CPU memory map
| Address range | Size | Device |
|---|---|---|
| $0000–$07FF | $0800 | 2 KB internal RAM |
| $0800–$0FFF | $0800 | Mirrors of $0000–$07FF |
| $1000–$17FF | $0800 | |
| $1800–$1FFF | $0800 | |
| $2000–$2007 | $0008 | NES PPU registers |
| $2008–$3FFF | $1FF8 | Mirrors of $2000–$2007 (repeats every 8 bytes) |
| $4000–$4017 | $0018 | NES APU and I/O registers |
| $4018–$401F | $0008 | APU and I/O functionality that is normally disabled. See CPU Test Mode. |
| $4020–$FFFF | $BFE0 | Cartridge space: PRG ROM, PRG RAM, and mapper registers (see note) |
Some parts of the 2 KiB of internal RAM at $0000–$07FF have predefined purposes dictated by the 6502 architecture. The zero page is $0000–$00FF, and the stack always uses some part of the $0100–$01FF page. Games may divide up the rest however the programmer deems useful. See Sample RAM map for an example allocation strategy for this RAM.
Note: Most common boards and iNES mappers address ROM and Save/Work RAM in this format:
- $6000–$7FFF = Battery Backed Save or Work RAM
- $8000–$FFFF = Usual ROM, commonly with Mapper Registers (see MMC1 and UxROM for example)
If using DMC audio:
- $C000–$FFF1 = DPCM samples
The CPU expects interrupt vectors in a fixed place at the end of the cartridge space:
- $FFFA–$FFFB = NMI vector
- $FFFC–$FFFD = Reset vector
- $FFFE–$FFFF = IRQ/BRK vector
If a mapper doesn't fix $FFFA–$FFFF to some known bank (typically, along with the rest of the bank containing them, e.g. $C000–$FFFF for a 16KiB banking mapper) or use some sort of reset detection, the vectors need to be stored in all banks.
