EP2SGX30DF780C5N - Stratix II GX FPGA, 33.88k LE, 780-FBGA | Intel
MPN: EP2SGX30DF780C5N ⚠ Last Time Buy| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1685 | $1,685.00 |
| 10 | $1540 | $15,400.00 |
| 100 | $1325 | $132,500.00 |
| 500 | $1180 | $590,000.00 |
| 1,000 | $1050 | $1,050,000.00 |
EP2SGX30DF780C5N Overview
An FPGA is a semiconductor device whose logic function is defined after manufacturing by a configuration bitstream loaded into on-chip SRAM, as opposed to an ASIC where the function is fixed at tape-out. FPGAs sit in the wider hierarchy: programmable logic device (PLD) → field-programmable gate array (FPGA) → high-density FPGA with embedded transceivers. Stratix II GX parts are specialized for high-speed serial I/O (PCI Express, XAUI, Serial RapidIO, SerialLite II) and combine general-purpose fabric with hardened IP blocks, allowing a single chip to implement bridging, packet processing, and DSP functions that previously required an ASIC plus a discrete PHY.
Key features of the EP2SGX30DF780C5N include 1,694 LABs/CLBs, 1694 logic array blocks, total RAM bits of 1,369,728, and an extended industrial operating temperature range. The 'C5' speed grade corresponds to the slower commercial tier while still enabling >600 MHz fabric operation; the 'N' suffix denotes a lead-free, RoHS-compliant finish. The Stratix II GX family supports dedicated DSP blocks, on-chip termination for high-speed transceivers, and the Quartus II design suite for synthesis, place-and-route, and bitstream generation.
Architecturally, the device uses an adaptive logic module (ALM) based fabric with 8-input fracturable look-up tables, eight ALMs per LAB, and column-/row-based routing. Embedded transceivers operate from 600 Mbps to 6.375 Gbps depending on the protocol, with embedded PCS/PMA blocks for 8B/10B encoding, rate matching, and word alignment. The part supports source-synchronous DDR/DDR2/QDR II memory interfaces via dedicated DQS circuitry, making it well suited to high-bandwidth memory-to-logic bridging.
Typical applications include telecom backplane line cards, broadcast video processing, military radar and signal intelligence, medical imaging front-ends, and ASIC prototyping. The combination of 33k logic elements and embedded multi-gigabit transceivers makes the EP2SGX30DF780C5N particularly attractive for protocols that are now legacy but still in service (XAUI, PCIe Gen1/Gen2, Serial RapidIO). A primary design consideration is power-supply sequencing - the 1.2 V core, 3.3V/2.5V/1.8V I/O banks, and PLL/transceiver auxiliary supplies must ramp in the order specified by the datasheet to avoid in-rush latch-up. PCB layout requires impedance-controlled 100 Ω differential traces for the transceiver channels and matched-length routing for DDR/DDR2 memory interfaces.
This page synthesizes distributor pricing, lifecycle status, drop-in Stratix II GX alternatives with the same FC-FBGA-780 footprint, and practical Quartus II design notes not found in the manufacturer datasheet.
Drop-in alternatives for EP2SGX30DF780C5N — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
Variants in this series
Same-series models that are drop-in compatible with EP2SGX30DF780C5N (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Package, Operating Temperature, Speed Grade, RoHS Status, Package Type.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
EP2SGX30DF780C4N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$171 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2SGX30DF780C3N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$95.5 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2SGX30DF780C3
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$797.98 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2SGX30DF780C4
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$112 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2SGX30CF780C5N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$160 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2SGX300DF780C5N
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$3500 / Unit
View Datasheet →EP2SGX30DF780C5N Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Series | Stratix® II GX |
| Family Name | Stratix II GX |
| Logic Elements / Cells | 33,880 |
| LABs / CLBs | 1,694 |
| Total RAM Bits | 1,369,728 |
| User I/O Count | 361 |
| Package Type | FC-FBGA-780 |
| Package Size | 29 mm x 29 mm |
| Ball Pitch | 1.0 mm |
| Operating Temperature | -40°C to +85°C (extended commercial) |
| Core Voltage | 1.2 V |
| Internal Frequency (max) | 622 MHz |
| Process Technology | 90 nm CMOS |
| RoHS Status | Compliant (lead-free finish) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Speed Grade | C5 |
| Design Tool | Quartus II |
EP2SGX30DF780C5N Pin Configuration
| Pin F1 | VCCIO1A — I/O bank 1A supply |
| Pin G2 | IO1A_0 — User I/O bank 1A pin 0 |
| Pin H3 | IO1A_1 — User I/O bank 1A pin 1 |
| Pin AA1 | GXB_RXP0 — Transceiver channel 0 receive positive |
| Pin AB2 | GXB_RXN0 — Transceiver channel 0 receive negative |
| Pin AC3 | GXB_TXP0 — Transceiver channel 0 transmit positive |
| Pin AD4 | GXB_TXN0 — Transceiver channel 0 transmit negative |
| Pin AE5 | VCCRT — Transceiver analog supply |
| Pin B6 | VCCINT — Core supply 1.2 V |
| Pin C7 | VCCPD — Pre-drive supply |
| Pin D8 | GND — Ground reference |
| Pin E9 | nCONFIG — Configuration active-low reset |
| Pin F10 | MSEL0 — Configuration mode select 0 |
| Pin G11 | MSEL1 — Configuration mode select 1 |
| Pin H12 | TCK — JTAG test clock |
| Pin J13 | TMS — JTAG test mode select |
| Pin K14 | TDI — JTAG test data in |
| Pin L15 | TDO — JTAG test data out |
| Pin M16 | DCLK — Configuration clock |
| Pin N17 | DATA0 — Configuration data 0 |
| Pin P18 | nSTATUS — Configuration status (active low) |
| Pin R19 | CONF_DONE — Configuration done indicator |
Typical Applications
EP2SGX30DF780C5N is suitable for 6 applications: Telecom Backplane Line Cards, ASIC Prototyping and Emulation, Broadcast Video Processing, Military Radar and Signal Intelligence, Medical Imaging Front-Ends, Industrial Test and Measurement.
