Comment by burnte
7 days ago
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.
7 days ago
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.
Note it was possible to use a Z80 to function as a display controller, people used to do it back in the day...
https://archive.org/details/Cheap_Video_Cookbook_Don_Lancast...
The Galaksija computer used it's Z80 to help generate the video signal. I'm not sure how its implementation compares to your link.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaksija_(computer)
https://media.ccc.de/v/29c3-5178-en-the_ultimate_galaksija_t...
The Z80 was a very powerful CPU for the day. Its still used here and there.
Apparently the Zilog Z80 just stopped being produced in 2024: https://www.techspot.com/news/102684-zilog-discontinuing-z80...
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Crazy what you can buy nowadays like the Teensy 4.0 with 600MHz base clock
Granted that's $20 not $1
My sweet spot of choice between power and price is the ESP32 S3 (2x core @ 240mhz) at ~$6 per board, but yeah, the power to dollar ratio is crazy these days, across the board. And they are absolutely tiny and sip power if you write the code well.
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.
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)
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Yes, I understand that, but I wonder about the multiple (obviously there is more to it than clock speed). I chose the Z80 because of its long-standing reputation.
I know, I 'm just saying the RP would dominate the Z80 in literally every way. You could design a Z80 replacement with the RP as the CPU and it'd blow away everything.