FPGAs vs. CPUs: trends in peak floating-point performance

Moore’s Law states that the number of transistors on a device doubles every two years; however, it is often (mis)quoted based on its impact on CPU performance. This important corollary of Moore’s Law states that improved clock frequency plus improved architecture yields a doubling of CPU performance every 18 months. This paper examines the impact of Moore’s Law on the peak floating-point performance of FPGAs. Performance trends for individual operations are analyzed as well as the performance trend of a common instruction mix (multiply accumulate). The important result is that peak FPGA floating-point performance is growing significantly faster than peak floating-point performance for a CPU. Categories and Subject Descriptors C.4 [Performance of Systems]: Performance Attributes;

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2004
• Where: FPGA
• Authors: Keith D. Underwood
• Keywords: CPU Performance, FPGA 2004, Hardware, Moore’s Law, Performance