AMD Radeon PRO W7900 : Specifications, Architecture, Working, Differences & Its Applications

Flagship professional graphics cards are the most powerful, top-tier GPUs manufactured by AMD or NVIDIA. It is designed to use in professional workstations to handle demanding tasks like high-end 3D rendering and complex scientific simulations with outstanding precision and speed. These graphics cards have huge amounts of dedicated memory, neural rendering, and cutting-edge AI capabilities. Thus, its key characteristics mainly include: massive memory, peak performance, enterprise reliability, application certification, and many more. This article elaborates on one of the professional flagship graphics cards manufactured by AMD, like AMD Radeon PRO W7900, working and its applications.

What is AMD Radeon PRO W7900?

The AMD Radeon PRO W7900 is a flagship professional graphics card built on AMD’s RDNA 3 architecture through the 5 nm process. This architecture features GDDR6 memory – 48GB, a chiplet design that supports DisplayPort 2.1. It is designed to be used in different fields like 3D rendering, CAD, AI model training, and video editing by providing high compute performance for simulation and demanding visualization workloads. This graphics processor is based on the Navi 31 graphics processor, which supports DirectX 12 Ultimate. Therefore, the Navi 31 graphics processor is a big chip with 529 mm² & 57,700 million transistors die area.

This card features texture mapping units – 384, 192 ROPs, and shading units – 6144. In addition, it can also have tensor cores – 192 and raytracing acceleration cores – 96, which help in improving the speed of ML applications. AMD has connected the Radeon PRO W7900 with 48 GB of GDDR6 memory using a 384-bit memory interface. Thus, this GPU is operating at 1855 MHz frequency, which can be enhanced up to 2495 MHz.

The AMD Radeon PRO W7900 has a triple-slot card that draws power from two 8-pin power connectors, with a power draw rated at a maximum 295 W. This graphics card includes display outputs like 1x mini-DisplayPort 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 2.1. Thus, this GPU is connected to the rest of the system with a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 interface.

Specifications

The specifications of AMD Radeon PRO W7900 include the following.

• Family is Radeon PRO
• Series is Radeon PRO W7000 Series
• Form Factor – Workstations
• GPU Architecture is AMD RDNA™ 3
• Lithography – TSMC 5nm GCD 6nm MCD
• Ray Accelerators – 96
• AI Accelerators – 192
• Stream Processors – 6144
• Compute Units – 96
• Peak single precision or FP32 vector performance – 61.3 TFLOPs
• Peak half precision or FP16 vector Performance – 123 TFLOPs
• Peak half precision or FP16 matrix performance is 123 TFLOPs
• Peak 8-bit precision or INT8 matrix performance is 123 TOPs
• Peak 4-bit precision or INT4 matrix performance is 245 TOPs
• Transistor count is 57.7 billion
• Operating system Support – Windows 10 – 64-Bit Edition, Windows 11 – 64-Bit Edition, and Linux x86 64-Bit
• It features two 8-pin external power connectors.
• Total board power or TBP is 295W.
• Minimum PSU recommendation: 750W.
• Dedicated memory size is 48 GB
• Dedicated memory type is GDDR6
• AMD Infinity Cache Technology is 96 MB
• Memory interface is 384-bit
• Peak memory bandwidth is 864 GB/s.
• DisplayPort™ is DisplayPort™ 2.1 – 3 and Enhanced Mini DisplayPort™ 2.1 – 1.
• Display configurations are; 4096 x 2160 (4K DCI) @ 120Hz with DSC – 4, 6144 x 3456 (6K) 12-bit HDR @ 60Hz Uncompressed – m2x, 7680 x 4320 (8K) 12-bit HDR @ 60Hz Uncompressed, 12288 x 6912 (12K) @ 120Hz with DSC – 1.

How does AMD Radeon PRO W7900 Work?

The AMD Radeon PRO W7900 GPU works by using a chiplet-based RDNA 3 architecture with features a GCD (Graphics Compute Die) and MCDs (multiple Memory Cache Dies) for high efficiency and performance. In addition, it works with its dedicated AI acceleration, powerful processing units, and second-generation raytracing to manage complex professional applications. The large GDDR6 ECC VRAM – 48GB allows it to process complex projects and large datasets while features support to manage demanding display and video tasks like DisplayPort 2.1 and hardware-based AV1 encode/decode. This is a professional workstation card that changes software commands into visual outputs & computations.

