Apple M5 Pro & M5 Max GPU Analysis - M5 Max GPU on par with the GeForce RTX 5070 and faster than Strix Halo

[Redaktion]

Apple launches their new M5 Pro and M5 Max SoCs with new GPU models. We test the 20-core M5 Pro GPU as well as the flagship 40-core M5 Max GPU in synthetic benchmarks as well as gaming tests and also check the efficiency compared to previous Apple GPUs as well as Nvidia's Blackwell graphics cards.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-M5-Pro-M5-Max-GPU-Analysis-M5-Max-GPU-on-par-with-the-GeForce-RTX-5070-and-faster-than-Strix-Halo.1246060.0.html

[dada_dave]

Just FYI Blender 3.3 does not use hw-accelerated ray tracing on Apple Silicon. That didn't come in until Blender 4.2 I think. Though it doesn't explain why the M5 Max did worse than the M4 Max here, it might explain why CB 2024 GPU shows the more expected results.

[joneskind]

Just FYI Blender 3.3 does not use hw-accelerated ray tracing on Apple Silicon. That didn't come in until Blender 4.2 I think. Though it doesn't explain why the M5 Max did worse than the M4 Max here, it might explain why CB 2024 GPU shows the more expected results.

Even worse. Blender has been using HW-accelerated ray tracing on Nvidia cards since 3.3.

M5 Max 40 should be has powerful as the RTX 5090 laptop in Blender, if not even more, in Blender 4.5.

See opendata.blender

[PumpkinFury]

My Strix Scar 18 5090 Laptop (175w) hit 6,752 in Steel Nomad.

[Detechtive]

Just FYI Blender 3.3 does not use hw-accelerated ray tracing on Apple Silicon. That didn't come in until Blender 4.2 I think. Though it doesn't explain why the M5 Max did worse than the M4 Max here, it might explain why CB 2024 GPU shows the more expected results.

Even worse. Blender has been using HW-accelerated ray tracing on Nvidia cards since 3.3.

M5 Max 40 should be has powerful as the RTX 5090 laptop in Blender, if not even more, in Blender 4.5.

See opendata.blender

I did check. And assuming that Apple GPU scales linearly from M5 to M5 Max, Apple's best GPU is still at least 1000+ points behind RTX 5090 laptop. And remember, the Nvidia chip is already more than a year old at this point. Apple-Metal, Nvidia-OptiX.

[Doesn't line up]

41% power efficiency improvement over the M4 Max 40-Core GPU is very good, but in Cyberpunk 2077 / Ultra Preset (FSR off) it's only 8%? Doesn't line up.

[pimpom]

Blender v3.3 does not support MetalRT you idiot.

[davidm]

It seems this site still doesn't register it's not just about the memory type (LPDDR5x-9600), it's also and hugely about the interface width. Strix Halo has a 256bit interface, the Mac Pro and Max have 384 and 512bit interfaces. Meanwhile, typical PCs have a 128bit interface. That's where a lot of the performance comes from, and it's an area PCs are mostly not competing unless going to a huge power hungry server board. It's been this way for a while. Macs are a lot more expensive, but I believe Strix Halo is selling well even at a premium. I'd happily pay double for a 384bit+ interface RAM Thinkpad.