zlacker

>>evakho+(OP)
> I like the Raspberry Pi RP2040 a lot. It's relatively cheap (around $1 USD) and has tons of on-board RAM - 264 KB in fact! It also has what is called Programmable IO, or PIO.

I wonder how benchmarks would compare between the RP2040 and, say, a Z80.

>>zahlma+4h
It would destroy the Z80. It's a 32bit, dual core CPU running at 133MHz. Even single cored it'll thrash a Z80. Heck, I bet you could create a drop-in replacement board for the Z80 using an RP2040.

>>burnte+rk
Crazy what you can buy nowadays like the Teensy 4.0 with 600MHz base clock

Granted that's $20 not $1

>>ge96+cl
The key here is the "PIO" which you won't find on a Teensy. It lets you do extreme "bit banging" tricks including generating video. People have even implemented Ethernet on it. I've used it for some custom serial protocols ("Weigand") used by alarm panels.

>>fortra+Fo
Really I guess I don't know what that is then as I buy the Teensy since it has so much IO, multiple UART, multiple I2C busses, sd card reading, etc...

edit: interesting

(Teensy | Pico)

Special Features: CAN Bus (3x), SDIO, S/PDIF | PIO (Programmable I/O) (8 SMs)

>>ge96+jq
The Pico PIO has an instruction set and can be programmed.

You write PIO assembly that runs autonomously on a state machine, with explicit timing (e.g., out, in, set, mov, jmp, wait) and cycle‑accurate interfaces. The CPU communicates via small FIFOs, and interrupts are optional; the PIO can be “fire‑and‑forget” for many protocols.

>>fortra+1Y
That's cool, I'm not at that level right now, side note I bought an FPGA like 5 years ago and still haven't used it.