AMD Radeon PRO W7900 Architecture

The AMD Radeon PRO W7900 graphics card can be built with the RDNA 3 architecture. It provides significantly more raytracing performance for each compute unit as compared to the earlier RDNA 2 architecture. It features a high-performance chiplet design that merges 6nm and 5nm dies for better power efficiency. In addition, this architecture features second-generation raytracing hardware, new GDDR6 VRAM – 48GB with ECC support, and dedicated AI accelerators for improved performance within professional video editing and 3D rendering applications. It supports modern technologies like AV1 encode/decode and DisplayPort 2.1.

Architecture Components

The AMD Radeon PRO W7900 architecture can be built with different components like GPU architecture, stream processors, ray accelerators, compute units, memory, infinity cache, and display & media engine. Thus, each component of this architecture and its functionality are discussed below.

RDNA 3 Architecture

This GPU micro-architecture is the foundation of this graphics card, which delivers power efficiency gains and performance over the earlier generation. Thus, this architecture can introduce a set of significant upgrades over the earlier RDNA 2 generation. It uses the high-end Navi 31 GPU, which is specifically built for demanding professional video editing, AI training, and 3D rendering applications.

Stream Processors

The AMD Radeon PRO W7900 graphics card features stream processors – 6144, which are grouped into 96 CUs, bigger processing blocks. These are used for different tasks like complex simulations, AI, and rendering workloads. The main function of each stream processor in this architecture is to perform calculations on multiple data sets for the graphics card simultaneously.

Ray Accelerators

Ray accelerators are particular hardware components in the architecture that accelerate ray tracing calculations. Thus, these are used to produce photorealistic lighting, shadows, and reflections. They offload the computationally severe portions of the process in place of handling ray tracing throughout general-purpose shader units. So they are designed to speed up the traversal of a tree-based data structure like BVHs (Bounding Volume Hierarchies) used to arrange the objects within a 3D scene.

Compute Units

The AMD Radeon PRO W7900 graphics card includes the primary processing units, like 96 CUs (compute units). These CUs can also contain 6144 stream processors in this architecture for general processing with dedicated Ray Accelerators and AI accelerators for ray tracing.

Memory

The AMD Radeon PRO W7900 GPU features GDDR6 memory – 48GB with a 384-bit memory interface and 864 GB/s bandwidth. This large amount of memory in this architecture is used for demanding tasks like complex simulations, training AI models, and creating large designs.

Infinity Cache

The AMD Radeon PRO W7900 graphics card features AMD Infinity Cache – 96 MB. It is a high-speed, large, and on-package L3 cache that boosts performance by decreasing latency and increasing memory bandwidth. Thus, this technology works in combination with the GDDR6 memory of the GPU to deliver faster data entrée for demanding professional workloads like rendering and complex design. This cache works as a buffer between the processing cores of GPUs & their main VRAM (video memory).

AMD Radiance Display Engine

This is the display controller in the Radeon PRO W7900 that supports high-refresh-rate and high-resolution displays. It features DisplayPort 2, used for higher bandwidth, and the capacity to display above 68 billion colors & 12-bit HDR. This display controller delivers stunning visuals with better color clarity and accuracy for professional workloads by supporting high refresh rates at 8K and 4K resolutions.

DisplayPort 2.1

This is a next-generation connectivity standard in the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 that provides up to 80 Gbps higher bandwidth, significantly compared to DisplayPort 1.4. It enables professional users to run high-refresh-rate displays and several high-resolution displays simultaneously without any compression. So this technology supports higher features like higher resolutions like 12K and uncompressed 8K at $60$Hz, which makes it perfect for professional workflows like high-end content creation, scientific visualization, and design.

AV1 Encode/Decode

This GPU has dedicated hardware for encoding & decoding the AV1 video codec. It is a next-generation video compression format that provides higher quality at a lower file size. This hardware processes compressing & decompressing video with the very efficient and royalty-free AV1 codec. Thus, this hardware acceleration can offload the demanding tasks from the CPU by allowing the GPU to manage them. It results in more efficient and faster video processing for different tasks like high-resolution video streaming, editing, and real-time video conferencing applications.

