Benchmarks of the M295X

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NTMBK

NTMBK

Lifer
Nov 14, 2011
10,452
5,839
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imac5k_xplc.png


More at http://www.barefeats.com/imac5k3.html

Seems like a good step up from GK104- apparently it's a fully enabled Tonga die at 850Mhz: http://semiaccurate.com/forums/showpost.php?p=223903&postcount=41

Any similar comparisons to mobile GM204? Be nice to see how the two measure up.
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
I think Apple made the right choice here for a couple reasons:

- 1792-2048 GCN 1.2 would be very good at OpenCL without costing too much
- Because they change AMD and NV, it forces each of these firms to try that much harder to win contracts for the next round instead of assuming they will automatically get the win due to previous design wins
- 970M/980M would have been far more expensive and when faced with a choice of 5K, keeping prices low was probably a big priority as a big selling point for Apple
- GM204 is facing major supply issues which could have been too risky for Apple, while AMD is likely specifically making M295X for Apple as no such product is for sale for any other OEM -> Apple then got the premium supply chain treatment
 
el etro

el etro

Golden Member
Jul 21, 2013
1,584
14
81
It seems to tie an GTX880m analyzing the benchmarks, but with a bunch more features. A great chose made by apple.

I think Tonga anticipate many features(minus better perf/watt and perf/mm²) that we will see on the next GCN iteration.

Remembering i think about Tonga as a pavement to true GCN2.0.
 
R

raghu78

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2012
4,093
1,476
136
RussianSensation said:
I think Apple made the right choice here for a couple reasons:

- 1792-2048 GCN 1.2 would be very good at OpenCL without costing too much
- Because they change AMD and NV, it forces each of these firms to try that much harder to win contracts for the next round instead of assuming they will automatically get the win due to previous design wins
- 970M/980M would have been far more expensive and when faced with a choice of 5K, keeping prices low was probably a big priority as a big selling point for Apple
- GM204 is facing major supply issues which could have been too risky for Apple, while AMD is likely specifically making M295X for Apple as no such product is for sale for any other OEM -> Apple then got the premium supply chain treatment
Click to expand...

yeah price and supply on M295X must have been perfect for Apple. Obviously GTX 980M would be much better in perf but the price and supply would not suit Apple as they are pricing the Retina iMac very aggressively.
IPS 4k 30 inch monitors are around USD 2k so definitely with a 27 inch IPS 5k monitor Apple is providing a phenomenal perf / price at USD 2499+.

https://www.apple.com/imac-with-retina/specs/
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-PQ321Q-31.../dp/B00DJ4BIKA
 
E

Eric1987

Senior member
Mar 22, 2012
748
22
76
I wouldn't even come close to say phenomenal performance. Try to run any games at 5k and come back and say that. My PC is MUCH faster.
 
X

XavierMace

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2013
4,307
450
126
Eric1987 said:
I wouldn't even come close to say phenomenal performance. Try to run any games at 5k and come back and say that. My PC is MUCH faster.
Click to expand...

How much did you pay for your 5k monitor?

You aren't paying $2500 for a high end gaming PC, you're paying $2500 for a 5K monitor with a computer built into it.
 
NTMBK

NTMBK

Lifer
Nov 14, 2011
10,452
5,839
136
Eric1987 said:
I wouldn't even come close to say phenomenal performance. Try to run any games at 5k and come back and say that. My PC is MUCH faster.
Click to expand...

The only equivalent monitor, a 5K display from Dell, is expected to cost $2500 just by itself: http://www.anandtech.com/show/8496/dell-previews-27inch-5k-ultrasharp-monitor-5120x2880

Apple is basically throwing in a free computer with quad core Haswell and a high end GPU. That's value.

As for running games at 5K- well, that's pretty clearly going to bog down horribly. No single GPU can even run 4K acceptably, never mind a mobile GPU. That's why the benches are run at 1440p, which scales perfectly on the 2880p display...
 
Black Octagon

Black Octagon

Golden Member
Dec 10, 2012
1,410
2
81
It only runs at 30Hz at 5k anyway, so even if you did have a GPU that could pull 60+fps it would give limited benefit.

I would never buy this but I am happy to see new things hit the market
 
R

raghu78

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2012
4,093
1,476
136
Flapdrol1337 said:
Lol, not having reasonably priced 5K monitors on the market doesn't make this good value.
Click to expand...

why ? When others are selling IPS 4k monitors at USD 2k and IPS 5k monitors at USD 2.5k how is the iMac with Retina not a good value ?

