Table 3b. Computational resources needed and size of data files for commercially available DNA sequencing platforms in 2011. All costs are list price in thousands of US dollars.
| Instrument | Computational Resourcesc | Data File Sizes (GB)d |
| 3730xl (capillary) | desktop | 0.03 |
| 454 GS Jr. Titanium | $5 (desktop) | < 3 images, < 1 sff |
| 454 FLX Titanium | $5 (desktop) | 20 images, 4 sff |
| 454 FLX+ | $5 (desktop) | 40 images, 8 sff |
| PacBio RS | $65 cluster | 2 (basecalls, QV, kinetics) |
| Ion Torrent – 314 chip | $16.5 (desktop)c | 0.1 sff, 0.2 fastq |
| Ion Torrent – 316 chip | $16.5 (desktop)c | 5 sff, 1 fastq |
| Ion Torrent – 318 chip | $16.5 (desktop)c | 10 sff, 2.5 fastq |
| Ion Torrent – Proton I | ($75) clusterd | 120 sff, 30 fastq |
| Ion Torrent – Proton II | ($75) clusterd | [big] |
| Ion Torrent – Proton III* | ($75) clusterd | [big] |
| SOLiD – 5500xl | $35 clusterc | 148e* |
| Illumina MiSeq | Desktop/cloud | 1e* |
| Illumina HiScanSQ | $222 clusterf | 50e* |
| Illumina GAIIx | $222 clusterf | 600 |
| Illumina HiSeq 1000 | $222 clusterf | ≤ 300e* |
| Illumina HiSeq 2000 | $222 clusterf | ≤ 600e* |
| Illumina HiSeq 2500 | $222 clusterf | [big] |
| Oxford Nanopore minION | laptop | [small] |
| Oxford Nanopore GridION 2000 | ? | [variable] |
| Oxford Nanopore GridION 8000 | ? | [variable] |
a
Desktops assume higher-end models with multiple processors, ≥ 8 GB RAM, ≥ 1 TB HD, etc. (up to $5k; except capillary = $2k desktop)
b
Data file size (ballpark average) transferred from instrument server to offline cluster; Ion Torrent PGM chips = 500 cycles
c
Compute cluster available from Life Technologies
d
Compute cluster included as part of the Proton system (not a separate cost)
e
New compressed binary data format saves base and quality-value data in a 1byte:1base ratio
f
Illumina Compute – Tier 1 system: 3 cluster nodes with 8 cores and 48 GB RAM per node (i.e., 24 cores and 144 GB RAM) and ~24 TB usable data storage; commodity equivalent systems are available for much less, but will require technical support (see text).
[big/small] = general indication of size
