Here I’m comparing relative increases in performance for both CPU and GPU on the same graph: If you’re a GPU company (or a Senior GPU Editor), this next chart should make you very happy. Another way of putting it is that Apple values GPU performance more today than it did back in 2006, so even the cheapest GPU is a much higher performing part than it would be. Here you see convergence, at a high level, between the slowest and fastest GPU options in the Mac Pro. Ryan recommended presenting the data with a log scale as well to more accurately depict the gains over time: Even if you always bought the fastest GPU possible you'd be looking at a 6x increase in performance, and that's not taking into account the move to multiple GPUs this last round (if you assume 50% multi-GPU scaling then even the high end path would net you 9x better GPU performance over 7 years). At the low end, Mac Pro GPU performance improved by 20x over the past 7 years. We eliminated the mid range configuration for this comparison and only looked at scaling with the cheapest and most expensive GPU options each generation. Since the Mac Pro GPU offerings were limited to 2 - 3 cards per generation, it was pretty easy to put together comparisons. I turned to Ryan Smith, our Senior GPU Editor, for his help in roughly characterizing Mac Pro GPU options over the years. For the first time in Mac Pro history, the new system ships with two GPUs in all configurations. While the CPU moved to a single socket configuration this year, the Mac Pro’s GPU went the opposite direction. It wasn’t that long ago where you’d need multiple sockets to achieve the same thing. Moore’s Law and the process cadence it characterizes leave us in a place where Intel can effectively ship a single die with 12 big x86 cores. What’s particularly unique about this year’s Mac Pro is that all configurations are accomplished with a single socket.
It was also during that time period that we saw an expansion of the number of total core counts from 4 up to the current mix of 4, 6, 8 and 12 core configurations. What started with four CPU options grew to six for the early 2009 - mid 2010 models. The Mac Pro’s CPU options have ballooned at times during its 7 year history. Plotting the Mac Pro’s GPU Performance Over Time
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