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/dell-monitor-display-5k-ultrasharp,27613.html

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-PQ321Q-31.../dp/B00DJ4BIKA

Anyway reputed sites are pleasantly surprised with the pricing of apple retina imac

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2470667,00.asp

"Apple's beautifully designed 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display will surely dazzle anyone who works in 4K video or high-resolution photography. The unmatched display paired with solid high-end performance at a surprisingly affordable price makes it our Editors' Choice for high-end all-in-one desktops"
 
NTMBK

NTMBK

Lifer
Nov 14, 2011
10,452
5,839
136
Can I just remind everyone that this thread was meant to be about the M295X, not about the iMac? :)

I just find it interesting that it seems much more efficient than the 285. My guess is that all of the good dies are going to Apple, and the 285 is just a way of selling off dies that don't make the grade.
 
R

raghu78

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2012
4,093
1,476
136
NTMBK said:
Can I just remind everyone that this thread was meant to be about the M295X, not about the iMac? :)

I just find it interesting that it seems much more efficient than the 285. My guess is that all of the good dies are going to Apple, and the 285 is just a way of selling off dies that don't make the grade.
Click to expand...

Passmark puts the R9 M295x at 4977, GTX 970M at 4688 (6% slower) and the GTX 980M at 5980 (20% faster)

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/video_lookup.php?gpu=RADEON+R9+M295X&id=2985

Performance should be on par or slightly ahead of GTX 970M in games.
 
ShintaiDK

ShintaiDK

Lifer
Apr 22, 2012
20,378
146
106
Performance wise its hard to tell, since mobile get so few reviews, even less for cross compare. Plus there is no desktop version of either.

But I would guess on something like this. Add 20% to the 285 and its in the ballpark after my estimates.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1333?vs=1355

I dont think the volume and product was ready in time for Apple to use GM204. Assuming they would choose it in the first place with all the other metrics combined.
 
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Paul98

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2010
3,732
199
106
So then does that make the 285 simply a chip that didn't make the cut?

Would explain why it wasn't anything special, and why there was no 285x
 
E

Enigmoid

Platinum Member
Sep 27, 2012
2,907
31
91
ShintaiDK said:
Performance wise its hard to tell, since mobile get so few reviews, even less for cross compare. Plus there is no desktop version of either.

But I would guess on something like this. Add 20% to the 285 and its in the ballpark after my estimates.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1333?vs=1355

I dont think the volume and product was ready in time for Apple to use GM204. Assuming they would choose it in the first place with all the other metrics combined.
Click to expand...

I would guess a little less. Its got 14% more shaders but they run at 850 mhz vs 918. It should be around 5-10% faster.
 
NTMBK

NTMBK

Lifer
Nov 14, 2011
10,452
5,839
136
Paul98 said:
So then does that make the 285 simply a chip that didn't make the cut?

Would explain why it wasn't anything special, and why there was no 285x
Click to expand...

Sounds like it, yeah. If it runs at a low voltage with all CUs enabled, it goes to Apple, otherwise it goes into a 285.
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
Enigmoid said:
I would guess a little less. Its got 14% more shaders but they run at 850 mhz vs 918. It should be around 5-10% faster.
Click to expand...

I bet the GDDR5 is also downclocked from 285 for power consumption reasons. I would guess M295X is at best as fast as a stock 285, nowhere near 20% faster.

Flapdrol1337 said:
Lol, not having reasonably priced 5K monitors on the market doesn't make this good value.
Click to expand...

For a non-PC gamer it's an amazing value:

1. Resale value on this model will be sky-high, barring some Radeon-gate issues. I bet in 4 years you can easily resell this $3000 iMac for 50% of its value. A $3000 PC rig in 4 years will be worth $1000.

2. It'll probably be a while until we see a 5K IPS 27-30" PC screen below $1700. For someone who works with photography of 4K video editing, the 5K screen is a good value.

3. You haven't allocated any premium associated with its design or compactness considering it's packing an i7 4790K in its high-end configuration.

I would prefer PCIe-based flash storage and a 6-core CPU for $3000 but I think those will become standard in 2 years with Skylake/Cannonlake.

Hopefully the improvements AMD has made with Tonga and R295X are magnified on the 390X if it's to use 20nm and HBM. Looking forward to 2015.
 
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Silverforce11

Lifer
Feb 19, 2009
10,457
10
76
This is one of the few Apple products that excites me and isn't a major rip off.

In fact, for the money, nothing comes close in quality and form factor. o_O
 
D

ddarko

Senior member
Jun 18, 2006
264
3
81
RussianSensation said:
I bet the GDDR5 is also downclocked from 285 for power consumption reasons. I would guess M295X is at best as fast as a stock 285, nowhere near 20% faster.
Click to expand...

Memory is 1362 MHz - from the arstechnics review machine:

gpu-z-imac.png


I would prefer PCIe-based flash storage and a 6-core CPU for $3000 but I think those will become standard in 2 years with Skylake/Cannonlake.

Hopefully the improvements AMD has made with Tonga and R295X are magnified on the 390X if it's to use 20nm and HBM. Looking forward to 2015.
Click to expand...

The flash in the iMac and MacBook Pro is PCIe, has been since last year (iMac moved to PCIe last year). X2 channels in iMac, x4 lanes in MacBook Pro.
 
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