---
title: ASCI SystemX
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Home Computer
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1979'
cpus:
- Motorola 6800
params:
  name: SystemX
  company: /companies/asci
  company_name: ASCI
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: SystemX
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: ASCI
  - label: TYPE
    value: Home Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: U.S.A.
  - label: YEAR
    value: '1979'
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: Monitor
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: Hexadecimal 16 keys keypad + NMI and RESET pushbuttons
  - label: CPU
    value: Motorola 6800
  - label: SPEED
    value: 1 MHz, 1.5 MHz with a Fairchild version of the 6800 CPU
  - label: RAM
    value: Unknown
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: Hexadecimal 7 digit display
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: 30(W) x 25(D) x 5(H) cm.
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: Exorciser bus, I/O, Serial
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: Additional tape recorder card
  - label: OS
    value: Hexadecimal monitor
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: External power supply unit
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: Several I/O cards
  - label: PRICE
    value: Unknown
  tabs:
  - photos
  photos:
  - title: COVERED SYSTEM
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: KEYBOARD
    subtitle: ''
    text: 'A strip along the frond edge, lists all the commands that the keyboard permits: set a breakpoint, jump to a memory location, examine and modify memory content, etc.'
    image: null
  - title: MAIN BOARD
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: TAPE RECORDER
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  comments:
  - author: Michael (USA)
    date: Wednesday 4th December 2013
    text: Was lucky enough to find four of these that were being thrown out by a school.
  - author: TC (US)
    date: Saturday 31st December 2011
    text: |-
      The ASCI System X also had an RS-232 port and an available expansion board with BASIC on ROM. IIRC BASIC was launched from the monitor by:

      G\
      F836\
      D

      The BASIC board could eat itself if a user POKEd at the wrong addresses.

      ASCI''s marketing catchphrase for the System X was "a system so updated, it can''t be outdated". I''m not gonna hold my breath waiting for a USB 3.0 interface though. :)
  oc_id: 758
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230210082457/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=758
    date: '2023-02-10'
---

The ASCI SystemX, also called **U68** was a single board training system that was used in an educational environment during the early 1980s.

It was mounted in a wooden box and covered with a smoke colored plastic lid. When it was closed, all the electronic part was covered, except the 16 key hexadecimal keypad and a seven digit LED display.

The main board featured a Motorola 6800 processor and an Exorciser bus connector. Several I/O boards could be connected to the system allowing microprocessor based experiments.

Motorola 6800 is a 8-bit microprocessor which was released at about the same time as Intel 8080. The 6800 had 16-bit address bus and could address up to 64 KB of memory. From common registers the CPU had only two accumulators and one index register. The 6800 didn't have I/O instructions and therefore 6800-based systems had to use memory-mapped I/O for input/output capabilities. Motorola 6800 started the big family of 680x microcontrolers and microprocessors, some of which are still produced today.