AMD Radeon Pro 580X in 2019 Mac Pro Badly Lags the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 in the 2019 iMac 5K
Consult with Lloyd on the best Mac Pro configuration (or other Mac) for your own specific workflow needs, including CPU, GPU, memory, backup, RAID. etc. Also, the best camera system choice for your needs!
The base video card (GPU) in the 2019 Mac Pro is the AMD Radeon Pro 580X, a last-generation design. On paper it’s not very good and in practice it’s no better.
Shame on Apple for shipping a last-generation GPU 'dog' in a $9400 machine that can't even come close to the Vega 48 GPU in the 2019 iMac 5K.
In most GPU intensive tests, the the AMD Radeon Pro 580X in the 2019 Mac Pro badly lags the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 in the 2019 iMac 5K. Nor do I see GPU utilization over 75% with the 580X.
If you do stuff that uses the GPU, plan on upspending for the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II to the tune of +$2400, or wait until the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X debuts.
Personally, I’ll be getting the Vega II or maybe dual W5700X—I want the extra 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports on the video card as I already have only one full speed Thunderbolt 3 bus available (attaching a 5K display eats up a good chunk of bandwidth on the other bus).
In Lloyd’s MPG review of the 2019 Mac Pro:
Below, check out the GPU results in each graph.