Whos Achronix and why do they have a 22nm 1.1m LUT chip?

[DiabloD3]

http://www.achronix.com/products/speedster22ihd.html
http://www.achronix.com/products/speedster22ihd/hd-summary.html

I wonder what the approximate mh/w here is.

[Inspector 2211]

They have access to Intel 22 nm foundries. The deal probably works somewhat like this: Achronix has a minimum guaranteed number of monthly wafers, and an option to run more wafers in case Intel does not need the full fab capacity. For both parties, this is a win-win situation.

[stcupp]

 Achronix was founded in 2004 by researchers at Cornell University who wanted to push the performance limits of FPGAs and change this estimated $3bn market, challenging the market leaders Xilinx and Altera.

FPGAs are, as the name suggests, malleable and can be rejiggered to change their basic functions in ways that an ASIC cannot. It might take $30m or $40m to develop an ASIC to do a particular job — say, support the Ethernet or InfiniBand protocols — and if you make a mistake, you cannot erase and go back.

For very high volume products — with hundreds of thousands to millions of units where the cost per unit has to be low — you want an ASIC. But in places where you need a chip that might only require thousands to tens of thousands of units to satisfy an entire market, an FPGA, while more expensive to buy, is better because it is less expensive to make and is correctable in a way that an ASIC is not.

According to Greg Martin, a spokesman for the FPGA maker, Achronix can compete with Xilinx and Altera because it has, at 1.5GHz in its current Speedster1 line, the fastest such chips on the market. And by moving to Intel's 22nm technology, the company could have ramped up the clock speed to 3GHz.

By the way, the goal is to bring the cost of that 1 million LUT FPGA down to around $400 a pop when they start shipping in the fourth quarter of 2011. FPGAs sell for $1,000 and higher today, depending on features.

[DiabloD3]

Achronix was founded in 2004 by researchers at Cornell University who wanted to push the performance limits of FPGAs and change this estimated $3bn market, challenging the market leaders Xilinx and Altera.

FPGAs are, as the name suggests, malleable and can be rejiggered to change their basic functions in ways that an ASIC cannot. It might take $30m or $40m to develop an ASIC to do a particular job — say, support the Ethernet or InfiniBand protocols — and if you make a mistake, you cannot erase and go back.

For very high volume products — with hundreds of thousands to millions of units where the cost per unit has to be low — you want an ASIC. But in places where you need a chip that might only require thousands to tens of thousands of units to satisfy an entire market, an FPGA, while more expensive to buy, is better because it is less expensive to make and is correctable in a way that an ASIC is not.

According to Greg Martin, a spokesman for the FPGA maker, Achronix can compete with Xilinx and Altera because it has, at 1.5GHz in its current Speedster1 line, the fastest such chips on the market. And by moving to Intel's 22nm technology, the company could have ramped up the clock speed to 3GHz.

By the way, the goal is to bring the cost of that 1 million LUT FPGA down to around $400 a pop when they start shipping in the fourth quarter of 2011. FPGAs sell for $1,000 and higher today, depending on features.

So, someone please answer me: Why is there not an Achronix FPGA sitting on my desk mining at like 1 ghash on a single chip on like 10 watt?

[Inspector 2211]

Because they haven't been released yet. They do have in-house prototypes, but still a lot of validation ahead of them prior to release.

[Dexter770221]

So, someone please answer me: Why is there not an Achronix FPGA sitting on my desk mining at like 1 ghash on a single chip on like 10 watt?

And propably lack of free software. I didn't see any free oferings from them. And tools like that costs 1000's of $.
Oh, I've read somewhere that they have bought 1% of Intel 22nm fab production.

[ice_chill]

Is BFL obsolete already ?

[DiabloD3]

Is BFL obsolete already ?

Arguably they were obsolete before they even came out. BFL has been purposely finding solutions that are very cheap per mhash, not highest efficiency, and generally thats been done with hardware no one wanted anymore.

[BR0KK]

Arguably they were obsolete before they even came out. BFL has been purposely finding solutions that are very cheap per mhash, not highest efficiency, and generally thats been done with hardware no one wanted anymore.

So then GPUs are obsolete too?

The only thing that is obsolete on bfls is that u had to wait so long for them to arrive.

I consider buying one of those units before thinking of building a 7970 Miner.

[Turbor]

Is BFL obsolete already ?

They have fair products. Don't expect them to lean back and sleep. It's a fast moving game and nobody stays on top very long.

[Inaba]

Obsolete?  Man, if so, show me another product that does more for less!  Otherwise, you'd be hard pressed to define them as obsolete.

[PeanutPower]

update - their site says "now shipping" does that mean anything useful to the hobbyist? Anyone ordered a dev board ?

[DarkPunk]

Thanks for the heads up, just about to send an email for a HD1000 Dev Board.

I already have 6 Spartan6x150's on their way, but damn.

[rttnpig]]

Ive also contacted them.

Thanks for the heads up, just about to send an email for a HD1000 Dev Board.

I already have 6 Spartan6x150's on their way, but damn.

Whats the direct link??

[DarkPunk]

Ive also contacted them.

Thanks for the heads up, just about to send an email for a HD1000 Dev Board.

I already have 6 Spartan6x150's on their way, but damn.

Whats the direct link??

Their Contact Form: http://www.achronix.com/company/contact-us.html

I'm already in contact with a rep from them named Ken, setting up to by a dev board, then possibly some HD1500 22i's.

[Inspector 2211]

Ive also contacted them.

Thanks for the heads up, just about to send an email for a HD1000 Dev Board.

I already have 6 Spartan6x150's on their way, but damn.

Whats the direct link??

Their Contact Form: http://www.achronix.com/company/contact-us.html

I'm already in contact with a rep from them named Ken, setting up to by a dev board, then possibly some HD1500 22i's.

Does anyone have a price quote for the dev board yet?
And/or the FPGA itself?

[DarkPunk]

Ive also contacted them.

Thanks for the heads up, just about to send an email for a HD1000 Dev Board.

I already have 6 Spartan6x150's on their way, but damn.

Whats the direct link??

Their Contact Form: http://www.achronix.com/company/contact-us.html

I'm already in contact with a rep from them named Ken, setting up to by a dev board, then possibly some HD1500 22i's.

Does anyone have a price quote for the dev board yet?
And/or the FPGA itself?

Nothing back from their rep just yet, but looking at the specs on the chips, they would make killer hashers, but I expect a price point north of $1,500/chip based on the specs.

[DiabloD3]

I guess it depends entirely on how well they hash to see if they're worth the money.

[IMakeComps]

Any devs willing to write mining software for these chips?

[DarkPunk]

Any devs willing to write mining software for these chips?

I feel like that's a bridge better left crossed after we at least get a price point.