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The Olimex GateMateA1-EVB is a €50 development board for Cologne Chip’s GateMate A1 FPGA, combining open hardware with practical interfaces for video, retro-computing experiments and custom FPGA prototypes. Olimex listed it in stock on October 1, 2026; price and availability can change.
What the GateMateA1-EVB is
The GateMateA1-EVB is a 120 × 80 mm development board built around Cologne Chip’s CCGM1A1 GateMate A1. Olimex’s Olimex GateMateA1-EVB pairs the FPGA with 64 Mbit of PSRAM and an RP2040 microcontroller for programming and debugging. It is a hands-on board rather than a bare FPGA module: it has built-in connectors, switches, buttons and LEDs for experimenting without first designing a carrier board.
Olimex listed the board at €50 and marked it in stock on October 1, 2026. Its product page also describes a 2M variant, which adds 2 MB of SPI flash with the surrounding components populated. This is additional to the board’s 2 MB configuration flash for the RP2040.
What the FPGA can do
Cologne Chip specifies the GateMate A1 as a 28 nm FPGA made at GlobalFoundries Dresden. Its resources and high-speed connectivity suit small-to-medium FPGA projects, with capacity for custom digital logic, interfaces and video-related experiments.
#1 Best Overall
- Designed for students and beginners looking to understand Digital Logic, fundamentals of FPGAs
- Features the Xilinx Artix 7 FPGA compatible with Vivado Design Suite WebPACK Edition (free download available from Xilinx)
- On board user interfaces include 16 user switches, 16 LEDs, 5 user pushbuttons, and a
- Expansion opportunities with four Pmod ports including 3 standard 12-pin Pmod ports and 1 dual
- Does NOT ship with micro USB cable
| GateMate A1 resource | Vendor specification |
|---|---|
| Logic | 20,480 8-input logic elements, also described as CPEs |
| Registers | 40,960 flip-flops and latches |
| Block RAM | 1,280 Kb |
| Clocking | Four PLLs, specified up to 420 MHz |
| High-speed serial | One 5 Gb/s SerDes |
| I/O capacity | Up to 162 single-ended or 81 differential I/Os |
| I/O signaling | 1.2 V to 2.5 V; Cologne Chip’s specification table also notes 3.3 V support |
Those are FPGA specifications, not a promise that every pin or voltage is exposed on the Olimex board. On the EVB, four I/O banks have selectable 1.2 V, 1.8 V or 2.5 V signaling.
What you can connect
The board’s built-in interfaces cover legacy peripherals, display experiments and modular expansion. The connectors do not make the board a complete retro-computer or video system by themselves: you supply and implement the FPGA logic for the project.
Rank #2
- Arty A7 comes in two FPGA variants: Arty A7-35T features Xilinx XC7A35TICSG324-1L. Arty A7-100T features the larger Xilinx XC7A100TCSG324-1.
- Internal clock speeds exceeding 450MHz, On-chip analog-to-digital converter (XADC), Programmable over JTAG and Quad-SPI Flash
- 256MB DDR3L with a 16-bit bus @ 667MHz, 16MB Quad-SPI Flash, USB-JTAG Programming circuitry, Powered from USB or any 7V-15V source
- 10/100 Mbps Ethernet, USB-UART Bridge
- 4 Switches, 4 Buttons, 1 Reset Button, 4 LEDs, 4 RGB LEDs, 4 Pmod connectors, shield connector
- USB-C: board power and programming.
- VGA: a direct path for FPGA video-output experiments.
- PS/2: a connection for compatible keyboards or other PS/2 devices.
- PMOD and UEXT: level-shifted expansion connectors for compatible modules and user circuits.
- Four I/O banks: selectable bank signaling at 1.2 V, 1.8 V or 2.5 V; check the bank setting and peripheral requirements before connecting hardware.
- Controls and indicators: four push buttons, power and user LEDs, and a four-section configuration slide switch.
Olimex lists a separate GateMateA1-EVB case for €12. It also announced eleven extension-board designs in December 2024 covering DVI, LAN, USB, ADC, I/O and I2S audio. Those designs were described as prototypes at the time, so the announcement alone does not establish that all are now available as finished add-ons.
