"Allegro X Artist": Any good?

[frogblender]

Except for the last 5 years, I've been using Cadence PCB design tools for many a decade.  Then Cadence started calling their stuff "X", as in "X Artist" and "X Designer" and "X Venture".   The cheapest (other than the "Orcad" offerings) is "X Artist" (at ~$3-4kusd /year), with the "X Designer" and "X Venture" being substantially more expensive (2-3x, and 8x, respectively).  So the question:

Is "X Artist" good enough?   I plan to do PCIe Gen5, up to 20 layers, perhaps backdrilling;  I don't need any simulation, no microvias.

[Uky]

I use the version that in my region is marketed as "Professional".
It is the version above the starter in the region where I live.
It includes the "CIS" functionality.

This version has been good enough for quite complex multi-layer boards with
high speed differential routing, impedance control in the stack-up
manager, etc.

The marketing seems different for different countries/regions.
What you should seriously consider is the "CIS" option.

Without it, maintaining a design in terms of component BOM etc
is nothing but a PITA.

[nctnico]

Except for the last 5 years, I've been using Cadence PCB design tools for many a decade.  Then Cadence started calling their stuff "X", as in "X Artist" and "X Designer" and "X Venture".   The cheapest (other than the "Orcad" offerings) is "X Artist" (at ~$3-4kusd /year), with the "X Designer" and "X Venture" being substantially more expensive (2-3x, and 8x, respectively).  So the question:

Is "X Artist" good enough?   I plan to do PCIe Gen5, up to 20 layers, perhaps backdrilling;  I don't need any simulation, no microvias.

Make sure the software you buy has:
- impedance and crosstalk simulation (this is really easy to use and is an excellent way for checking for controlled impedance and/or sensitive traces)
- CIS (very handy as Uky noted)
- Static and dynamic phase analysis & tuning of differential pairs
- Support for delay constraints

As Uky I also use the professional edition which has all the required goodies for doing high speed designs.

[CadenceAE]

HI frogblender,   The AllegroX Artist tier should be good enough for you.  If previously you where using the base level of Allegro then AllegroX artist will have the same features.    You could also look at the OrCADX pro because it is almost the same as Allegro X artist.    thanks for using Cadence software.    I know most people don't like to do this, but also reach out to Cadence or your local reseller EMA.EDA or if your outside US and they can breakdown the specific features in each tier for you.   I wish it was easier

[nctnico]

HI frogblender,   The AllegroX Artist tier should be good enough for you.  If previously you where using the base level of Allegro then AllegroX artist will have the same features.    You could also look at the OrCADX pro because it is almost the same as Allegro X artist.    thanks for using Cadence software.    I know most people don't like to do this, but also reach out to Cadence or your local reseller EMA.EDA or if your outside US and they can breakdown the specific features in each tier for you.   I wish it was easier

Given the requirements, the base level of Allegro (Orcad PCB Designer) isn't going to be good enough. IMHO one of the main problems with Orcad / Cadence is how mistified the various tiers are and what you actually get. As a buyer this is highly frustrating and likely turns 99% of the potential customers away. Almost everyone I point towards Orcad tells me they went for Altium in the end (spending twice the amount of money for getting a piece of software which is super crappy in comparison!) because they don't know what to buy from Orcad.

Even the resellers don't really know what to suggest. When I bought Orcad I thought the base level was good enough (based on the information the reseller provided) only to find out the type of constraints I needed where not supported so I needed to buy another, extra license to get to the professional level. This ended up costing me more than I would have spend on getting a package deal. With the new, renamed tiers, this process is not getting easier. I'm thinking about upgrading but I have no idea which tier would be functionally equivalent to what I have now so in the end I don't bother.

Renaming things isn't going to help increase sales; the underlying problem needs to be addressed.