[General Discussion] Topic: Is the new Apex-5 Logic Gate overkill for hobbyist projects?

Posted by: SolderWhisperer88 (Senior Member) | 2 hours ago

Description:

"Hey everyone, I just saw the blog post about the new Apex-5 Logic Gate boasting a $1.2\text{ns}$ propagation delay. While those specs look incredible for industrial telecommunications, I’m wondering if anyone sees a real-world use case for us hobbyists?

I’m currently working on a retro-gaming handheld project. I’m debating if switching to the Apex-5 would actually help with signal integrity on my high-speed display bus, or if I’m just throwing money at a problem that a standard CMOS gate can handle.

Main points for discussion:

• Does the power efficiency (25% less draw) justify the higher cost per unit?

• How difficult is it to hand-solder that DFN-6 package? (It looks tiny!)

• Has anyone benchmarked this against the old Reliable-Logic 74 series?"