[azonenberg]

Where are you getting them for $2.50?? The XC7Z010-1CLG225C is $74.83 at Digikey in qty 1.

Checking sketchier places Win-Source has the CLG400 package for $22.20 and even the cheapest aliexpress seller wants $4.84 for something marked as a 7Z010 that may or may not be legit.

Also "fight the chip" is pretty much the definition of what I did last time I did a zynq project. Just give me a plain FPGA and MCU with no wizards or GUIs or automatic code generation.

[15155]

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803970893483.html

I've ordered trays (and they send the OEM tray) - unique barcodes, legit.

> Just give me a plain FPGA and MCU with no wizards or GUIs or automatic code generation.

You can pretty much cut out all of their tools and get a pure Yocto/Vivado TCL build for the bitstream for the 7 series Zynqs. Very low touch.

Their IO planner (in the Vivado IP integrator) is somewhat necessary for complex peripheral scenarios and is one of the few things I ever use Xilinx GUI applications for anymore.

[scottapotamas]

I was interested to see, or at least what state they're in so I grabbed a couple. Might try to compare them against some genuine ones with CT and destructive inspection.

On the chance they're half reasonable, thanks for the link.

[15155]

Let me know if the barcodes are anything but unique/perfect. This has been the case with many vendors, but these chips are cheap enough that you can try 50 vendors.

[scottapotamas]

Will do. Not too worried about trying low cost parts to gain some minimal confidence in a possible source, they're compelling for weekend side-projects at least.

I've previously struggled to roll the dice for higher end parts as the cost difference isn't as extreme and had some obvious reballed parts a few years ago. If they're OK then their $20 XC7K325T will be at the top of my list...

[15155]

At $20, just buy from LCSC-

https://www.lcsc.com/product-detail/Programmable-Logic-Devic...

https://www.lcsc.com/product-detail/Microcontroller-Units-MC...

[scottapotamas]

That's low-end Zynq and Artix and I'm thinking more >676 Kintex, though I appreciate any discussion on sourcing.

In the way that that Aliexpress vendor lists the 7010 parts at 1/10th the price of LCSC, some of their $20-60 listings are also shockingly cheap in comparison.

[azonenberg]

I have some obviously reballed (but well done) aliexpress XCKU5P's that I got for $55 a while back. Haven't tested yet but the price was so good I couldn't resist.

[scottapotamas]

I’ve been bitten before but the risk/reward is probably worth it for parts like that.

Thanks for your write-ups btw, been following glScope development for a while.

[anyfoo]

I don’t even find Vivado that bad, but maybe I have Stockholm syndrome. Or maybe it’s because I’m forced to use Intel Quartus right now and wish it was Vivado every time.

[Yoofie]

How do you assemble your board with BGA packages? Or do you procure the parts and then send them somewhere for assembly?

[15155]

Vapor phase reflow.

[anyfoo]

What parts do you have to fight? I’ve been using Zynqs for about almost a decade or so, and I really enjoy them. But that’s for personal projects with a lot of freedom, so I’m curious what problems arise in more commercial/professional settings.

Nowadays, I only often wish I had their ARMv8 chips instead of the old ARMv7 32bit architecture because that’s just showing its age, but that’s par for the course of using ARMv7, and doesn’t affect the PL side (much, except for interfacing sometimes).