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Atari 800

An Atari 8 bit computer whose 6502 clock follows PAL or NTSC video timing.

Manufacturer
Atari
Released
November 1979
Region
Worldwide
Record status
provisional
A beige Atari 800 photographed against white at an angle, a ridged cartridge lid along the top of the case and a column of four function keys, three of them yellow, to the right of the keyboard.

An Atari 800 with its cartridge lid closed. The four joystick ports along the front edge and the cartridge doors on top are the machine as it was sold.

Evan-Amos · Public domain (released by its author) · Wikimedia Commons

About this machine

PAL and NTSC are configurations of the same Atari 800, not different systems. The record retains their distinct CPU clocks while keeping RAM and ROM as separate memory roles; only writable RAM enters the whole-system total.

Configuration

NTSC, 48 KiB RAM

North America

Component Role Count Clock Capacity
MOS Technology 6502 Main CPU 1 1.79 MHz Nominal clock —
ANTIC and GTIA GPU 1 unknown Nominal clock —
Atari 800 system RAM System memory 1 — 48 KiB shared
Atari 800 firmware ROM Read-only operating-system ROM. System memory 1 — 10 KiB shared

PAL, 48 KiB RAM

Europe

Component Role Count Clock Capacity
MOS Technology 6502 Main CPU 1 1.77 MHz Nominal clock —
ANTIC and GTIA GPU 1 unknown Nominal clock —
Atari 800 system RAM System memory 1 — 48 KiB shared
Atari 800 firmware ROM System memory 1 — 10 KiB shared

Figures for the whole machine

Atari 800: system figures

provisional A figure marked provisional is recorded but not accepted: its evidence is unsettled. It may rely on one source, an unconfirmed announcement, or a digit read from a damaged scan. The reason appears under the figure. The catalog shows the figure but never uses it in a multiplier. How records are judged.

Metric Value Evidence Basis Method Source
Clock frequency cpu provisional 1.79 MHz Reported Vendor-rated Nominal clock Stated by the vendor The Atari hardware manual explicitly gives this NTSC microprocessor clock.
Clock frequency cpu provisional 1.77 MHz Rumored Vendor-rated Nominal clock From community documentation The cited passage gives only the NTSC clock. Wikipedia states 1.77 MHz for the PAL machines of this family, and the catalog carries it as rumored.
Memory capacity whole-system provisional 49 152 B Reported Vendor-rated Design capacity Stated by the vendor Atari's technical notes state this as the maximum fitted RAM configuration. The separate 10 KiB firmware ROM is not writable working memory.
4 documented absences
Atari 800: system figures: documented absences
Metric Value Evidence Basis Method Source
Clock frequency gpu provisional unknown The reviewed hardware manual names the display chips but no graphics clock. Not stated Vendor-rated Nominal clock Stated by the vendor The hardware manual describes ANTIC and CTIA/GTIA, but gives no independent graphics-clock frequency.
Memory bandwidth memory provisional unknown The reviewed hardware manual gives no memory transfer rate. Not stated Vendor-rated Theoretical peak Stated by the vendor The hardware manual documents display DMA from RAM but gives no transfer rate from which a bandwidth can be stated.
Sustained FP40 rate whole-system provisional unknown A non-IEEE ROM BASIC result needs a named reproducible benchmark before it can be stated. Not stated Measured Benchmark run Published independently
Rated power consumption whole-system provisional unknown The reviewed hardware manual gives no whole-system power rating. Not stated Vendor-rated Rated power Stated by the vendor The hardware manual documents peripheral supply lines, including one with an unspecified current, but no whole-system power rating.

Figures for its components

1 documented absence
MOS Technology 6502: documented absences
Metric Value Evidence Basis Method Source
Peak FP32 rate cpu provisional not applicable The Atari 800's 6502 contains no floating-point hardware. Not stated Vendor-rated Theoretical peak Stated by the vendor Provisional record for atari-800-6502:peak-fp32-rate: the cited primary manual is registered, but its page-level transcription and independent review are still pending.
Atari 800 system RAM

provisional A figure marked provisional is recorded but not accepted: its evidence is unsettled. It may rely on one source, an unconfirmed announcement, or a digit read from a damaged scan. The reason appears under the figure. The catalog shows the figure but never uses it in a multiplier. How records are judged.

Metric Value Evidence Basis Method Source
Memory capacity memory provisional 48 KiB Reported Vendor-rated Design capacity Stated by the vendor The manual identifies this as the maximum Atari 800 RAM configuration.
Atari 800 firmware ROM

provisional A figure marked provisional is recorded but not accepted: its evidence is unsettled. It may rely on one source, an unconfirmed announcement, or a digit read from a damaged scan. The reason appears under the figure. The catalog shows the figure but never uses it in a multiplier. How records are judged.

Metric Value Evidence Basis Method Source
Memory capacity memory provisional 10 KiB Reported Vendor-rated Design capacity Stated by the vendor The manual specifies the operating-system ROM capacity.

Sources