Intel

EP3SE260F1152I4N - Stratix III E FPGA, 255K LE, 1152-FCBGA | Intel

MPN: EP3SE260F1152I4N ⚠ Last Time Buy

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0.86 V Vdss 1152-ball FCBGA (35 mm x 35 mm) Package 4 Speed 16,672,768 Memory

From $2050 USD / Unit

MOQ: 1 |

Price updated: 2026-09-09

Volume Pricing

Qty	Unit Price	Extended
1	$2850	$2,850.00
10	$2710	$27,100.00
100	$2510	$251,000.00
500	$2280	$1,140,000.00
1,000	$2050	$2,050,000.00

ℹ️ All prices are in USD

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EP3SE260F1152I4N Overview

The Intel (formerly Altera) EP3SE260F1152I4N is a high-performance, low-power Stratix III E family Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) featuring 255,000 logic elements, 16,672,768 bits of embedded memory, and 744 maximum user I/O pins, housed in a 1152-ball FineLine BGA (FCBGA) package. Operating from a 0.86V core supply with industrial temperature grade (-40C to +100C) and speed grade 4, the device integrates up to 10,200 Logic Array Blocks (LABs) and supports transceiver-rich system designs.

A Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is a reconfigurable integrated circuit containing an array of programmable logic blocks, interconnect, and I/O cells that engineers can customize via HDL (Hardware Description Language) bitstreams. FPGAs occupy the top tier of the digital semiconductor hierarchy: programmable logic -> reconfigurable computing -> parallel hardware accelerator. Compared to ASICs, FPGAs offer rapid time-to-market and in-system reprogrammability; compared to microcontrollers, FPGAs deliver hardware-level parallelism for DSP, packet processing, and high-speed I/O fan-out.

Key features include 896 DSP blocks (18x18 multipliers), 48 transceivers operating up to 8.5 Gbps, support for external memory interfaces including DDR3, QDR II+, and RLDRAM II, and Altera's adaptive logic module (ALM) architecture that delivers up to 25% higher performance per logic element versus the prior Stratix II generation. The 1152-FCBGA package supports high-pin-count designs requiring maximum bandwidth.

The EP3SE260F1152I4N utilizes TSMC's 40nm process with Altera's proprietary Programmable Power Technology, which dynamically reduces power consumption by up to 50% versus static FPGA implementations. The architecture includes hard PCI Express Gen2 endpoints, hard memory controllers, and partial reconfiguration support for designs that must modify logic blocks while the device is running.

Typical applications include high-end telecommunication line cards, military radar signal processing, ASIC prototyping, software-defined radio (SDR) baseband, high-performance computing (HPC) acceleration, and broadcast video processing. The 744 I/O and 48 transceivers make it especially suitable for protocol-bridging and high-bandwidth data aggregation systems.

When designing with this FPGA, ensure proper power sequencing for the 0.86V core, 1.1V/1.5V/2.5V/3.3V auxiliary rails, and the PLL analog supply. Use Altera's Quartus II design software (the legacy design suite for Stratix III) for synthesis, place-and-route, and timing closure. PCB layout must allocate sufficient decoupling capacitors and ground vias for the high-current transients typical of 8.5 Gbps transceivers.

This page synthesizes distributor pricing, drop-in same-package alternatives from the Stratix III E family, cross-reference companion parts, and practical design considerations not consolidated in the manufacturer datasheet.

Drop-in alternatives for EP3SE260F1152I4N — 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 EP3SE260F1152I4N (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Package, Core Voltage, Series, Logic Elements, Logic Array Blocks (LABs).

EP3SE260F1152C4N

Intel

Package: 1152-ball FC-FBGA (flip-chip)

Core Voltage: 1.1 V