Image processing, Cloud Computing, Wideband Communications, Big Data, Robotics, High-definition video…, most emerging technologies are increasingly requiring processing power capabilities. The technology selection for each application is a critical decision for system designers. Being GPU power the conservative approach to scale processing capacity, using FPGA for software acceleration is becoming the best option for an increasing number of applications.
The following figures show the huge processing power of GPUs, and the great power efficiency of the current FPGA technology. Introducing the price in the equation shows competitive mid-class FPGA, but still far from the GFLOPS per Euro of the mass-market graphic cards. The cost of the high-end FPGAs limits them to specific niche applications, while the power burning of the high-end GPUs avoids using them for a number of markets and critical systems.
Read the complete analysis at GPU vs FPGA Performance Comparison PDF white paper.
