MSX

System specs[]

Processor: Zilog Z80A running at 3.58 MHz
ROM: 32 KB
- BIOS (16 KB)
- MSX BASIC V1.0 (16 KB)
RAM: 8 KB minimum, most machines provided either 32K or 64K, machines with 128 KB exist
Video Display Processor: Texas Instruments TMS9918 family
- Video RAM: 16 KB
- Text modes: 40×24 and 32×24
- Resolution: 256×192 (16 colours)^[1]
- Sprites: 32, 1 colour, max 4 per horizontal line
Sound chip: General Instrument AY-3-8910 (PSG)

Processor: Zilog Z80A running at 3.58 MHz
ROM: 48 KB
- BIOS + Extended BIOS (32 KB)
- MSX BASIC V2.0 or V2.1 (16 KB)
- DiskROM (16 KB) (optional, common)
- MSX-Audio BIOS (32 KB) (optional, no machines are known with this BIOS built in)
RAM: 64 KB minimum, commonly 128 KB in Europe, 64 KB on Japanese computers, machines with up to 512 KB were made
- Memory mapped (4 MB (MiB)/slot max) (optional)
  File:MSX Computer Color Limit.gif
  
  The effect of attribute clash when using the old 256x192 Highres mode of MSX 1, (which was less severe than for example the Spectrum, but still a nuisance). Later MSX models added new video modes without this problem
Video Display Processor: Yamaha V9938 (a.k.a. MSX-Video) Supports all MSX video modes plus:
- Increased video RAM: 128 KB (sometimes 64 KB or 192 KB)
- New text mode: 80×24
- New video modes without the attribute clash of MSX 1, (a problem shared by several other home computers of the era). See the picture on the right showing an example of the attribute clash of MSX 1.
- New resolutions: 512×212 (16 colours out of 512) and 256×212 (256 colours)
- More and more advanced sprites: 32, 16 colours, max 8 per horizontal line
- Hardware acceleration for copy, line, fill, etc.
- Interlacing to double vertical resolution
- A vertical scroll register
Sound chip: Yamaha YM2149 (PSG)
Clock chip: Ricoh RP5C01 (or compatible)
3.5" Floppy disk drive is common

Only officially released in Japan (available in Europe and Brazil via upgrades)
Processor: Zilog Z80 compatible running at 3.58 MHz or more (5.37 MHz versions were available)
ROM: 64 KB
- BIOS + Extended BIOS (32 KB)
- MSX BASIC V3.0 (16 KB)
- DiskROM (16 KB) (optional, very common)
- Kun-BASIC (16 KB) (optional)
- Kanji ROM (optional)
RAM: commonly 64 KB (on Japanese computers)
- Memory mapped (4 MB/slot max)
Video Display Processor: Yamaha V9958 (aka MSX-Video) All of MSX2's specifications plus:
- The video RAM now always is 128 KB
- a new 256×212 video mode with 19268 colors
- a horizontal scroll register
Sound chip: Yamaha YM2149 (PSG)
Optional sound chip: Yamaha YM2413 (OPLL) (MSX-Music)
Clock chip RP5C01
3.5" Floppy disk drive is very common

Only released in Japan
Processor: R800 and Zilog Z80A compatible
- R800 running at 7.16 MHz (instructions use about 4x less clock ticks than the Z80, so often quoted as 28.6 MHz when comparing with the Z80)
- Zilog Z80A compatible (embedded in the T9769C MSX-Engine) running at 3.58 MHz for backwards compatibility
ROM: 96 KB
- BIOS + Extended BIOS (48 KB)
- MSX BASIC V4.0 (16 KB)
- DiskROM (16 KB)
- Kun-BASIC (16 KB)
- Kanji ROM (256 KB)
- Firmware (4 MB)
RAM: 256 KB (FS-A1ST) or 512 KB (FS-A1GT)
- Memory mapped (4 MB/slot max)
- Additionally 16 KB (FS-A1ST) or 32 KB (FS-A1GT) of SRAM (battery-powered)
Video Display Processor: Yamaha V9958 (aka MSX-Video) so the same possibilities as MSX2+
Sound chip: Yamaha YM2149 (PSG)
Sound chip: Yamaha YM2413 (OPLL) (MSX-Music)
Sound chip: PCM
- 8-bit single channel (no DMA), 16 kHz max using BIOS routines.
- Microphone built-in
Sound chip: MIDI in/out (FS-A1GT only)
Clock chip
3.5" Floppy disk drive

↑ Actually there are just 15 colour tints available, because just like Sinclair Spectrum, there are two versions of black. Unlike the Spectrum, however, one of the blacks is actually "transparent", so the MSX video picture could be overlayed on another video signal, for example one from a video disk.