About this machine

This is the original Japanese Mega Drive, not the later Mega Drive II. Its 68000-led design makes it Sega's direct counterpart to the contemporary cartridge consoles in this catalog.

Configuration

NTSC retail console

Japan

Component Role Count Clock Capacity
Motorola 68000 The 3.58 MHz Z80 is an audio coprocessor; its clock is not added to this one. Main CPU 1 7.67 MHz Nominal clock
Sega Mega Drive VDP GPU 1 unknown Nominal clock
Sega Mega Drive RAM System memory 1 64 KiB

Figures for the whole machine

Sega Mega Drive: 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 7.67 MHz Confirmed Vendor-rated Nominal clock Stated by the vendor Provisional record for sega-mega-drive: the cited primary manual is registered, but its page-level transcription and independent review are still pending.
Memory capacity whole-system provisional 65 536 B Confirmed Derived Design capacity Computed here from figures the vendor stated Adds 1 memory-capacity figure obtained by design-capacity. Left out: removable game-cartridge ROM (removable program storage, not memory the console can write to). A total is only as trustworthy as the decision about what belongs in it, so both the terms and the exclusions are named records.
Rated power consumption whole-system 13 W Confirmed Vendor-rated Rated power Stated by the vendor Japanese Mega Drive, model code HAA-2500, drawing from its dedicated DC9V AC adapter. Sega states this as 約13W — "approximately 13 W" — so the figure carries the vendor's own hedge. It is a consumption rating and not a measured draw, and it describes the Japanese HAA-2500; later Mega Drive and Genesis revisions are different hardware.
3 documented absences
Sega Mega Drive: system figures: documented absences
Metric Value Evidence Basis Method Source
Clock frequency gpu provisional unknown The reviewed manual covers a different console revision. Not stated Vendor-rated Nominal clock Stated by the vendor The reviewed service manual is for the later PAL Mega Drive II, not this original Japanese Mega Drive configuration, so its VDP timing does not apply.
Memory bandwidth memory provisional unknown The reviewed manual covers a different console revision. Not stated Vendor-rated Theoretical peak Stated by the vendor The reviewed service manual is for the later PAL Mega Drive II, not this original Japanese Mega Drive configuration, so its memory timings do not apply.
Storage capacity storage provisional not applicable Game cartridges are removable media and their ROM capacity varies by title; no cartridge capacity is part of the base console. Not stated Vendor-rated Design capacity Stated by the vendor

Figures for its components

1 documented absence
Motorola 68000: documented absences
Metric Value Evidence Basis Method Source
Peak FP32 rate cpu provisional not applicable This console CPU has no integrated floating-point execution unit. Not stated Vendor-rated Theoretical peak Stated by the vendor Provisional record for sega-mega-drive: the cited primary manual is registered, but its page-level transcription and independent review are still pending.
1 documented absence
Sega Mega Drive VDP: documented absences
Metric Value Evidence Basis Method Source
Peak FP32 rate gpu provisional not applicable This is a tile, sprite or scanline graphics unit, not a floating-point processor; it executes no FP32 operations. Not stated Vendor-rated Theoretical peak Stated by the vendor Provisional record for sega-mega-drive: the cited primary manual is registered, but its page-level transcription and independent review are still pending.
Sega Mega Drive 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 64 KiB Confirmed Vendor-rated Design capacity Stated by the vendor Provisional record for sega-mega-drive: the cited primary manual is registered, but its page-level transcription and independent review are still pending.

Derived figures and comparisons

Computed by this project rather than read from a source, and recomputed from their inputs on every build.

65 536 B

Formula
a + b + … sum v1
Inputs
  • mega-drive-ram Memory capacity: 64 KiB
Rounding
none , 5 significant digits

Adds 1 memory-capacity figure obtained by design-capacity. Left out: not applicable (removable program storage, not memory the console can write to). A total is only as trustworthy as the decision about what belongs in it, so both the terms and the exclusions are named records.

Editorial notes

Cartridge ROM remains removable storage and does not enter the RAM total.

Sources

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