PCB Design Software Recommendation

[expertengr]

Altium PCB or Mentor Graphics PCB Xpedition ? which one is more professional and advance ?

 

[FvM]

Moved to specific PCB design software section.

Please consider the sticky "Stop the is xxx software is better than xxx software topicz" thread which is still valid as I think.

It says:

Please do not start any more of these topics unless you have specific questions or object for comparing between the software.

"More professional and advanced" are almost empty terms.

 

[Mattylad]

I would ask more - which one is used more within industry in your area.

Have a look for job openings, in my area Altium seems to have a better foothold in the jobs market, so makes it (to me) more popular.

 

[pcbsky]

Altium PCB is more better , I think.

 

[marce]

Try them and form your own opinion....

 

[denver23]

Mentor Graphics PCB Expedition is more advanced, but it is more expensive too
If you boards are really difficult and have many layers, then Expedition is the answer

 

[marce]

To be quite honest for standard boards even up to 16-24 layers any software will do the job... they are all as bad.
What is a difficult PCB, would you class a 14 layer high current, high reliability, very dense both physically and thermally as difficult? or a design with 8000 components and 28K connections? Both been done on standard PCB design packages (not altium)

 

[denver23]

BY difficult I mean multi layer boards that carry multiple high pin count elements, boards that have complex constraint requirements, differential pairs, need for different routing and so on.
As for your examples - did you have complex constraints on your boards ?
I'm quite intrigued to find our the PCB package you used for your boards

 

[marce]

The second board had multiple data and address busses, critical timing worked on by multiple people simultaneously. The first board current and mainly analogue, noise constraints etc.
Both have controlled impedance routing, differential and single ended.
Software Cadstar.

 

[youth1478]

At school, we use Altium's Protel 99SE and use the Protel DXP after graduation.
Followed by Altium's introduction of Altium Designer.Personally think that Altium PCB is better.

 

[marce]

That's your opinion, and that's all these threads are just opinions (refer to #2 above).
If you actually look at it factually you'll find that Mentor is the better option... But as I say time and time again, users have to find what they like best, often the first package they learn on and get use to...

 

[spudboy488]

As an earlier post suggested, find out what is being used in the industry you plan on working in. My favorite is OrCAD. It's what I learned and used first. The job I have now uses Altium. Guess what. I learned and use Altium. If you're looking for hobby stuff, look for demos of everything and decide for yourself. If it's for a career, find what pays the bills and learn it.