Re:Rendering on the Apple M1 Max Chip
by saagarjha on Tuesday October 26, 2021 @04:18AM
(#28997734)
Isn't the point of a FPGA that you can reconfigure it? It seems like a waste to expend it on another CPU.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
I’ve certainly seen in low volume specialty equipment (think things like Video Routers, and surprisingly some high end audio equipment) FPGAs being used where an ASIC would be a better fit. I suspect however this comes down to a business decision, that the time and money spent getting a run of an ASIC with the same logic put together may be better spent elsewhere.
The FPGA can be deployed and designed for today, while an ASIC isn't going to ready until after a few tape outs, and it's often a race to market. While it's really cool and actually works, the reality is that reconfiguring the hardware to do something different isn't a necessary feature in just about anything. There's still a huge market for FPGAs, but its already got a lot of active competition.