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Xilinx Virtex 5 vs. Xilinx Spartan 3e 500k

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adwnis123

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What difference, in practice, do I see in Xilinx Virtex 5 comparing to a Xilinx Spartan 3E. I have seen the datasheets, but I prefer to ask a specialist, as I am thinking of buying a Virtex 5 to learn it and I want some opinions, because it costs too much for what I can spend.
 

You can "learn" the Virtex 5 without spending anything. Then you say you are thinking of buying a V5, but "it costs too much for what I can spend." Doesn't that mean you're NOT going to buy it? What is it you are trying to learn about it? The Spartan is similar to the Virtex, but with fewer resources-your end result will be slower. If you really want to use a Virtex, you're going to have to buy a Virtex. if you're just trying to learn about FPGAs, buy a Spartan.
 
Spartan series are the cheap with lots of I/O devices. Their design isn't focused on speed.

Virtex series parts are designed for size and speed. So they are much faster for a given technology node.

You would realistically be better off buying a more recent family. Both the spartan 3e and Virtex 5 are 13 and 12 years old respectively. As they are not in production anymore they likely have risen in price.

I would suggest looking at Spartan 6, Spartan 7, Zynq, Artix parts instead (the last 3 will use the current version of tools (Vivado) instead of the mothballed ISE). Xilinx had to release a special version of ISE for Spartan 6 to specifically work on Windows 10.
 
Thank you!

Some more questions...if you can answer...
1) Can I do real time voice encryption on spartan 3e 500k?
2) Can I do image processing on spartan 3e 500k?
3) Why there is not an Operating System for FPGAs?
 

I'll answer your third question: Because FPGAs are not microprocessors. You can embed a micro into an FPGA, if you like.
 
When you search for a spartan 3e 500k starter board you see either Ebay used (abused?) boards for anywhere between $90-$100+ and new ones (maybe) at over $400. You can see what tying to buy an obsolete part does for the price.

If you look at a Artix-7 35T Arty board it's currently ~$124 (used to be $99) for a brand new board from a big distributor. Avnet/Mouser/etc.

Spec wise the Arty is a much better part.
Capture.PNG
More slices 5200 vs 4656, besides being all 6-input LUTs instead of 4-input LUTs
Way more memory 1,800 Kb vs 360 Kb.
More user I/O 250 vs 232
DSP48s (90) vs multipliers (20)
More clock resources 5 CMTs vs 4 DCMs
PCIe core vs none
GTP (high speed transceivers) vs none
XADC vs none

AFAIK, Greece (listed on your profile) isn't on any ITAR restricted list so you should be able to buy one without too much of a problem.

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To answer your questions...

1. probably as the bit rate of voice is rather low 96 Kb give decent results and the FPGA logic can run in the 100's of MHz so you can do a lot serially if necessary.

2. probably can do VGA or something similar, I doubt it can support HDMI or HD resolution given the lack of memory on the board and in the part.

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Update: It appears Amazon is selling them for Digilent for $99 still.
 
Hi,
In practice: In general Virtex has more resources and the boards are equipped with more connectivity and if you are going to do image processing more internal BRAMs can be useful.
You can do both Image processing and voice encryption with both.

However I really think you should consider the 7 Series and especially Artix 7. Spartan 3E and V5 is old and not supported by Xilinx new tool Vivado. By a board with Ethernet so you can debug easily from your PC.
So I recommend you to by one of the Digilent boards Arty A7 or Nexys 4 DDR depending on your budget.
 

Thank you for the information! I didn't know that. But from a first search I see that Artix 7 needs Vivaldo, and I have to buy it.
 

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