AMD’s New Graphics Card: A Curious Addition with a Competitive Edge

Targeting Nvidia’s RTX Ada 6000 with the Radeon PRO W7900DS

At Computex 2024, AMD unveiled a slew of new products, including a rather intriguing graphics card, the Radeon PRO W7900DS. This Dual Slot (DS) workstation product is designed for high-performance platforms that support multiple GPUs and Gen AI workflows.

Performance and Specifications

AMD claims that its new card delivers up to 52% better performance than a comparable Nvidia RTX 6000 Ada system, and 38% better performance-per-dollar in Llama 3 70B Q4 in the same system.

The PRO W7900DS card boasts impressive specs, including 96 compute units, 192 AI accelerators, 48GB GDDR6 ECC memory, and a total board power (TBP) of 295 watts. It features a two-slot form factor and DisplayPort 2.1, which supports 12K resolution at 60Hz.

Pricing and Availability

The new PRO W7900DS card is set to be available from June 19, 2024, with a price tag of $3,499. This offers significant savings compared to the Nvidia RTX Ada 5000, which typically retails for $4000, and the Ada 6000, which is priced at a hefty $6800. AMD’s strategic pricing of its new product at almost half the price of its competitor is no coincidence.

A Look Back at the Original PRO W7900

AMD first unveiled the original PRO W7900 back in April 2023. This card, the first to handle 50 million pixels on one port, also features 96 compute units and 48GB of GDDR6 ECC memory. It was initially priced at $3999, so the new DS model offers a decent saving, even if the performance boost isn’t substantial.

In conclusion, AMD’s new Radeon PRO W7900DS is a curious addition to its lineup, offering similar performance to its predecessor but at a significantly reduced price. AMD is positioning this card as a competitive alternative to Nvidia’s offerings, particularly for those focused on AI development and high-performance workstations.