AMD backs the ‘open’ OpenCL standard, which suffers from slow, committee driven, development, and it has taken a while for software developers to come on board. The problem – at least in the product development arena – continues to be a lack of application support. We’ll share more details on this in the coming weeks. This is not only when using a product like SolidWorks, which puts relatively low graphics demands on the GPU, but even in Lumiscaphe P3D, a high-end design viz application which really taxes the GPU. Set a complex ray trace render going in V-RAY RT, which uses 100% of the GPU’s resources, and your 3D CAD model will still respond instantly when you try to move it about on screen. However, the good news is that it now works – and we’ve verified that it does so very well.
This is in contrast to Nvidia’s multi GPU approach where one GPU is dedicated for graphics and another (or others) are used for compute.ĪMD took a little while to properly implement this into its drivers and the tests we did back in Sept 2012 showed it still had work to do.
The entry-level AMD FirePro W2100, a replacement for the ageing FirePro V3900, is being touted to large engineering firms who want to kit out 100s or 1,000s of engineers with professional grade GPUs.ĪMD is pitching the card as a cost effective alternative to integrated Intel graphics and, with a claimed performance improvement of up to 67% over the FirePro V3900, plus certifications for all the major 3D CAD tools, sees it as an entry-level option for users of Inventor, SolidWorks, NX, Creo, Catia and others.Įver since AMD introduced its Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture it has been trying to get the message out there that AMD FirePro is not just for graphics anymore it also does compute – and can handle both at the same time on a single GPU. While it’s hard to imagine any CAD-centric graphics workflows using anywhere near this amount of GPU memory, 8GB does offer serious potential for GPU compute and also adds in a good level of future proofing. Then, in the so-called mid-range, the FirePro W7100 takes things up to a whopping 8GB.
The big story is that these cards are brimming with on-board memory double that of the previous generation.Įven the entry-level FirePro W2100 comes with 2GB, which should allow CAD users to load up all but the biggest models into GPU memory. Prices have not yet been announced but should be in the same ball park as AMD’s previous generation FirePro GPUs we are told. In terms of cards, the entry-level AMD FirePro W2100 and W4100, plus the mid-range AMD FirePro W5100 and W7100 join the high-end AMD FirePro W8100 and W9100 that were launched earlier this year.
The company also unveiled plans to push Mantle, its GCN-optimised graphics API, into the professional 3D space. Today at Siggraph, AMD unveiled four new cards to complete its next generation family of professional FirePro GPUs based on the Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture.