New Xilinx Virtex-7 2000T FPGA provides equivalent of 20 million ASIC gates

Re:New Xilinx Virtex-7 2000T FPGA provides equivalent of 20 ... by bsandbox on Thursday October 27, 2011 @11:23AM (#3163569)

Yes, initially. But as the manufacturing processes mature, these prices reduce dramatically over time. Price reductions of an order of magnitude are not unusual over the course of two or three years.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:New Xilinx Virtex-7 2000T FPGA provides equivalent of 20 ... by tryp on Thursday October 27, 2011 @11:47AM (#3163708)

I meant this more as a data point for realistic mental comparison to an ASIC, or anyone thinking they might use one. It's cool that it's achievable, and saying "This (big-n) gate count part is available today!" is nice and gee-whizzy for the press release and trade mags, but divorced from it's cost doesn't mean much to someone who would put it to work, as I'd expect at least a few here on HN to be.

High-end Virtex 4 parts from 2004 still cost over $10k. These aren't the devices you design into products unless your market is low volume, high margin, and long life-cycle. This is the part you buy to prototype your own ASIC design.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:New Xilinx Virtex-7 2000T FPGA provides equivalent of 20 ... by rbanffy on Thursday October 27, 2011 @02:05PM (#3164583)

Considering my current rhythm, by the time I finish learning VHDL, it'll be available for US$10 a piece ;-)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:New Xilinx Virtex-7 2000T FPGA provides equivalent of 20 ... by aiscott on Thursday October 27, 2011 @04:08PM (#3165257)

I'd consider spending time with SystemVerilog.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:New Xilinx Virtex-7 2000T FPGA provides equivalent of 20 ... by rbanffy on Friday October 28, 2011 @06:41AM (#3167715)

Sounds intriguing. I am not sure where to start from, however.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SystemVerilog

[ Parent | on HN ]