Re: spartan 3 eval board
Actually, I'm in the same boat...
I did compare the specs of those 2, and here are my conclusion
Nu-Horizons
Pros:
- Half the price of the Avnet board
- Integrated flash (not the config flash...), and more memory.
- ADC/DAC
- Built-in LCD
Cons:
- No high-speed port (Ethernet, USB, ...)
- Very limited in extra IO (FPGA is a 208 pins PQFP).
Avnet:
Pros:
- Video DAC
- Ethernet PHY (high speed
)
- PCI edge connector (even higher speed
) (require PCI IP core)
- Lot of expansion IO (FPGA is a BGA 456 pins)
Cons
- Double the price of NuHorizons
- No flash (appart from config flash)
- A little less memory
Though, I think that Avnet board 'cons' are much less problematic than NuHorizons. For example, even though there's no integrated flash, and other goodies, those can easily be added using extras IO. No mather the board, you'll eventually want to add things. For NuHorizon, you don't have much IO so forget about those IO-hungry flash and SRAM.
The Avnet have less memory, but for a start, I thing that SRAM is much more easier to use than DRAM. Then again, if you really want to add extra memory, there's plenty extras IO.
Well, Avnet have a special offer too, board at 299$ (in special offer page).
The only problem may be contacting them. I did contact them, but sometime, it take some time. Better go by phone... Though they said that they had those boards in stock
(Please don't take the last one, I want one too
)
Big Boy