AMD launches a puzzling new graphics card that definitely won’t appeal to gamers – the dual-slot W7900DS looks like the old W7900 and offers very similar performance, but at a big discount
AMD unveiled a number of new products at Computex 2024, including an intriguing new graphics card, the Radeon PRO W7900DS. This is a Dual Slot (that’s the DS in the name) workstation product optimized for high-performance platforms that support multiple GPUs, and for Gen AI workflows.
AMD says its new card delivers up to 52% better performance than an Nvidia RTX 6000 Ada in a comparable system, and 38% better performance per dollar in Llama 3 70B Q4 in the same system.
Specifications for the new PRO W7900DS card include 96 compute units, 192 AI accelerators, 48 GB of GDDR6 ECC memory and 295 watts of total board power (TBP). It has a dual-slot form factor with DisplayPort 2.1, which offers 12K resolution at 60 Hz.
Cheaper prices
AMD says of the new W7900DS card: “To enable developers to perform AI development locally, it is ideal for ultra-powerful AI workstations while keeping sensitive data internal.”
The new PRO W7900 Dual Slot card is expected to be available from June 19, 2024. The price is set at $3,499 and offers a decent savings over the Nvidia RTX Ada 5000, which typically sells for $4,000, and the Ada 6000, the system that is AMD. targeting with its comparisons, which is much more expensive at $6800. It’s no coincidence that AMD has tried to pitch its new product at almost half the price.
AMD unveiled the original PRO W7900 in April 2023. That card, the first to handle 50 million pixels on a single port, also has 96 compute units and 48 GB of GDDR6 ECC memory. At launch the card cost $3999, so the new card offers a decent savings even if you don’t get a huge performance boost from the DS model.