Chinese components and GoWin FPGAs. Is it worth?

It's been a few years since I mentioned the rise of China in the supply of original components. GoWin is one of those companies that for several years has developed a series of FPGAs.

So I thought it was time to try this type of components. For this I managed to get the programming tool GWU2X :

The development software tool is available directly on the GoWin site. I also had to find a development board equipped with an original GoWin FPGA. I couldn't really find what suited me on the market, so I decided to develop my own board, in Qmtech format, since I had developed a few projects with this board format: 

Very recently, I managed to implement the 'Hello World' (the blinking led) on this board. The next step was very ambitious, namely trying to implement a complete Z80 system within this FPGA. 

So, I chose to try installing the Microprofessor version 1B system on the electronic board dedicated to this small vintage computer:

The uPF--1 original board

It took me a few hours to familiarize myself with the GoWin development environment, as well as to make the necessary small modifications to my VHDL code to make this FPGA compatible with the uPF--1 system. 

So, after a few hours of work, the result is there:

I did not attempt to implement all the hardware resources of the uPF--1, that was not the goal. I just wanted to see if I could get the same services with this FPGA as with the ones I usually use like Altera (Intel now) circuits. The goal is reached. I now think I can continue to develop using these GoWin circuits.

Conclusion: I appreciate these circuits which seem to me easier to use than the Xilinx or Altera circuits. The entire development chain is easy to understand. The necessary resources are available on the web. There are few ways of doing of the software development that could be improved a bit. But this is more of a personal matter...

In short: practical component to use. Easy to use development chain: cool!