What's your design platform ?

[whygee]

Hi !

So now that I have some Actel FPGA tools working
(and almost right, but i'm picky...), my underpowered
laptop appears like a big limitation. So i'm looking
around for a very efficient, state-of-the-art PC,
with the constraint that it must not use much room,
not generate (much) noise, and have a decent price.

What is your workstation configuration ?
What kind of PC do you use for ASIC/FPGA design ?

What matters most for synthesis/place/route ?
I believe that multicore CPUs don't matter
much since most tools are not multithreaded and
my Windows (*yuk*) does not support more than 2 CPU.
FSB speed and L2/3 Cache and DDR SDRAM space should be
the most significant acceleration factors.
The last Intels seem to have 3MB L2 and 1333MHz FSB,
which should do the trick, right ?
(I only have old P3s now...)

I have looked at laptops but i don't need batteries,
a glossy screen and an awkward keyboard.
Plus, they are often limited to "portable" CPUs,
while workstations feature faster FSB.

Another interesting approach is the "embedded PC" :
the latest Kontron and other's boards are small,
and the ETX(express) modules can be easily cooled
without fan (i just have to get one huge aluminium
dissipator from an old audio amplifier or such).
http://www.axiomtek.fr/Products/ViewProduct.asp?view=460
http://emea.kontron.com/products/computeronmodules/com+express/etxexpress/etxexpressmc.html

Axiomtek also just announced an ITX board (SBC 86860)
which is almost perfect... but no price is available.

What would you recommend ?
(considering that I won't probably change this
machine in the next years)

regards,
YG

 

[Mike Treseler]

whygee wrote:

What matters most for synthesis/place/route ?
The last Intels seem to have 3MB L2 and 1333MHz FSB,
which should do the trick, right ?

Yes. Cache++

What would you recommend ?

My Optiplex is very quiet with just fans.

 

[Tricky]

I believe that multicore CPUs don't matter
much since most tools are not multithreaded and
my Windows (*yuk*) does not support more than 2 CPU.

Ive got a dual core and while it means it wont speed up P&R, it does
mean I can do a P&R and a modelsim simulation at the same time.

Also, windows does support more than 1 cpu, it just doesnt support
more than 2 physical chips. So you can run a Core 2 Quad fine, with
all 4 cores running fine. Its a legacy thing when you could only do
multi CPU threading with a 2+ processor motherboard.

 

[whygee]

hi !

Tricky wrote:

I believe that multicore CPUs don't matter
much since most tools are not multithreaded and
my Windows (*yuk*) does not support more than 2 CPU.

Ive got a dual core and while it means it wont speed up P&R, it does
mean I can do a P&R and a modelsim simulation at the same time.

cool !
but I suspect that this puts a lot of pressure on the cache...

BTW my last exploration makee the Intel E8400 a potential winner :
3GHz, 2 cores, 1333MHz FSB, 6MB cache and almost affordable.
That gives almost the highest possible single thread performance
for this kind of job, AFAIK, because Quad core CPUs have a slower
frequency.

Also, windows does support more than 1 cpu, it just doesnt support
more than 2 physical chips. So you can run a Core 2 Quad fine, with
all 4 cores running fine. Its a legacy thing when you could only do
multi CPU threading with a 2+ processor motherboard.

I don't know if Win2K makes the distinction between cores and chips.
Anyway, I'm looking seriously at the Linux versions of the EDA tools,
i'm using Debian and Slackware 90% of the time and it's such a pain
to have to install a specific PC, with a proprietary OS (and an old
one because the newest is even worse), just for a few software...


yg