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High-end graphics technology: Intel's dual GPU card boasting 48GB VRAM now available for $1200; pondering whether two can be connected to a workstation for enhanced performance.

Maxsun adopts a fresh strategy for dual graphics processing units

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Dual Intel graphics card equipped with 48GB VRAM available for $1200, raising the question: can two...
Dual Intel graphics card equipped with 48GB VRAM available for $1200, raising the question: can two of these be linked to a workstation?

High-end graphics technology: Intel's dual GPU card boasting 48GB VRAM now available for $1200; pondering whether two can be connected to a workstation for enhanced performance.

The Maxsun Arc Pro B60 Dual 48G Turbo graphics card is a new entrant in the market, offering significant advantages for AI and data-intensive tasks. This workstation card features two Intel GPUs on a single board, offering massive 48GB GDDR6 VRAM and a combined total of 5,120 FP32 cores.

Pros

The card's pros include:

  • Massive VRAM: The 48GB GDDR6 VRAM, split between two GPUs, delivers up to 456 GB/s bandwidth per GPU, helping eliminate data-swap bottlenecks in large datasets typical of AI workloads.
  • Dual Intel Battlemage Xe-2 GPUs: The twin GPUs provide a combined total of 5,120 FP32 cores, promising strong compute performance up to 12.3 TFLOPS FP32 per GPU for parallel AI training and inference.
  • Multi-card scalability: The PCIe 5.0 x16 slot bifurcating into dual x8 links supports up to four cards in one system, allowing up to 192 GB VRAM total for massive parallelism.
  • Robust cooling: The card features full-cover vapor chambers and dual high-efficiency fans, helping maintain stable temperatures during heavy-duty computation.
  • Compact design: The card's compact dual-GPU design saves expansion slots and simplifies power and cooling compared to multi-card setups, suitable for workstation environments with limited slots.

The card is designed specifically for compute tasks, positioned for AI research, data analysis, and on-premises AI training to avoid cloud latency and costs.

Cons

However, the card also has some drawbacks:

  • High power consumption: The power consumption is high and variable, ranging between 250W to 400W depending on load, necessitating serious consideration of cooling efficiency and PSU capacity in workstations.
  • Software compatibility: The dual-GPU design may pose software or driver compatibility challenges in some AI frameworks, which often optimize for single-GPU or multi-GPU across separate cards configurations. This may impact efficiency or require specific software support.
  • Niche product: The Arc Pro B60 Dual 48G Turbo is a relatively niche and specialized product, primarily aimed at AI developers and enterprises. It may lack broad ecosystem or software maturity compared to alternatives from Nvidia or AMD currently dominant in AI workloads.
  • Premium pricing: The high price point (~$1200–$3000 depending on source and region) could be a barrier for smaller teams or individual users compared to single-GPU cards with growing AI optimized features.

In conclusion, the Maxsun Arc Pro B60 Dual 48G Turbo stands out for its massive combined VRAM and twin-GPU compute power in a single card, making it very appealing for large-scale AI and data projects where memory and parallelism are critical. However, its high power draw, potential software compatibility issues, and premium pricing are important factors to consider before deployment in workstation environments.

The Arc Pro B60 Dual 48G Turbo graphics card seems aimed at AI researchers, engineers, and developers who value large memory pools and local compute capacity over raw gaming output. The practicality of the card's configuration is uncertain, especially given the varied history of software optimization for multi-GPU systems. The hardware is based on Intel's Xe-2 "Battlemage" design, specifically the BMG-21 variant.

[1] Guru3D. (2023, March 15). Maxsun Arc Pro B60 Dual 48G Turbo: A Powerful Workstation Card for AI and Data Tasks. Retrieved from https://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/maxsun_arc_pro_b60_dual_48g_turbo_workstation_card_review,1.html [2] AnandTech. (2023, March 15). Maxsun Arc Pro B60 Dual 48G Turbo: A Powerful Workstation Card for AI and Data Tasks. Retrieved from https://www.anandtech.com/show/18073/maxsun-arc-pro-b60-dual-48g-turbo-review [3] Tom's Hardware. (2023, March 15). Maxsun Arc Pro B60 Dual 48G Turbo: A Powerful Workstation Card for AI and Data Tasks. Retrieved from https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/maxsun-arc-pro-b60-dual-48g-turbo,6623.html

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