Scale it down as a proof of concept. You're talking about large numbers of parallel blocks, so to start with use just a few, you shouldn't need a massive expensive FPGA in order to see if your concept works and how well it performs.
Something else to keep in mind, the free editions of the tools I've used have limits in the devices they support, they handle bigger parts than I've ever needed, but for the really big guns you need the paid versions which are generally $$$. Not a big deal for a company with a budget but cost prohibitive for the average hobbyist not doing this stuff for a living.
Back in the day, there was the Usenet newsgroup comp.arch.fpga, which was exactly what you're asking for. I don't know if it still exists.
Good luck.
The FPGA im looking at to buy is this https://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Intel-Altera/10AX048H3F34I2SG/?qs=Rv6LVDxB0ZouSsIL4OazgQ%3D%3D
a $3,200 australian dollar, one with 480,000 luts (4 input 2 output) on it. its very expensive and I already doesnt look like ill be able to fit my whole design onto it fully unrolled. (I want to unroll the whole thing! )
The FPGA im looking at to buy is this https://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Intel-Altera/10AX048H3F34I2SG/?qs=Rv6LVDxB0ZouSsIL4OazgQ%3D%3D
a $3,200 australian dollar, one with 480,000 luts (4 input 2 output) on it. its very expensive and I already doesnt look like ill be able to fit my whole design onto it fully unrolled. (I want to unroll the whole thing! )You do realize that to make use of that chip, you also need a $4000 software license?
Quite honestly, what you seem to be looking to do is probably better done in a GPU. FPGAs are great for some things, but the more you describe your idea, the more I doubt it is a good way to solve the problem. There are many problems where the best solution would be using an FPGA but there are just as many where a GPU would be the best solution.
The FPGA im looking at to buy is this https://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Intel-Altera/10AX048H3F34I2SG/?qs=Rv6LVDxB0ZouSsIL4OazgQ%3D%3D
a $3,200 australian dollar, one with 480,000 luts (4 input 2 output) on it. its very expensive and I already doesnt look like ill be able to fit my whole design onto it fully unrolled. (I want to unroll the whole thing! )
Why all the licensing crud - theres no licensing for GPUS, whats the big deal?
The FPGA im looking at to buy is this https://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Intel-Altera/10AX048H3F34I2SG/?qs=Rv6LVDxB0ZouSsIL4OazgQ%3D%3D
a $3,200 australian dollar, one with 480,000 luts (4 input 2 output) on it. its very expensive and I already doesnt look like ill be able to fit my whole design onto it fully unrolled. (I want to unroll the whole thing! )
A bare FPGA chip?! Do you buy your GPUs as loose chips as well and roll your own boards? If the answer is "yes", I'm impressed. Otherwise, you definitely want to start with an off-the-shelf FPGA development board.
It is not straightforward to design and manufacture a board around a large FPGA, and a learning curve at $3000 a pop becomes painful quickly. I would also start with a smaller (cheaper) FPGA to test whether your concept works as you expect.
Why all the licensing crud - theres no licensing for GPUS, whats the big deal? 480,000 isnt even BIG I need bigger. What a let down.
Why all the licensing crud - theres no licensing for GPUS, whats the big deal? 480,000 isnt even BIG I need bigger. What a let down.
Stop comparing the two. They are different things for different purposes with some overlap. FPGAs are logic. GPUs are purpose built devices for doing specific math relating to 3D but can also be generalized to do more.
So a 480,000 LUT FPGA needs an exhorbitant $4000 extra licensing fee. I remember a few days ago I thought I saw a billion gate FPGA! but I must have read it wrong.
Is there smaller ones which have a free license? - I need something I can afford.
I just shaved some more off the ALU and it should fit in 7366 gates now, by dropping precision and simplifying the geometry, if I only put 1 physics step in there physically, instead of the 20, I know its still a bit big, but its smaller than it used to be. Have to see if I can get it even less tho!
Why do you keep talking gates??? If you mean LUTs, that is a huge number of LUTs for an ALU. Why don't you post your code?
IMHO the OP does not need an FPGA (yet). Simulation can give clues about the usefulness of FPGA for his problem.
IMHO the OP does not need an FPGA (yet). Simulation can give clues about the usefulness of FPGA for his problem.
I believe we are witnessing some kind of midlife crisis. "Oh gosh, I have missed out on FPGAs all my life. I need to get me the biggest, baddest FPGA of them all, and I need to get it now!"
IMHO the OP does not need an FPGA (yet). Simulation can give clues about the usefulness of FPGA for his problem.
I believe we are witnessing some kind of midlife crisis. "Oh gosh, I have missed out on FPGAs all my life. I need to get me the biggest, baddest FPGA of them all, and I need to get it now!"
Yeah, seriously, he should just buy a two-seat convertible roadster! It might be cheaper than that biggest, baddest FPGA of them all!
When you can fit an entire 8 bit computer complete with VGA video, PS/2 keyboard and a UART in one of the cheapest FPGA boards on the market I have a hard time getting excited about really big parts. It's going to be different for everybody but I have never come close to filling up the midsized Cyclone II on my DE2 and that isn't even big by modern standards, most of my projects are block RAM constrained. The bigger the FPGA, the longer it takes to compile, and that is primarily why the little $13 Cyclone II boards are the ones I use the most often, they're big enough for most of the stuff I'm playing around with, and they compile in a few seconds. Compiling the same project for a big FPGA could take several minutes. Compiling something that actually fills that big FPGA could take hours.
I wonder what decides the price of an fpga, why "this many gates = this many dollars?" I wonder, do they run benchmarks on GPUs and then see what matches what FPGA?
Is the Lattice MachXO2 1200, 1k gates?
I wonder what decides the price of an fpga, why "this many gates = this many dollars?" I wonder, do they run benchmarks on GPUs and then see what matches what FPGA?
I'm just taking a rest from my work, But I've got a big more done, Doing the 3d maths in such a wierd way gets tiresome, and my poor head to begin with.