bsbeamer

tht said:

Request: Can AI evaluate what workflows are driven by GPU memory? Virtually all these 3rd party cards are 8 GB to 16 GB, while Apple is shipping 32 GB GPU upgrades for the MP, with a 16 GB W5700X coming soon. It seems your basic YouTube videographer and gamers don’t really make use of 16 GB let alone 32 GB. Same deal with main memory, where most YouTubers and gamers don’t need much more than 32 to 64 GB.

That is, what is the performance uplift for these workflows that need 32 GB GPU memory versus just having 16 GB or 8 GB?

Given the compute units in W5500 vs RX 5700 XT, it seems like a no-brainer to go with one of those models for better GPU performance at basically the same price.  The W5700X is niche to MP7,1 and will not benefit eGPU users (except for driver improvements).  

Rarely do people max out their VRAM on Mac unless you're dealing with renders, but even those are usually RAM cached vs. VRAM based.  Overall leaves more headroom, but agree very few applications will be able to utilize outside of 3D like C4D.  Autodesk at least used to be a leader in GPU driven rendering, but 3DS is no longer macOS compatible at all.  

Is it that hard to just release a Core i9 desktop with 128GB+ RAM options?  Update the Mini, offer a new MiniPro model, or something.  Could care less about these designs right now.  It's almost pathetic the MBP16,1 can outperform many of the current "desktop" options.  

It's $130, adds USB-C and lets users bring drives from their old machines into the MP7,1 with ease.  Hardware RAID at 1000MB/s is more than fast enough for many media tasks, larger capacities with two 4TB SSDs (8TB total), and also run a LOT cooler (aka quiet) without the need for heatsinks.  Could be a dream for audio engineers and recording setups with MP7,1.  All macOS compatible multiple blade NVMe solutions start at $400 without the blades and most commercially available blades top at 2TB max right now.

An early 2020 update to the MacMini with Core i9 and 128GB+ RAM options would sell REALLY well... 

This product basically requires their SoftRAID software and it's only an x8 card!  Get the HighPoint 7101 or Sonnet M.2 4x4.  Both are x16 and more customizable without relying on SoftRAID.  SoftRAID Version 6 has been delayed for months and still does not work correctly in Mojave, let alone Catalina...