PCIe 4.0 x16 Interface

The PCIe 4.0 x16 interface on the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 is the physical and electrical connection that links the graphics card to the motherboard, providing high-speed data transfer. It uses a PCIe 4.0 standard, which offers a significant increase in bandwidth compared to PCIe 3.0, and the x16 designation means the connection has 16 lanes for data, allowing for maximum performance for professional workstation tasks like 3D rendering and AI. The GPU card can be connected to the system through the PCI-Express 4.0 interface, offering higher bandwidth for data transfer.

AMD Radeon PRO W7900 Software

The AMD Radeon PRO W7900 primary software is AMD PRO Edition Software with certified drivers & professional-grade features for stability & performance. Thus, this software can be downloaded from the official AMD website for both Linux and Windows operating systems. In addition, it can also use AMD Radeon ProRender and AMD Remote Workstation.

The Core components of this software mainly include drivers, AMD Remote Workstation, and AMD Radeon ProRender. The software is thoroughly tested & certified for use in professional environments by ensuring reliable performance for significant tasks. Drivers of this software can be optimized for 3D rendering, CAD, video editing, and many other professional software applications to ensure smooth performance. The Modern UI interface is designed to be intuitive, which helps users manage their settings and workstations very efficiently.

AMD Radeon Pro W7900 Vs AMD Radeon Pro W7800

The difference between AMD Radeon Pro W7900 and AMD Radeon Pro W7800 includes the following.

Advantages

The advantages of AMD Radeon PRO W7900 include the following.

• Its chiplet-based architecture provides high performance and enhanced power efficiency.
• It provides a generational leap in performance for video editing, multitasking, and rendering.
• This GPU provides powerful performance in typical 3D tasks.
• This graphics card features specialized AI accelerators that deliver higher performance than RDNA 2 architecture.
• It offers major improvements in hardware-accelerated ray-tracing performance as compared to the earlier generation.
• This GPU is set with DisplayPort 2.1 to provide far more bandwidth as compared to the DisplayPort 1.4 utilized on competing Nvidia RTX 6000 Ada cards.
• The AMD radiance display engine supports further displays with up to 68 billion colors and up to 12K ultra-high resolutions for outstanding visual fidelity.
• It provides an outstanding price-to-performance ratio
• It specializes in stability & performance for professional applications
• Multi-GPU configurations are more feasible in workstations with limited space due to the latest dual-slot variants of the W7900.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of AMD Radeon PRO W7900 include the following.

• It delivers lower performance as compared to NVIDIA’s top-tier competitor in particular areas, historically less-developed software & ecosystem support mainly for professional applications.
• Driver-related crashes & irregular stability problems can occur.
• It delivers weaker ray tracing performance compared to its NVIDIA competitor.
• Less developed driver and software compatibility for some rendering and AI applications.
• It provides low rendering performance.
• Performance can change significantly based on the application.

Applications

The applications of AMD Radeon PRO W7900 include the following.

• This GPU is used in 3D design and modeling to manage large, high-polygon models, realistic assets, and complex scenes without compromising performance.
• It processes demanding animation & rendering workflows efficiently in 3ds Max applications.
• It is used in video production and editing to enjoy smooth, high-resolution footage playback & quick rendering with support for professional DaVinci Resolve & Premiere Pro video editing software.
• It is perfect for CAD for engineers, designers, and architects who work on large datasets within professional design software.
• This GPU provides the required performance for challenging game development workflows.
• Its huge 48GB of VRAM makes it appropriate for training large AI models.
• It navigates and manipulates very large & complex visualization datasets easily.

Conclusion:

Thus, this is an overview of the AMD Radeon PRO W7900, its working principles, and its applications. This is a high-value, professional-grade GPU that competes effectively against higher-priced offerings from NVIDIA, particularly in AI, video editing, and other workloads. This GPU has huge ECC VRAM – 48 GB and RDNA 3 architecture that provides outstanding generational performance improvements & strong performance. But, it lags behind top-tier cards of NVIDIA in specific rendering and ray-tracing tasks because of differences in software optimization. Here is a question for you: What is AMD Radeon Pro W7800?