeah their entry card is SNAFU. The affordable upper mid - low high, range pricing is beyond SNAFU.
 

goMac

Contributor
Apr 15, 2004
7,662
1,694
It wouldn't be a shame ... .it would be consistent ( "dog ate my homework" event. )


We'll see. I suspect though that AMD will start the RDNA II rollout out up above the 5700 though ( to help give it a full 12 months in its price space. ). The successor to 5700 would be 6700 or 5702 ( where either a prefix or suffix update). "5800" is probably going to be in a higher space than entry mid-range price point.

But yeah their entry card is SNAFU. The affordable upper mid - low high, range pricing is beyond SNAFU.

I'm happy they had the foresight to pre-announce the 5700 XT. I'm even happy that they're technically already announcing out-of-update GPU upgrades.

But they would have been better off actually letting people order with the 5700 XT, and then holding the orders. Not letting people order with a reasonable GPU that emphasizes graphics is a mistake.
 

H. Flower

macrumors 6502a
Jul 23, 2008
723
804
Stupid questions: If I were to go with the stock graphics card now, how would I get the 5700 XT later? Buy it off amazon, or through Apple? Don't i need it installed within the MPX module?
 

goMac

Contributor
Apr 15, 2004
7,662
1,694
Stupid questions: If I were to go with the stock graphics card now, how would I get the 5700 XT later? Buy it off amazon, or through Apple? Don't i need it installed within the MPX module?

You can buy a PC 5700 XT now. But it won't provide Thunderbolt video.

I haven't seen the kits listed in the store yet, but Apple's spec page does say that the GPUs will be available as standalone kits. So if you wanted an MPX module that provided Thunderbolt video, you could buy the kit from Apple as an MPX module. When it's available.
 
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H. Flower

macrumors 6502a
Jul 23, 2008
723
804
You can buy a PC 5700 XT now. But it won't provide Thunderbolt video.

I haven't seen the kits listed in the store yet, but Apple's spec page does say that the GPUs will be available as standalone kits. So if you wanted an MPX module that provided Thunderbolt video, you could buy the kit from Apple as an MPX module. When it's available.

Makes sense. Thanks!
 

chfilm

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Nov 15, 2012
3,307
1,988
Berlin
Guys - I am close to pull the trigger on the single Vega II, though I'm a bit shocked by the 2800 € price.
About the WX5700 - do you think maybe two of those will be cheaper and more effective than a single Vega II?? Should I wait? :/ How annoying that they announce those without timing and pricing..
 

skippermonkey

macrumors 6502a
Jun 23, 2003
621
1,531
Bath, UK
Guys - I am close to pull the trigger on the single Vega II, though I'm a bit shocked by the 2800 € price.
About the WX5700 - do you think maybe two of those will be cheaper and more effective than a single Vega II?? Should I wait? :/ How annoying that they announce those without timing and pricing..

Yeah, I'm wondering the same. The price for a single GPU upgrade is extortionate. I might shove in a 580X then wait for other, less expensive, options to become available.

Actually, because of the multiple PCIe slots, maybe it makes (financial) sense to just have the 580 driving the display and then slot in a powerful GPU for rendering or whatever. An off-the-shelf W5700 costs $799.
 
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H. Flower

macrumors 6502a
Jul 23, 2008
723
804
Im thinking same thing - 580x for now, but pulling trigger on afterburner :oops:

But thats over 10K for a computer with a crappy GPU ?

And as someone else pointed out, it's not confirmed if Adobe will take advantage of the afterburner.
 

goMac

Contributor
Apr 15, 2004
7,662
1,694
Guys - I am close to pull the trigger on the single Vega II, though I'm a bit shocked by the 2800 € price.
About the WX5700 - do you think maybe two of those will be cheaper and more effective than a single Vega II?? Should I wait? :/ How annoying that they announce those without timing and pricing..

The WX5700 has been really interesting so far. I've seen quite a few benchmarks where it is trading blows pretty evenly with the Radeon VII, despite the lower rating. Could be drivers, could be specific workflows. I dunno. It does seem like the Radeon VII pulls ahead on compute workflows.

Two WX5700s should outpace a single Vega 2. But we don't know if they share an Infinity Fabric link yet. And it would require software to support dual GPUs.

My guess as to how this will go: WX5700 is going to be the card of choice for graphics. Vega 2 is going to be the card of choice for compute.
 

