Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 combined 64KB RAM with advanced VIC-II graphics and SID sound at a mass-market price. Its custom chips supported games, music, education and productivity software.

It became one of the best-selling computer models in history and sustained an enormous international software culture.

Notable Features

• Eight hardware sprites and smooth scrolling enabled sophisticated games.
• The SID synthesizer became influential far beyond the computer itself.

Historical Significance

• It became one of the best-selling computer models in history and sustained an enormous international software culture.

Collector’s Notes

• Board revision, regional video standard, power supply, keyboard legends and original accessories should be recorded.
• Memory, storage, displays and expansion hardware should be documented because configurations often changed during a system’s working life.

Specifications

Technical Information
Name	Commodore 64
Manufacturer	Commodore
Launched	Friday, January 1, 1982
Discontinued	1994
Country	United States
CPU	MOS 6510 at approximately 1 MHz
Units Sold
Form Factor	Keyboard computer
Power	External or internal mains supply according to model
Networking	Commodore serial networking and third-party network adapters where supported
Operating System	Commodore BASIC 2.0
Expansion / I/O	Cartridge, cassette, IEC serial, user port, two joystick ports and audio/video
Keyboard	Integrated 66-key keyboard
Storage	Datasette, ROM cartridges and serial floppy drives
Sound	SID 6581 three-voice synthesizer with filters
Colours	16 colours
Graphics	VIC-II: sprites, scrolling, bitmap and character modes
Display	Television or monitor; 40 x 25 text
ROM	20KB BASIC 2.0, KERNAL and character ROM
RAM	64KB
CPU Speed	0.985 MHz PAL or 1.023 MHz NTSC