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My only complaint about the RP2040 is that it doesn't have an external SPI ram interface.

That's usually a niche feature. Core IP and fabrication have become so cheap that it is preferred to get a Cortex-A part and real DRAM. What usecase do you have for larger memories on an embedded controller?

QSPI memory is real DRAM without the profusion of pins, routing density, and signal integrity issues of traditional devices. Lots of memory poor micros can benefit from expandability. Running a network stack in conjunction with other app code on 100K is challenging. Throw in a few megabytes of expansion and it becomes a more manageable task.

Sure, I meant ~DDR2/3 RAM. Implementation may be easier with QSPI but I have tried to use embedded core parts and had very bad times with the software when doing things you need the memory for, like graphics or network. Seems like a better use of time to reuse an existing design and put Linux on it so I'm not half-responsible for drivers.

A cortex-a part with QSPI/octSPI interface would be nice. I vaguely remember something, but I can not find it again.

It is, but running a 3.5" display would be nice. You could probably make something work within the ~200K on this part. Really I just want a better/competitor for the ESP32.

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