AMD has introduced a revamped version of its Radeon Pro W7900 workstation GPU, now available in a more compact two-slot design, labeled as the Radeon Pro W7900 Dual Slot. Initially released in a three-slot configuration, AMD’s updated model retains the full power of its previous design in a more accessible form factor.
The Radeon Pro W7900 Dual Slot features an impressive array of specs, including 96 compute units totaling 6,144 stream processors that can achieve a boost of up to 2.5 GHz, and 192 AI accelerators are also included on-board. The GPU boasts a hefty 48 GB of 384-bit GDDR6 ECC memory with a bandwidth of 864 GB/s, catering to demanding workstation tasks with efficiency.
Graphically, the W7900 Dual Slot offers robust connectivity with four DisplayPort 2.1 outputs, including a mini-DisplayPort option, providing versatility for multi-display setups. Despite the reduction in size from its original three-slot variant, the power requirements remain unchanged at 295 W for total board power.
Performance-wise, the Radeon Pro W790Scope of Performance Lineup0 Dual Slot claims 61 peak single-precision FP32 teraflops, while AMD asserts that it offers approximately two times the performance-per-dollar in enterprise applications compared to Nvidia’s RTX 6000 Ada GPU. In particular, AMD emphasizes a 38% better performance-per-dollar in Llama3 70 billion Q4 LLM inference workloads relative to the RTX 6000 Ada. Notably, when comparing to Nvidia’s offering, AMD points out the notable cost-effectiveness of the Radeon Pro W7900 Dual Slot.
AMD has also announced a significant $500 reduction in the retail price of the Radeon Pro W7900 Dual Slot, with the new MSRP set at $3,499, which is expected to hit the market starting June 19. This price cut makes the card even more attractive to professionals seeking high-performing workstation graphics solutions.
In complement to the hardware advancements, AMD is updating its ROCm (Radeon Open Compute) software stack to version 6.1. This version includes support for Ubuntu 22.04.3 Jammy Jellyfish, both natively and through WSL 2 on Windows, broadening the usability across varying systems. Additionally, ROCm 6.1 introduces improved features like rocDecode, which enables better handling of decoded compressed video streams within the GPU’s VRAM, increasing the efficiency of processing workflows.
The ROCm software is not only compatible with the Radeon Pro lineup, including the W6800, W7800, and the W7900, but it also extends support to consumer-grade RX 7900 series GPUs and the Radeon VII (now deprecated).
The new Radeon Pro W7900 Dual Slot positions itself as a compelling choice for professionals in need of a high-performance graphics solution that’s both cost-efficient and space-conscious. With this GPU, AMD is aiming to deliver enhanced capability and value to creators, data scientists, and others who rely heavily on graphical and AI computational power in their everyday work.
