Skip to main content

AMD looks to conquer your workstation with its latest RX-series cards

amd wx series reveal radeon pro splash
With every passing day, an increasing number of professionals rely on GPU-assisted software to get the job done. Whether that’s 3D modeling, prototyping, geological work, or creative pursuits, workstations are becoming more common in the workplace. These aren’t the same massive rigs that used to power these jobs, and AMD is targeting the mainstream market with three powerful new WX Series professional GPUs that all take up just one PCIe slot each.

That’s right, whether it’s the unassuming but powerful WX 4100, or the WX 7100, which AMD claims is the world’s most powerful single-slot workstation GPU, all the cards are designed to fit in smaller cases with more basic power supplies.

The aforementioned WX 4100 sits at the bottom end of the trio, and is an ideal option for small systems and lightweight CAD users. This little beast generates 2.4 Teraflops of maximum power on just 50 watts or less, allowing the 6.6-inch, 4GB card to work even in systems without extra power cables coming off the power supply. When it launches on November 10, the WX 4100 will cost $399.

radeon-wx-4100

Next up, the mid-tier WX 5100 is built for real-time visualization and design at 1,920 x 1,080. It generates 3.9 Tflops on just 75 watts of power — without any external power, once again — and packs in a full 8GB of GDDR5 memory. It’s not built for gaming, but instead to allow quick iteration and prototyping throughout the design phase. The WX 5100 comes out a little later than the other two cards, and will cost $499 when it lands on shelves.

radeon-wx-5100

Finally, the top-of-the-line WX 7100 packs the most performance possible into the single-wide PCIe form factor. It boasts a lofty 5.7 Tflops with 8GB of GDDR5. Power usage stays under 130 watts, so you’ll need external power, but it should be fine even in systems with modest power supplies. It’s built for virtual reality and above-1080p developers, who need serious performance for testing and optimization. That power doesn’t come cheap, at $799 for the WX 7100 when it becomes available on November 10.

radeon-wx-7100

If these prices look steep to you, it’s important to remember these aren’t gaming cards like the Radeon RX series, despite how their specifications may look on paper. They lack a number of the gaming-focused benefits those cards possess, although the WX Series is based on the GCN 4.0 architecture, so they support multi-card setups through CrossFire, and FreeSync over DisplayPort. Still, it’s unlikely anyone who isn’t using these cards to make money with these cards would buy them, but anyone looking for a work upgrade should keep an eye out for these slim, powerful GPUs.

Brad Bourque
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Brad Bourque is a native Portlander, devout nerd, and craft beer enthusiast. He studied creative writing at Willamette…
AMD RX 7000 graphics cards are launching in 2022 to challenge Nvidia
AMD RX 6500 XT installed in a PC.

AMD revealed several new details about its upcoming RX 7000 graphics cards during its Financial Analyst Day on Thursday. Chief among them are that RX 7000 graphics cards offer more than a 50% improvement in performance per watt over the previous generation, and that they're coming later in 2022.

The greater-than-50% performance-per-watt mark is the same one AMD set for its RDNA 2 graphics cards, but the estimate could be conservative this time around. Recent rumors suggest that RX 7000 graphics cards could be up to 130% faster than the previous generation overall while staying relatively power efficient. If that's the case, we could see AMD's next-gen GPUs among the best graphics cards.

Read more
AMD’s RX 6950 XT looks to tackle the mighty RTX 3090
AMD Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards over a black background.

AMD is refreshing its RX 6000 series lineup with three new graphics cards. Based on existing models, the new cards boost memory bandwidth and clock speed to deliver a 5% to 6% increase over the base models, according to AMD.

The new cards are the RX 6950 XT, RX 6750 XT, and RX 6650 XT. The RX 6950 XT and RX 6750 XT will live alongside the RX 6900 XT and RX 6700 XT, respectively, while the RX 6650 XT will replace AMD's RX 6600 XT. AMD has the exclusive Midnight Black editions of the top two cards available. The RX 6650 XT, despite some great-looking renders, will not receive a reference design.

Read more
AMD RX 7900 XT could be the first-ever PCIe 5.0 graphics card
An AMD RX 6000 graphics card with the Radeon branding.

AMD’s upcoming next-gen graphics cards will reportedly support PCIe Gen 5.0 compatibility, according to a new report.

As reported by VideoCardz and Wccftech, technology insider Kepler_L2 found the interesting tidbit within GFX11 architecture patches.

Read more