Intel / Altera Cyclone 10GX : design in or not? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2025, 08:45:44 pm
content: I'm shopping around for an FPGA for a project. I've come across the Altera / Intel Cyclone 10GX series which is a perfect fit for the project both in terms of features (especially the high speed transceivers) and price. I have not been able to find another FPGA which comes close to price / performance ratio for this particular project. The downside is that the 10GX series has been on the market for 8 years already and is made by Intel. The design probably needs to be around for the next 5 to 10 years. Would it be wise to design this chip in?

author: KE5FX
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2025, 01:27:43 am
content: People using both brand X and brand A had a bad time during the COVID shortages, but ultimately AMD/Xilinx got their act together and started shipping parts again, and extended the market life of some of their older ones. Intel/Altera wasmuchslower to resupply distributors. My customer had to redesign multiple Cyclone IV products to use Artix because of that.TL,DR: they both suck, but AMD/Xilinx seems to suck less. If you don't have a tight relationship with the company and need to rely on DigiMouse and the like, go with Xilinx.

author: booscrawl
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2025, 04:21:25 am
content: Have you looked at the Ti375?Similar I/O, gates, PCIe is version 4.0 (vs 2.0) and has two quads instead of one. Price ranges from 50% to 150% of the 10GX parts.Still can't figure out why Mouser doesn't carry anything by Efinix.

author: ali_asadzadeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2025, 08:43:48 am
content: I personally would go with AMD/Xilinx, which Intel Cyclone 10GX model catches your eye? I'm sure you can find better alternative in xilinx/AMD

author: EverydayMuffin
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2025, 10:44:49 am
content: Couple of options for devices in this range.Altera Cyclone 10GX will be available until 2035.AMD Kintex 7 will be available until 2040.Microchip PolarFire will be available until 2045.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2025, 03:48:33 pm
content: Thanks everyone for your input!I guess that is a hard no to the Cyclone. It also seems Intel wants US$ 3k for the software. Not that that amount is a problem for the budget but messing with paid licenses makes it harder to delegate / outsource development if needed.Some points:- I have not been able to find any pricing info on the Efinix Topaz FPGAs with transceivers. I get the feeling these are not in production or something.- Microchip Polar fire looks like an interesting contender.- I have also found the GW5AT-LV15 from Gowin which is 4 times cheaper compared to the next cheapest solution. But I still need to receive more details on how their transceivers work because there is no documentation on their website.

author: Gleeson
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2025, 06:44:15 pm
content: FYI, the Cyclone 10GX design tools are free. Download Quartus Prime Pro and you can use it free for the Cyclone 10GX only.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2025, 07:02:38 pm
content: Quote from: Gleeson on July 08, 2025, 06:44:15 pmThanks, that is good to know. That is not clear from the website and licensing information at all.

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2025, 07:19:44 pm
content: It is free for simple designs. Depending on what you want to do, you may probably need to buy a license for each of the more advanced IPs you may need.

author: booscrawl
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2025, 02:25:54 am
content: Quote from: nctnico on July 08, 2025, 03:48:33 pmTopaz is reportedly just down-binned Titanium, so it would be expected to trail it slightly.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/fpga/new-efinix-fpga-family-topaz/I'm still waiting on my Ti60 devkit, so no strong feelings one way or the other.I am a big fan of Efinix' license-free IP and tooling, though. Their software *just works* on my Linux PC and doesn't take forever to build.

author: ali_asadzadeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2025, 11:10:04 am
content: QuoteInteresting, what price did you get for them?

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2025, 11:32:47 am
content: Quote from: ali_asadzadeh on July 09, 2025, 11:10:04 amI've seen them listed for around 15 euro each. If these have 4 useable 10Gbit transceivers, the price is extremely low.

author: ali_asadzadeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2025, 12:43:39 pm
content: QuoteThat's great, do you have any links?Also if you can live with 6Gbit transceivers Artix 7 devices are cheap too, like XC7A25T or XC7A35T, around 10$~20$

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2025, 01:15:25 pm
content: You don't mention what quantity this product will be built in. If the Altera device is a good fit technically, how bad would it be to have to do a lifetime buy?FWIW my experience with Intel was like others' over the last couple of years, total unavailability of the Cyclone IV device I use in multiple products, with no information on lead times, no ability to schedule orders, nothing - just radio silence.I switched to Efinix, the Trion series is technically comparable at a fraction of the price. Perhaps I should give Intel some thanks for giving me the push to switch.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 09, 2025, 01:45:56 pm
content: Quote from: AndyC_772 on July 09, 2025, 01:15:25 pmThe quantity is probably hundreds to thousands. But hard to predict right now so worst case it would mean tying up a lot of cash.