Why More Users Are Looking at 100T DMA Hardware in 2026

Over the last few years, the 75T became the board that almost everyone recommended when someone asked about FPGA-based DMA hardware. It offered enough resources for most projects, was widely available, and had a large user base behind it.

Lately, though, I've noticed a change.

More people are asking about 100T boards.

Not because the 75T suddenly became obsolete. In fact, the 75T is still a capable FPGA platform in 2026. The reason is that many users have started running into the same problem: projects rarely stay the same size for long.

When people first buy a DMA card, they usually focus on getting something that works today. A few months later, they start adding features, modifying firmware, experimenting with different PCIe implementations, or building larger FPGA designs. That's when FPGA resources begin to matter.

The difference between a 75T and a 100T isn't just a model number. The Artix-7 XC7A100T provides roughly 35% more logic resources than the XC7A75T, along with additional LUTs, flip-flops, Block RAM, and DSP slices. For simple projects, you may never notice the difference. For larger designs, that extra headroom can be surprisingly valuable.

One thing I've learned from working with FPGA boards is that nobody complains about having too many resources. The opposite happens all the time. A project starts small, grows over time, and eventually reaches the limits of the hardware it was originally designed for.

That's why the conversation around DMA hardware has gradually shifted toward 100T platforms. It's not because the PCIe interface is faster. It's not because the board suddenly performs magic. The attraction is flexibility.

A larger FPGA gives developers more room to experiment, more room to expand, and more room to avoid redesigning everything later.

Another reason people are moving toward 100T DMA hardware is simple availability. As the FPGA community matures, many buyers are skipping entry-level boards altogether and choosing hardware that can support future projects from day one.

If someone asked me whether a 75T is still worth buying, my answer would be yes. It's still a solid DMA card and remains more than capable for many FPGA applications.

But if you're planning to spend significant time developing on the platform, the 100T starts making a lot of sense. The cost difference is usually easier to justify than rebuilding a project after discovering you've run out of FPGA resources.

That's probably the biggest reason 100T boards have become one of the most discussed topics among DMA card users recently. The hardware isn't fundamentally different from previous generations—it simply gives developers more room to grow, and that's something people tend to appreciate once they start pushing beyond basic FPGA projects.