A while back AMD announced their new FirePro lineup for 2012. Part of that announcement involved an APU version of FirePro called the FirePro A300. At the time, no designs had been formally announced, though it was known that SAPPHIRE would be a launch partner. Today the details of their product are known.
SAPPHIRE PGS (Professional Graphics Solution) has announced their FirePro Professional Platform combining the new AMD FirePro A300 APU with a SAPPHIRE PGS A3 M-series motherboard. The new hardware mainly targets entry level and intermediate mainstream desktop 2D and 3D workstation markets.
The new platform enables Discrete Compute Offload when paired with an AMD FirePro V3900 or V4900 GPU, allowing OpenCL tasks to utilize a discrete GPU as well as the APU graphics for extended GPGPU peformance. AMD Eyefinity is also supported, not only satisfying the need for high-performance computing and rendering, but also supporting a simple multi-display solution.
The AMD FirePro A300 series APUs support the AMD Catalyst Pro software, enabling application performance and compatibility with ISV-certified software and optimized performance for CAD and Media/Entertainment applications. The list of certified software includes Autodesk (Maya 2013, Softimage 2013, Mudbox 2013, Motionbuilder 2013, Autocad Inventor 2013/2012, and 3ds Max 2013), Bentley MicroStation, SolidWorks, and a large number of other professional applications.
As noted in the original announcement, the AMD FirePro A300 APU will only be available through select hardware partners such as SAPPHIRE and will not be sold separately.
SAPPHIRE PGS will be ready to supply Professional Platform Units to OEM manufacturers and workstation integrators starting in late September.
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