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Which Windows or Linux systems have discrete-class GPUs that can address up to 128 GB of RAM on a laptop, or 192GB for a desktop? I assume for a VRAM-heavy wor

by dangus 3y ago

Which Windows or Linux systems have discrete-class GPUs that can address up to 128 GB of RAM on a laptop, or 192GB for a desktop? I assume for a VRAM-heavy workflow, a Mac might be a good choice, and considering that the M3 Max benchmarks close to the laptop 4080 you’ve basically got the second best laptop SKU on the market with dramatically better power and battery life figures. If you care even a little bit about overall portability Apple is offering a product that you can’t buy from anyone else at any price. Considering that something like 80% of PC sales are laptops that’s no joke. I haven’t had an employer issue me a desktop PC since 2012.

pjmlp 3y ago
Plenty as that is what desktop PCs with discrete graphics cards are for, the market once upon a time Mac Pro was for. Now it can only take audio cards. As for laptops, here is one with 128 GB DDR5 and NVIDIA RTX 5000 Ada (16GB GDDR6 VRAM). https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadp/thinkpad-p16-gen-2-(16-inch-intel)/len101t0069#tech_specs https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadp/th...
- foldr 3y ago
  > GPUs that can address up to 128 GB of RAM
  - pjmlp 3y ago
    Except they don't, they use unified shared memory. If you want a 128GB GPU, that is only possible with dedicated cards, those used in professional graphics workstations, none of them running macOS. https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/data-center/h100/ https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/data-center/h100/
    - foldr 3y ago
      >Except they don't, they use unified shared memory. Yes, which is what allows the GPU to address all 128GB of the available RAM! This makes it possible to do lots of things that the laptop you linked to can't do. >If you want a 128GB GPU, that is only possible with [cards used in professional graphics workstations] That is exactly the point. But I think you know that.
      - pjmlp 3y ago
        Good luck making all memory being consumed by the GPU, without anything left for the OS. Apple no longer cares about graphical workstations market, that is the point. Lets see how much of those GPUs of yours make into VFX reference platform standard, for an example.
        foldr 3y ago
        You're missing the original poster's point. They're not talking about graphical workstations. They said that "if you care even a little bit about overall portability Apple is offering a product that you can’t buy from anyone else at any price." A laptop with a 16GB GPU isn't a counterexample to this claim. > Good luck making all memory being consumed by the GPU, without anything left for the OS. Obviously, given 128GB total, you can allocate a lot more than 16GB for the GPU before you're likely to start running out of RAM for other things.
        dangus 3y ago
        You don’t have to be in the graphical workstations market (a.k.a. “Desktop Replacement” slabs of concrete disguised as laptop computers) when your prosumer ultrabook outperforms the graphical workstation market.
        pjmlp 3y ago
        In some selected benchmarks, without taking into consideration typical graphical workstation software used in the industry, those folks that pay for Mac Pros and actually use the slots.

by dangus 3y ago

pjmlp 3y ago

Plenty as that is what desktop PCs with discrete graphics cards are for, the market once upon a time Mac Pro was for. Now it can only take audio cards. As for laptops, here is one with 128 GB DDR5 and NVIDIA RTX 5000 Ada (16GB GDDR6 VRAM). https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadp/thinkpad-p16-gen-2-(16-inch-intel)/len101t0069#tech_specs https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadp/th...

foldr 3y ago
> GPUs that can address up to 128 GB of RAM
- pjmlp 3y ago
  Except they don't, they use unified shared memory. If you want a 128GB GPU, that is only possible with dedicated cards, those used in professional graphics workstations, none of them running macOS. https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/data-center/h100/ https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/data-center/h100/
  - foldr 3y ago
    >Except they don't, they use unified shared memory. Yes, which is what allows the GPU to address all 128GB of the available RAM! This makes it possible to do lots of things that the laptop you linked to can't do. >If you want a 128GB GPU, that is only possible with [cards used in professional graphics workstations] That is exactly the point. But I think you know that.
    - pjmlp 3y ago
      Good luck making all memory being consumed by the GPU, without anything left for the OS. Apple no longer cares about graphical workstations market, that is the point. Lets see how much of those GPUs of yours make into VFX reference platform standard, for an example.
      - foldr 3y ago
        You're missing the original poster's point. They're not talking about graphical workstations. They said that "if you care even a little bit about overall portability Apple is offering a product that you can’t buy from anyone else at any price." A laptop with a 16GB GPU isn't a counterexample to this claim. > Good luck making all memory being consumed by the GPU, without anything left for the OS. Obviously, given 128GB total, you can allocate a lot more than 16GB for the GPU before you're likely to start running out of RAM for other things.
      - dangus 3y ago
        You don’t have to be in the graphical workstations market (a.k.a. “Desktop Replacement” slabs of concrete disguised as laptop computers) when your prosumer ultrabook outperforms the graphical workstation market.
        pjmlp 3y ago
        In some selected benchmarks, without taking into consideration typical graphical workstation software used in the industry, those folks that pay for Mac Pros and actually use the slots.