How open are the hardware and tools?
Olimex’s repository assigns different licenses to different parts of the project: CERN Open Hardware Licence Version 2 (Strongly Reciprocal) for hardware, GPL-3.0 for software, and CC BY-SA 3.0 for documentation. Olimex identifies the board as OSHW certified Open Source Hardware, UID BG0000117. The separate licenses matter if you plan to modify or redistribute designs, software or documentation; check the relevant license terms for the material you use.
Rank #3
- [FPGA Chip] GW2AR-18 QN88 FPGA Chip containing 20736 LUT4 logic cells and 15552 Filp-Flops.There are 2 PLL in this FPGA chip, and many DSP units supporting 18 bit x 18 bit multiplication
- [Onboard Debugger ] Sipeed Tang Nano 20K Development Board support JTAG for FPGA, USB to UART for FPGA,USB to SPI for FPGA communication, Control MS5351 generate frequency
- [USB2.0 HS interface] The 27MHz crystal generates the clock for HDMI display, onboard MS5351 clock generating chip also provides mutiple clocks.Support Serial communication, high-speed SPI reception.
- [Application scenarios] Tang Nano 20K Open source Development Board supports game console emulators, drives RGB screens, multiple display outputs, 20K LUT4, RISC-V soft-core experiments.
- [Wiki] "dl.sipeed.com/shareURL/TANG/Nano_20K/1_Datasheet";Any after-Sales Privems, Please Contact us by click "Waypondev" store and ask a question or leave the message in our forum by "forum.youyeetoo .com/".
Cologne Chip describes its GateMate toolchain as open source and license-free, covering synthesis, place-and-route, bitstream generation, static timing analysis, and Verilog or netlist simulation. The vendor identifies Yosys as the synthesis framework. This gives the board a route through an openly described FPGA tool flow rather than making it dependent on a proprietary vendor-only toolchain.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Olimex board or Cologne Chip evaluation kit?
Both platforms target the GateMate A1, but their built-in interfaces and intended workflows differ. Olimex’s board emphasizes an inexpensive, open-hardware setup with PS/2, VGA, PSRAM and RP2040-assisted programming and debugging. Cologne Chip’s evaluation-board datasheet describes a different reference platform with USB host, JTAG, SPI, flash, SerDes, Pmod, HyperRAM and 108 GPIOs.
Rank #4
- The best way to get started with FPGAs: Using a simple board with projects that build on eachother, now anyone can get started with FPGA development!
- Fun peripherals available: With 4 LEDs, 4 push-buttons, 7-segment display, USB connector, a VGA connector, and a PMOD (for expansion) you can have dozens of fun projects available to you out of the box!
- Works with Verilog and VHDL: No matter which programming language you want to get started with, the Go Board will work for you!
- No extra device required: Simply plug the Go Board into a USB port and go! Getting started with FPGAs has never been easier.
- Works with all operating systems: Windows, Mac, Linux
| Consideration | Olimex GateMateA1-EVB | Cologne Chip evaluation platform |
|---|---|---|
| Price and availability | €50 and listed in stock by Olimex on October 1, 2026; recheck the product page before ordering. | Price and availability are not stated in the cited evaluation-board information. |
| Notable interfaces | PS/2, VGA, PSRAM, RP2040, PMOD and UEXT. | USB host, JTAG, SPI, flash, SerDes, Pmod and HyperRAM; datasheet lists 108 GPIOs. |
| Published openness | Olimex publishes board sources with explicit hardware, software and documentation licenses. | Cologne Chip supplies the device toolchain and evaluation documentation. |
| Best fit | Cost-conscious learning, retro-computing or video experiments, and open-hardware prototyping. | Evaluation work that benefits from the vendor platform’s reference interfaces, programmer and official documentation. |
Choose based on the interfaces and workflow your project needs, not on the FPGA name alone. Olimex also sells its own enclosure; that is a concrete accessory, while the announced extension-board designs were prototypes when reported.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