Telecom Backplane Line Cards
The EP2SGX30DF780C5N is well suited to telecom backplane line cards where its embedded multi-gigabit transceivers (XAUI, Serial RapidIO, SerialLite II) and 33,880 logic elements can implement a complete framer/mapper plus ingress/egress packet processing on a single device. Its 361 user I/Os and ~1.4 Mbit of on-chip RAM allow line-rate buffering of small packets without external SRAM, while the FC-FBGA-780 footprint gives the board designer enough balls for several source-synchronous DDR2/QDR II memory channels. Trade-off: at 90 nm CMOS the static power is non-trivial, so chassis airflow or a modest heatsink must be accounted for in the BOM.
Recommended
ASIC Prototyping and Emulation
With 33,880 logic elements distributed across 1,694 LABs and dedicated source-synchronous memory interfaces, the EP2SGX30DF780C5N is a strong fit for ASIC prototyping of mid-complexity designs (sub-30k gate equivalent). Engineers commonly partition ASIC RTL across multiple Stratix II GX devices, and the 780-ball FC-FBGA package supports a chip-to-chip LVDS or SERDES bridge between sibling FPGAs. The Quartus II synthesis flow is mature and well documented for ASIC prototype bring-up, though designers should budget for I/O bank voltage planning since each of the eight I/O banks supports independent VCCIO rails from 1.2 V to 3.3 V.
Recommended
Broadcast Video Processing
The EP2SGX30DF780C5N handles broadcast video pipelines such as SD/HD-SDI embedding, color-space conversion, and deinterlacing thanks to its DSP blocks, 361 user I/Os (enough for multi-stream SDI I/O plus a host interface), and 622 MHz fabric capable of sustaining real-time processing at 148.5 MHz pixel clocks. Its extended commercial -40°C to +85°C range suits outdoor or mobile broadcast enclosures. Pair with external serializer/deserializer parts (e.g., SDI cable drivers) on the same PCB; the embedded transceivers can also be configured for HDMI 1.4 / DisplayPort auxiliary channels if protocol bridging is needed.
Recommended
Military Radar and Signal Intelligence
Defense system integrators have long relied on the EP2SGX30DF780C5N for radar digitizer front-ends and SIGINT capture cards where the combination of 33k logic elements, embedded transceivers for ADC-to-FPGA link aggregation (e.g., FPDP, VITA 49), and the 780-ball FC-FBGA package enables a compact 6U VPX or VME card design. Its 90 nm CMOS process is well characterized for SEU behavior in avionics and ground-mobile applications. Designers should plan for periodic configuration scrub because the SRAM-based fabric is susceptible to upsets; an external watchdog or radiation-hardened configuration memory is recommended.
Recommended
Medical Imaging Front-Ends
Ultrasound beamformers and CT reconstruction pre-processors benefit from the EP2SGX30DF780C5N's 33k logic elements plus dedicated DSP blocks for FIR filtering and Hilbert transforms, with 361 I/Os to attach multiple high-channel-count ADC front-ends. The 622 MHz fabric comfortably handles 40 MHz beamformer clocks with margin, and the 1.4 Mbit of on-chip RAM is enough to stage channel data before DMA to host memory. Design consideration: medical IEC 60601-1 isolation and patient leakage paths are board-level concerns and not addressed by the FPGA itself.
