Starter University Board Feature Coverage

Expand the System

The following table lists features available on each starter board. Professors can use this chart to
select a board appropriate for projects or labs.

Starter Boards Feature Comparison
	Basys	Nexys-2	Spartan®-3E Starter Kit
FPGA	Spartan-3E XC3S500E	Spartan-3E XC3S500E	Spartan-3E XC3S500E
Package	TQ100	FG320	FG320
Speed Grade	-4	-5	-4
Configuration download (Embedded USB)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Configuration storage	XCF02 Platform Flash	XCF04 Platform Flash	XCF04 Platform Flash
Buttons	4	4	4 push/1 rotary
Switches	8	8	4
LEDs	8	8	8
7-Seg Displays	4-digit	4-digit	*PModSSD
PS2	2 ports	2 ports	1ports
RS232	*PmodRS232	2 ports (DCE,DTE)	2 ports (DCE,DTE)
USB	Data transfers	Data transfers	No
Ethernet	No	No	10/100
Audio In	*PModMIC	*PModMIC	*PModMIC
Audio Out	*PModAMP1	*PModAMP1	*PModAMP1
Video In	No	*VDEC1	*VDEC1
Video Out	VGA (8-bit resistor network)	VGA (8-bit resistor network)	VGA (3-bit resistor network)
LCD	*PModCLS	*PModCLS	16x2 char display
Flash	No	Intel Strata Flash (8MB x 16-bits)	Intel Strata Flash (8MB x 16-bits)
SDRAM	No	Micron Cellular RAM (8MB x 16-bits)	Micron Technology DDR SDRAM (32MB x 16 bits)
Analog-to-Digital Converter	*PmodAD1	*PmodAD1	2-channel Linear Tech analog capture circuits (pre-amplifier and 14-bit A/D)
Digital-to-Analog Converter	*PmodDA2	*PmodDA2	Linear Tech Quad DAC (4 channels of 12-bit D/A)
Expansion	Four 6-pin headers available for connecting Pmods	Four 6-pin headers available for connecting Pmods, Hirose FX2 connector (20 differential)	Hirose FX2 connector (access 43 user-single-ended I/O pins or up to 15 differential LVDS I/O pairs and 2 input-only pairs)

*Pmod Peripheral Module available from Digilent

For general questions or comments, please send an email to xup@xilinx.com