Hello
Since monday I've been working on Macstudio (M1 Max with 24 GPU cores) at work. I use DaVinci Resolve
I run Geekbench and get a Metal Score of 60000
I was wondering if the score would scale up with the number of GPU cores ?
Do you know Metal Scores for GPUs with 32/48/64 cores ?
My RX6800 XT has a Metal Score of 180000. 3x more
A side from that what is the Future of Apple Mx GPU compared to the increassing raw compute power of AMD /NVIDIA GPUs.
I can't imagine how they gonna close the gap
Today the trick from Apple is to add hardware neural engine and video encoder/decoder to run Davinci quicker, but I'm not sure it's a good path.
One last thing
Apple GPU performance per watt seem equivalent to NVIDIA's :
Understanding the Hardware Capabilities of Apple's flagship SOC
tlkh.dev
With ARM chips, Apple seems to make tiny and silent computers with low power consumption (Laptop usage) but how they gonna replace the Mac Pro ??
Any Ideas ??
Thanks
By
my estimations, the 32 core GPU in the M1 Max performance is very close to the RX 6600 XT that I had in my hackintosh.
On my hackintosh, I decided to go with the RX 6600 XT due to the extremely inflated GPU prices (at the time) and found that it was more than sufficient for my needs. This ultimately led me to think that the 32 core GPU in the M1 Max would be a good choice for me and I have had no regrets.
Of course, I don't utilize or push the GPU the way video editors or 3D artists would. My perspective is from that of a non-professional view. During the last GPU shortage, I concluded that, often, "enough is enough". The 32 core GPU in the M1 Max allows me to run just about all the emulation games that I play in 4K and that is more than enough to keep me happy. Any additional performance capabilities would be wasted in my hands. Enough is enough for me.
With the passage of time, the capabilities of Apple Silicon will only improve. If you look at M1 vs M2, you can see that it has gone from 7-8 GPU cores to 8-10 GPU cores. I expect this trend to continue as we get newer generations of Apple Silicon SoCs. By the time I outgrow the M1 Max, Apple will probably have M2 Max or M3 Max available and I'll most probably have the upgrade itch by then...
The use of codec encoders/decoders works and it's used by everyone. Look at the IGPUs in Skylake vs Kaby Lake. The inclusion of HEVC encoders/decoders were a huge deal. Besides the inclusion of HEVC support, Kaby Lake saw little to no other real improvements over Skylake but it turned HEVC videos from being slideshows in to smooth, fluid experiences.
The Neural Engines and Media Engines in the Apple Silicon have proven themselves to be a cut above the competitions'. They've even made the old Afterburners that Apple sold with the MacPro7,1 obsolete. We should be looking forward to more improvements from the Neural and Media Engines. As long as the software makers make use of these co-processors, the performance and experience will only continue to improve.
Nowadays, Macs are disposable boxes. Don't worry about upgrades because there won't be any and you won't be able to do any. Shop for what will help you get your job done for the next few years and then upgrade. By the time you do upgrade, the boxes will have far more capabilities and perform much better than what you got a few years ago.
For many, this is a concept that many have a hard time accepting. A lot of people are more accustomed to the concept and ability to upgrade their systems piecemeal. But is that a better alternative? I think it's debatable. Hypothetically, if you have an existing Skylake build, you can upgrade the GPU to an AMD 7000 series or Nvidia 4000 series card, but there would be bottlenecks everywhere hampering the performance of those cards. So then what? Time to upgrade the motherboard and CPU too. If you want to maximize on the capabilities of the new motherboard and CPU, you'd need the new DDR5... Don't forget that if you choose an Nvidia 4000 series video card, you will probably need a gigantic new power supply. By the time, you've "upgraded" enough to modern specs, you've completely swapped out everything except perhaps the case. And you've increased the power consumption of your system significantly. Is this better than just buying a next gen Mac Studio? Btw, what's the resale value of those old PC components vs your first gen Mac Studio?