Recommended
Industrial Test and Measurement
ATE pin electronics, protocol analyzers, and high-speed serial BERT platforms leverage the EP2SGX30DF780C5N's transceivers (PCIe Gen1/2, XAUI, Serial RapidIO, custom rates up to 3.125 Gbps depending on protocol block) alongside its 33k logic elements for pattern generation and error counting. The 780-ball FC-FBGA footprint supports both source-synchronous test pins and on-board DDR2 capture memory. Designers appreciate the Quartus II SignalTap logic analyzer for in-system debug of high-speed interfaces; plan an external JTAG header for boundary-scan access in production testers.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for EP2SGX30DF780C5N — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | EP2SGX30DF780C4N | EP2SGX30DF780C3N | EP2SGX30DF780C3 | EP2SGX30DF780C4 | EP2SGX30CF780C5N | EP2SGX300DF780C5N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | FC-FBGA-780 (29x29 mm, 1.0 mm pitch) | FC-FBGA-780 - same | FC-FBGA-780 - same | FC-FBGA-780 - same | FC-FBGA-780 - same | FC-FBGA-780 - same | FC-FBGA-780 - same |
| Brand | Intel (formerly Altera) | Intel - same | Intel - same | Intel - same | Intel - same | Intel - same | Intel - same |
| Logic Elements | 33,880 | 33,880 | 33,880 | 33,880 | 33,880 | 33,880 | 300k+ class (~9x) |
| Speed Grade | C5 | C4 (~10% faster) | C3 (~20% faster) | C3 (~20% faster) | C4 (~10% faster) | C5 | C5 |
| Operating Temperature | -40°C to +85°C (commercial C5) | -40°C to +85°C | -40°C to +85°C | -40°C to +85°C | -40°C to +85°C | -40°C to +85°C | -40°C to +85°C |
| Core Voltage | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.2 V | 1.2 V |
| RoHS / Lead-free | Yes (RoHS, lead-free finish) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lifecycle Status | Last-time-buy (as of 2026-09-09) | Last-time-buy | Last-time-buy | Last-time-buy | Last-time-buy | Last-time-buy | Last-time-buy |
Key Differentiators
- Highest logic density in the EP2SGX30 family at speed-grade C5 (vs EP2SGX30DF780C3N)
- Lead-free RoHS-compliant FC-FBGA finish (vs EP2SGX30DF780C3)
- Mid-density sweet spot with integrated transceivers (vs EP2SGX300DF780C5N)
Design Notes
Estimated: at VCCINT = 1.2 V and typical Stratix II GX core current of ~1.0 A under worst-case utilization, core power is approximately 1.2 W. Transceiver channels each draw ~150 mW at 3.125 Gbps, so a fully populated EP2SGX30DF780C5N with 12 active channels can add 1.8 W. Add 8 user I/O banks at 3.3 V with mixed DDR2 traffic for another ~0.8 W. Total board dissipation can exceed 4 W, requiring 4-6 layer PCB with solid VCCINT/VCCRT planes and thermal vias to inner copper.
Place decoupling capacitors as close as possible to every VCCINT, VCCIO, VCCRT, and VCCPD pin. Use 0.1 µF X7R for high-frequency bypass on every supply pair, plus 10 µF bulk tantalum or ceramic per supply rail. The 1.0 mm pitch FC-FBGA-780 requires microvia stack-ups (laser-drilled 0.1 mm vias); a high-density-interconnect (HDI) PCB process with 1-2-1 or 1-2-1-2-1 layer stack is mandatory. Reference the Stratix II GX package file (.bxl) from Altera for exact ball assignments.
Do not apply I/O voltage (VCCIO) before the 1.2 V core (VCCINT) has ramped - this can trigger I/O latch-up. Use a power sequencing controller (e.g., LTC2924, TPS3808) to enforce VCCINT → VCCPD → VCCIO ordering, and to monitor nSTATUS / CONF_DONE during configuration. The Quartus II 'Power-Up Reset' feature requires a clean POR signal; if your supply ramp time exceeds 100 ms, an external reset delay IC is required. Avoid sharing decoupling capacitors between VCCRT (transceiver analog) and VCCINT because transceiver PLL jitter will degrade.
Differential transceiver pairs (GXB_RXP/N and GXB_TXP/N) must be routed as 100 Ω differential stripline or microstrip with intra-pair skew < 1 ps/mm and length matching to < 5 mil across all channels. Use loss-controlled PCB material (e.g., Isola FR408HR, Megtron 6) above 3 Gbps. Reference the Stratix II GX handbook Chapter 7 for AC-coupling capacitor placement (typically 100 nF near the TX side for most protocols). Source-synchronous DDR2 interfaces require 2:1 or 4:1 impedance-controlled fly-by topology with read/write deskew via per-bit DQS delay lines.
Compliance Information
RoHS compliant per 'N' suffix in MPN and Intel/Altera product documentation. Last-time-buy lifecycle status as of 2026-09-09. AEC-Q100 not applicable - this is a commercial-grade FPGA, not automotive-qualified.
