NES PC

[gggelo]

Hey guys!

A couple of days go i read that somebody made a pc out of a nes! ever since then i've been reading up on people's own projects, how to's and etc! but i've reached the point where i can't do anymore research (ran out of sites ) and have some questions!

there was a person who made one in this site, so i thought if i posted on the same forum the people there'll be a great help!

Here's what i know so far,

People have used mini-itx and intel atoms
Cooling has been an issue
And space has been an issue (although most people used laptop parts or made an external housing to make up for it)

if you think i'll have anymore problems could you please let me know? maybe i can find out about it before i encounter it and get completely stumped.

Some specifics i want in my NES PC
i wanted...
the shell be touched as LITTLE as possible (most people just take out a chunk of the back, some chop off the t in the bottom, etc etc.)
to have the dvd drive stick out where the cartridge goes in
to make the reset button the button that makes the dvd slot come out (heard it was nearly impossible but i'd atleast like to ask)
the controller ports be somehow used as a usb port (heard you can rewire them then use a controller plug rewired with a usb end instead of a controller?)

that's it for now... i think. your thoughts, inputs and overall general feelings would be great!

thanks!

[nevermind1534]

I would also suggest going to thebestcasescenario.com for additional help with this. Myself and a few others on TheBestCaseScenario have done NES PCs and posted worklogs there. One was recently on display at Rods & Mods in San Fransisco.

The BenHeck forums should be of some help, as well.

[gggelo]

thanks nevermind! i did as you said and got some feedback! not as much as i hoped for but better than nothing!

[eagle5953]

I agree - the more stock it looks, the better.

1. You don't need to cut the T out of the bottom. Gives you a bit more space, but not necessary.

2. DVD drive at cartridge slot is pretty simple.

3. Not sure about reset button for disk drive - don't know enough about relocating buttons. Look up "stealthing" disk drives for more information about this.

4. The controller port idea is pretty straightforward - wire the 4-wire USB to the 7-wire NES controller ports. From there, you can make adapters. The real trick is running USB to the front of the case without running cables out of the case and back in, which looks tacky. Hopefully, your motherboard has at least one internal or front-intended USB spot. Otherwise, you could desolder the rear-facing USB ports and run the wires from there (although you'd lose said rear-facing USB ports, of course).

Other thoughts: if your motherboard supports S-video or composite out, you can take advantage of the AV out ports on the NES. Same with audio - get a headphone-to-stereo adapter ($5 new) and run that to the AV out. If you use a pico PSU, you can probably place the power jack in the original location.

For cooling, I believe the vent-looking part on top actually does allow airflow - good place for an input or output fan.

If you need to have additional output, you may be able to conceal it inside the Extension port on the bottom. Just take the cover off when you need it and run the cable along the T.

Good luck!

[gggelo]

I agree - the more stock it looks, the better.

1. You don't need to cut the T out of the bottom. Gives you a bit more space, but not necessary.

2. DVD drive at cartridge slot is pretty simple.

3. Not sure about reset button for disk drive - don't know enough about relocating buttons. Look up "stealthing" disk drives for more information about this.

4. The controller port idea is pretty straightforward - wire the 4-wire USB to the 7-wire NES controller ports. From there, you can make adapters. The real trick is running USB to the front of the case without running cables out of the case and back in, which looks tacky. Hopefully, your motherboard has at least one internal or front-intended USB spot. Otherwise, you could desolder the rear-facing USB ports and run the wires from there (although you'd lose said rear-facing USB ports, of course).

Other thoughts: if your motherboard supports S-video or composite out, you can take advantage of the AV out ports on the NES. Same with audio - get a headphone-to-stereo adapter ($5 new) and run that to the AV out. If you use a pico PSU, you can probably place the power jack in the original location.

For cooling, I believe the vent-looking part on top actually does allow airflow - good place for an input or output fan.

If you need to have additional output, you may be able to conceal it inside the Extension port on the bottom. Just take the cover off when you need it and run the cable along the T.

Good luck!

much thanks! i was hoping i could somehow use this on a monitor and hop it on a tv when i want to (stream movies or maybe just use emulators) but that sounds like more hole cutting. everything you said makes sense though =D

[nevermind1534]

thanks nevermind! i did as you said and got some feedback! not as much as i hoped for but better than nothing!

Once you start on it, you'll get more feedback here and there.

I do like the stock look very much, and that is what I'm going for in mine.

[rikitheshadow]

Ok, you've probably seen my worklog of my NES-PC.
Here are some problems you might face and some solutions.

