Apple M5 Ultra обошла NVIDIA RTX 5080 в тесте Blender
Apple M5 Ultra appeared in the Blender Open Data database and achieved a very high rendering score. The chip version with an 80-core GPU scored a median of 15,350 points, approaching the GeForce RTX 5090 and significantly outperforming the RTX 5080.
Blender results
In the Blender 5.2.0 sample, the results appear as follows:
| GPU | Result | Difference compared to M5 Ultra |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | 16,061 | approximately +4-5% |
| Apple M5 Ultra, 80 cores GPU | 15,350 | — |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 | 9 126 | approximately -41% |
| Apple M5 Max, 40 cores GPU | 8,113 | -47.1% |
| Apple M3 Ultra, 76 cores GPU | 7,234 | -52.9% |
Thus, the M5 Ultra is approximately 68% faster than the RTX 5080 in this test. Compared to the M5 Max, the gain is about 89%, and compared to the M3 Ultra, performance has increased by approximately 112%, more than doubling.
By RTX, the new Apple chip is missing approximately 4-5%. For GPU, which is integrated into the system-on-a-chip and shares memory with CPU, this is a particularly noticeable result in Blender rendering tasks.
However, direct comparison applies only to this specific scenario. The Blender Benchmark measures Cycles rendering speed: the final score reflects samples per minute in a standard scene set. Apple uses Metal for computations, while NVIDIA GPUs operate via CUDA or OptiX. Results in games, AI, video editing, and other professional applications may differ significantly.
Additionally, the M5 Ultra median is currently calculated based on only two results. For comparison, the Blender database contains hundreds and thousands of tests for other GPU, so the new chip’s score may still change once additional measurements are available.
Memory and configurations
The top-tier M5 Ultra version includes a 36-core CPU and an 80-core GPU. Combined memory bandwidth reaches 1.2 TB/s. The Mac Studio with this chip can be configured with 96, 256, or 512 GB of combined memory.
Large memory capacity can be an advantage in projects with heavy 3D geometry and when running large AI models locally that require more than the 32 GB of GDDR7 available on the RTX 5090. However, memory capacity alone does not mean higher computational speed: performance depends on the specific application, model, and software libraries used.
Mac Studio Price
In the US, the Mac Studio with a 36-core CPU M5 Ultra, an 80-core GPU, 96 GB of unified memory, and SSD at 1 TB costs $6799. In Germany, the Mac Studio with M5 Ultra starts at €6599, but the base configuration uses a 30-core CPU and a 64-core GPU.
Meanwhile, amid a shortage, individual GeForce RTX5090 offerings on the market reach approximately $6700, and the cost of a PC with RTX5090, a 16-core Ryzen 9, 64 GB of RAM, and SSD for 1 TB may approach $9000.
Apple unveiled the M5 Ultra and a new Mac Studio on August 25. Deliveries and sales of the Mac Studio begin on September 22. Apple has not yet announced a Mac Pro with the M5 Ultra.
