Researchers Claim 1,000 Core Chip Created 118
eldavojohn writes "Remember a few months ago when the feasibility was discussed of a thousand core processor? By using FPGAs, Glasgow University researchers have claimed a proof of concept 1,000 core chip that they demonstrated running an MPEG algorithm at a speed of 5Gbps. From one of the researchers: 'This is very early proof-of-concept work where we're trying to demonstrate a convenient way to program FPGAs so that their potential to provide very fast processing power could be used much more widely in future computing and electronics. While many existing technologies currently make use of FPGAs, including plasma and LCD televisions and computer network routers, their use in standard desktop computers is limited. However, we are already seeing some microchips which combine traditional CPUs with FPGA chips being announced by developers, including Intel and ARM. I believe these kinds of processors will only become more common and help to speed up computers even further over the next few years.'"
Re:Programmable CPU's (Score:5, Informative)
A desktop CPU in an FPGA will always cost more and perform worse (i.e. slower clock rate) than a full custom chip from Intel or AMD. Mind you I've seen embedded designs where a microcontroller, Ram, Rom and custom logic are implemented in a $10 FPGA - especially where volumes are too low for an ASIC.
On the other hand I could definitely see programmable logic inside Intel or AMD CPUs, a sort of super SSE. Then again even there you'd probably be better off using GPU like custom hardware for the heavy lifting. In fact I can see CPU/GPU hybrids being very common in low end machines. Full custom logic is always going to have a performance per $ advantage over FPGAs unless FPGA technology chains drastically.