PowerMike G5

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2005
555
241
New York, NY
Yeah, I'm torn on this as well. I currently have a Radeon VII already in my cMP. I'm thinking of buying the Pro Vega II, but I wonder if porting over the Radeon VII to the new machine and just getting the 580X makes sense now. Haven't thought about that.

I can't imagine the Radeon VII being too far off the power of the Pro Vega II. Hmmm.
 

Korican100

macrumors 65816
Oct 9, 2012
1,202
613
Im thinking same thing - 580x for now, but pulling trigger on afterburner :oops:

But thats over 10K for a computer with a crappy GPU ?

And as someone else pointed out, it's not confirmed if Adobe will take advantage of the afterburner.
how crappy is the 580x? i use dual d700 in the trashcan, if i go 580x, will i notice any slowdown in fcpx?
 

deconstruct60

macrumors G5
Mar 10, 2009
12,309
3,900
how crappy is the 580x? i use dual d700 in the trashcan, if i go 580x, will i notice any slowdown in fcpx?

Since FCPX can use dual GPUs in more than a few contexts then there could be some contexts where it is slower. ( many undo some chokepoints elsewhere with the new CPU and other infrastructure though).

On apps restricted to just one GPU then the 580X is generally better. But it isn't more than twice as better. If you mainly use a subset of FCPX that can't go dual GPU then it is better.

The 580X will probably run cooler too. Which if had lockup problems with the D700 on long sessions would be an relative issue comparison too.
 

PowerMike G5

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2005
555
241
New York, NY
Yeah, I'm torn on this as well. I currently have a Radeon VII already in my cMP. I'm thinking of buying the Pro Vega II, but I wonder if porting over the Radeon VII to the new machine and just getting the 580X makes sense now. Haven't thought about that.

I can't imagine the Radeon VII being too far off the power of the Pro Vega II. Hmmm.

Or even another thought... getting another Radeon VII for like $500-$600. Then putting those 2 GPUs into the machine for more power and almost $2K less than the single Radeon Pro Vega II. Double Hmmm.

I guess that's what's most exciting about having this tower... having all the PCIe slot options back!!
 
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deconstruct60

macrumors G5
Mar 10, 2009
12,309
3,900
....
Two WX5700s should outpace a single Vega 2. But we don't know if they share an Infinity Fabric link yet. And it would require software to support dual GPUs.

The plain one ( W5700 ) doesn't support it so why would the minor spec bump 'X' model W5700X ?
It is probably the same card with just more VRAM and maybe a minor clock bump.


My guess as to how this will go: WX5700 is going to be the card of choice for graphics. Vega 2 is going to be the card of choice for compute.

And Apple hoping that folks might want to do both. Vega II for compute and add in a W5700X to drive the monitors. ( some CAD workloads that may work out pretty well. Some batch job render running while look at result of previous batch job results. )
[automerge]1576006608[/automerge]
Or even another thought... getting another Radeon VII for like $500-$600. Then putting those 2 GPUs into the machine for more power and almost $2K less than the single Radeon Pro Vega II. Double Hmmm.

Which is probably a contributing reason to why AMD stop making Radeon VII several months ago.
(that and don't have enough 7nm wafers to do it and the rest of the high demand 7nm products anyway. )
[automerge]1576007211[/automerge]
Guys - I am close to pull the trigger on the single Vega II, though I'm a bit shocked by the 2800 € price.
About the WX5700 - do you think maybe two of those will be cheaper and more effective than a single Vega II?? Should I wait? :/ How annoying that they announce those without timing and pricing..

LOL. Apple announced timing.... their par for the course for 2017-2019 nebulous timing but

"
Coming soon:

  • Radeon Pro W5700X with 16GB of GDDR6 memory
  • Two Radeon Pro W5700X with 16GB of GDDR6 memory each "
So 'soon'. Which is probably before end of Fall 2020. :) [ actually probably before NAB 2020 too. ]

If if just a derivative board of the W5700 with 8GB of VRAM added then it probably shouldn't take more than 2-3 months at the longest. ( I'd say about 2-4 weeks after the W5700 start flowing regularly. )

However, for Adobe apps I don't think the "duo combo" is going to buy much in that time period at all.
 
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chfilm

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Nov 15, 2012
3,307
1,988
Berlin
I‘m gonna go with the Vega II and if I feel the need for more GPU and see that it‘s being taxed 100% all the time I might gonna throw in a second one in a few months when I have money again ;) For now, a single Vega II should be a plentiful upgrade over dual D700s.
 
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