Head to head

Compare any two computers

Pick two machines from 50 years of computing, or pit one against the phone in your pocket. Every number comes from the atlas catalogue.

Commodore · 1982

Commodore 64

Often listed as the best-selling single computer model of all time.

CPUMOS 6510 @ 1 MHz
Memory64 KB
StorageCassette (Datasette), 5.25" floppy
Launch price$595 ≈ $1,930 today
In the atlasBe the first to add it
VS

Sinclair Research · 1982

Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K

Rubber keys, colour graphics and thousands of games, many written in teenagers' bedrooms.

CPUZilog Z80A @ 3.5 MHz
Memory48 KB
StorageCassette
Launch price£175
In the atlasBe the first to add it

The verdict

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K has 0.8× the memory of the Commodore 64 and a clock 3.5× faster.

Memory64 KB vs 48 KB
Clock speed1 MHz vs 3.5 MHz

Bars use a logarithmic scale so both machines stay visible.

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