The AMD FirePro W5100 is the new midrange workhorse CAD card which boasts 4GB of on board memory, a huge amount for most CAD workflows. The W4100 can support up to four 4K displays and features four outputs (mini DisplayPort rather than DisplayPort, presumably so they can all fit onto the low profile card). AMD has yet to announce which workstation manufacturers will be taking it up, but it should be an interesting proposition for this sector, which has historically been very limited in its entry-level GPU options. Like the FirePro W2100, the W4100 is also a low profile card so it will fit into a small form factor workstation chassis, such as the Dell Precision T1700 or HP Z230. It has two DisplayPort 1.2 outputs.ĪMD calls the 2GB FirePro W4100 a new class of professional GPU – ‘a mid-range CAD card with an entry-level price’ (£112). The low profile card has 2GB of onboard memory and support for 4K displays. With a claimed performance improvement of up to 67% over the FirePro V3900, plus certifications for all the major 3D CAD tools, AMD is presenting it as an entry-level option for users of Inventor, SolidWorks, NX, Creo, Catia and others.

The entry-level AMD FirePro W2100, a replacement for the ageing FirePro V3900, is being touted to large engineering firms who want to kit out 100s or 1,000s of engineers with professional grade GPUs.ĪMD is pitching the card as a cost effective alternative to integrated Intel graphics and at £100 is certainly aggressive on pricing.

It also adds in a good level of future proofing. While it’s hard to imagine any CAD-centric graphics workflows using anywhere near this amount of GPU memory, 8GB does offer serious potential for GPU compute in simulation and ray trace rendering apps. Then, in the so-called mid-range, the FirePro W7100 takes things up to a whopping 8GB. Even the entry-level FirePro W2100 comes with 2GB, which should allow CAD users to load up all but the biggest models into GPU memory.

The big story is that these cards are brimming with on-board memory double that of the previous generation. The entry-level FirePro W2100 and W4100, plus the mid-range FirePro W5100 and W7100 join the ultra high-end FirePro W9100 and high-end FirePro W8100 that was also launched earlier this year. It has been close to six months since AMD released the FirePro W9100, but the graphics giant has now completed its next generation professional GPU family with the introduction of four new cards.

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