If it does, you may feel sick or, worse still, be sick.Īt DEVELOP3D we usually like to test GPUs in a workstation with a 4.0GHz+ CPU. Crucially, your GPU must not drop below that magic number. In contrast, for a good VR experience on the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, you need 90 FPS or more. Some users even find 10-15 FPS to be acceptable, although dropping below this can make it hard to accurately position models on screen. To run 3D CAD on a 2D display, your GPU needs to be capable of rendering 30 Frames Per Second (FPS) or more. In theory, this could increase performance significantly, though support and the level of additional performance will depend on applications. Importantly, two Radeon Pro WX7100 GPUs can be used in tandem using AMD CrossFire Pro technology. In terms of spec, the card features 8GB of GDDR5 memory, which should be plenty for mainstream VR workflows, and four DisplayPort 1.4 ports. Smaller transistors mean less power is needed for the signal to move between them. This huge leap in performance/watt is down to a new power efficient 14nm manufacturing process developed for AMD’s ‘Polaris’ fourth gen Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture. This is almost double that of its predecessor, the AMD FirePro W7100 (3.3 TFLOPs) and even greater than the AMD FirePro W9100 (5.24 TFLOPS), AMD’s previous generation flagship professional GPU which draws 275W at peak. Peak single precision performance is a whopping 5.7 TFLOPs. The Radeon Pro WX7100 is rated at less than 130W and only needs one auxiliary 6-pin power connector, which comes straight from the workstation’s Power Supply Unit (PSU). Single slot also means lower power consumption. Rated at less than 130W, the Radeon Pro WX7100 only needs one auxiliary 6-pin power connector OIT improves performance when displaying transparent objects in a number of CAD tools including PTC Creo and SolidWorks. This is not just for performance and stability but to get access to specialist features such as SolidWorks RealView and Order Independent Transparency. However, there are many specialist CAD VR applications in development, and AMD has said that it is working with multiple developers, citing Autodesk Stingray as one example.ĪMD also emphasises that the Radeon Pro WX7100 is for content creation as well as VR consumption, and therefore users need a certified GPU that is also able to run CAD. One would question whether AMD would ever certify the Radeon Pro WX7100 for VR ‘game engines’ such as Unreal and Unity. While certification for CAD is long established, certification for VR is not. Starting with driver optimisations, the AMD Radeon Pro WX7100 will then go through this process. Certification – and the assurance that GPUs will perform quickly and reliably when using professional 3D applications – is particularly important for enterprises. Like AMD FirePro before it, AMD Radeon Pro WX will be optimised, tested and certified for all the major CAD applications. 10 years is certainly re-assuring, but with VR and graphics developing at such a pace, cards like the WX7100 are likely to become obsolete long before they give up the ghost. For one, AMD is keen to point out the superior build quality of this new GPU, including more robust heat sinks and a PCB with thicker ‘gold fingers’ for a better (and more durable) connection to the PCI slot.Īlso, in a professional graphics first, AMD backs this up with a 10-year warranty (standard three-year and extended 7-year upon registration). However, there are also some subtle differences. It benefits from years of FirePro driver development and includes optimisations for a massive range of CAD (and other 3D) tools. To all intents and purposes, Radeon Pro WX is just an evolution of AMD FirePro. The red and black FirePro W Series is now being replaced with the blue Radeon Pro WX Series – the idea being that AMD will benefit from the strong brand recognition that Radeon has in the consumer games sector. Regular readers of DEVELOP3D will be familiar with AMD FirePro, but this summer AMD decided to call time on its long standing professional graphics brand. With the AMD Radeon Pro WX7100 it is now possible to get a VR capable professional CAD workstation for just over $2,000, and that even includes the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive VR head mounted display (HMD). At $799 (£649), the AMD Radeon Pro WX7100 (8GB) is around a third of the price of Nvidia’s cheapest workstation GPUs for VR, the Quadro M5000 (8GB) and the brand new Quadro P5000 (16GB). This month AMD shipped the first ever workstation ‘VR Ready’ GPU for under $1,000. Forking out $2,000 for a workstation-class ‘VR Ready’ GPU is hard to swallow when you are used to paying a fraction of that for one capable of accelerating 3D CAD.īut costs are already starting to come down.
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