iMac Pro with Pro Vega 56 GPU
versus optional Pro Vega 64
January 4th, 2018, by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist
So should you buy the iMac Pro with the Pro Vega 56 GPU? Or pay $600 for the optional Pro Vega 64 GPU?
GRAPH LEGEND
Pro Vega 64 - AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 (16GB) GPU inside the 2017 iMac Pro 3.2GHz 8-Core Xeon W-2140B CPU, 32GB of 2666MHz DDR4 ECC SDRAM
Pro Vega 56 - AMD Radeon Pro Vega56 (8GB) GPU inside the 2017 iMac Pro 3.2GHz 8-Core Xeon W-2140B CPU, 32GB of 2666MHz DDR4 ECC SDRAM
Compressor - Transcode
FCPX sends the BruceX project to Compressor to transcode into Apple 4K. (LOWER Time in Seconds = FASTER)
Final Cut Pro X - Export
The BruceX project is exported to ProRes 4444 XQ Master. (LOWER Time in Seconds = FASTER)
Cinebench OpenGL
It uses a playback of an animated car chase to measure OpenGL performance. (HIGHER Frames per Second = FASTER)
Geekbench 4 OpenCL Compute
Measures the compute performance of your GPU from image processing to computer vision to number crunching using OpenCL. (HIGHER Score = FASTER)
Geekbench 4 Metal Compute
Measures the compute performance of your GPU from image processing to computer vision to number crunching using Metal. (HIGHER Score = FASTER)
WHAT DID WE LEARN?
Though the encounter with the iMac Pro with Pro Vega 56 was brief, we wanted you to see these results for a flavor of the difference in performance. Based on these tests, when you pay 10% more (or $600) for the optional Pro Vega 64 GPU, you will see up to 32% better performance.
And there is a bonus: you get twice the VRAM (8G vs 16G). We measured the VRAM use by FCPX and Compressor. Both gobbled up all 16GB of the Pro Vega 64's VRAM when executing our test cases.
When we have a chance to test other apps including games on the Pro Vega 56, we will certainly post those results.
Opting for the Pro Vega 64 appears to be a good investment to future proof your purchase. Remember, you can't upgrade the GPU after the fact. It is soldered to the main logic board. (See the teardown of the iMac Pro on iFixit.)
Comments? Suggestions? Feel free to email me,
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