CPCEC is an emulator of the family of home microcomputers Amstrad CPC (models 464, 664, 6128 and Plus) whose goal is to be loyal to the original hardware and efficient in standard modern systems. Thus it brings a faithful emulation of the Z80 microprocessor and it replicates the behavior of the CRTC 6845 and Gate Array video chips, the PSG AY-3-8912 sound chip, the remaining circuits found in the original hardware, and the tape deck and floppy disc drive that made possible loading and running software.

CPCEC includes several related projects. ZXSEC is an emulator of the Sinclair Spectrum family (48K, 128K, +2/Plus2 and +3/Plus3) based on the components it shared with the Amstrad CPC family: the Z80 microprocessor, the PSG AY-3-8192 sound chip, the tape system and the NEC765 disc drive controller; CSFEC is an emulator of the Commodore 64 platform, similarly based on shared code; and MSXEC is an emulator of the MSX family (1983 MSX, 1985 MSX2, 1988 MSX2+), also based on shared code.