When wanting to attach a DVD drive in the cartridge slot that will still cut down on space you have available inside for your mobo and hard drive. To clear up space you will have to cut out that "T" to make enough space......to consider having room for the CPU's heat sync between that DVD drive.

Retaining the stock look is a lot easier when you have a board that has a composite or S-Video out.

Cooling shouldn't be too much of an issue with those smaller boards, but adding a fan wouldn't hurt. Just make sure not to cover up all the already available ventilation slots in the NES case.

Wiring the disk drive to eject on the reset button is simple when you have the right drive. I made a DVD player in a NES shell with a similar function. All you need to do is rewire the tact switch inside the DVD drive that controls the eject function to the reset switch in the NES. You don't really have to desolder the tact switch in the DVD drive, you can leave it and it makes an easier connection point to solder onto, considering a large number of tact switches are surface mounted only.

In regards to wiring the controller ports to USB you will need interface adapters to do so. There is a site called RetroZone, they sell mod kits to make NES controllers into USB operated joypads. All you would need to do is order one of their kits and rewire them accordingly to the controller ports and the USB headers on your mobo.

I'll try to keep an eye on your build, I'm interested to see if anyone can contribute new ideas to these types of mods.

[eagle5953]

When wanting to attach a DVD drive in the cartridge slot that will still cut down on space you have available inside for your mobo and hard drive. To clear up space you will have to cut out that "T" to make enough space......to consider having room for the CPU's heat sync between that DVD drive.

Not necessarily - I helped a friend make an NESpc, and we put a disk drive in it without cutting out the T. It depends on how tall the heat sink is, and you need to use a laptop disk drive. It's half the height.

[nevermind1534]

I'm not cutting that part out on mine. It will be a tight fit, but it looks more stock. I got laptop drives for mine.

[gggelo]

sorry for not keeping this up to date, i was thinking of updating it once i had somewhat of a ready to build situation, since it seems that that's the only way i can really get lots of feedback on this forum,

i was thinking of going for one of the zotac ion's but having trouble as to differentiating them with each other, they all seem to have the same processors and graphics so i'm guessing it's just ports and power supplies?

and if it'll be ticking at 1.6ghz it's discouraging since my laptop is running at 1.86 and it's also a dual, and i find it a tad bit sluggish, so the intel atom may be a drag.

but then i plan on putting 4 gigs vs the 2 gigs i have in the laptop, and i'll be running windows 7 on the nes pc which i heard is a lot less lighter then vista (which my laptop is currently running)

also just reading up on "overclocking" but if it'll be giving me the same heat troubles as a different mobo and faster processor then it'll be back to square one.

[gggelo]

Ok, you've probably seen my worklog of my NES-PC.
Here are some problems you might face and some solutions.

When wanting to attach a DVD drive in the cartridge slot that will still cut down on space you have available inside for your mobo and hard drive. To clear up space you will have to cut out that "T" to make enough space......to consider having room for the CPU's heat sync between that DVD drive.

Retaining the stock look is a lot easier when you have a board that has a composite or S-Video out.

Cooling shouldn't be too much of an issue with those smaller boards, but adding a fan wouldn't hurt. Just make sure not to cover up all the already available ventilation slots in the NES case.

Wiring the disk drive to eject on the reset button is simple when you have the right drive. I made a DVD player in a NES shell with a similar function. All you need to do is rewire the tact switch inside the DVD drive that controls the eject function to the reset switch in the NES. You don't really have to desolder the tact switch in the DVD drive, you can leave it and it makes an easier connection point to solder onto, considering a large number of tact switches are surface mounted only.

In regards to wiring the controller ports to USB you will need interface adapters to do so. There is a site called RetroZone, they sell mod kits to make NES controllers into USB operated joypads. All you would need to do is order one of their kits and rewire them accordingly to the controller ports and the USB headers on your mobo.

I'll try to keep an eye on your build, I'm interested to see if anyone can contribute new ideas to these types of mods.

i have actually! it's tabbed in my builds window.

i was thinking of using a laptop hard drive and a slim dvd drive to help some of the space issues, as for it fitting my second worry is airflow.

composite and s-video seem like a good idea but i don't know what to do since the board i'm leaning towards is hdmi capable but i want to be able to hook it up to my tv (which ISNT hdmi capable ) (until i can afford one anyways) so i'm a bit torn.

i want to add fans if performance requires or space allows, i'm wondering if there's any way to funnel one vent from each side into a fan and have them all blow in a sinlge direction. but that's if it all fits anyways.

the dvd seems like it'll be a handful as for the usb controllers i hope thats as easy as it sounds.

i'm sorry about your mobo though i guess trimming even a little bit could hurt a lot D=

[FatylPCs]

a friend of mine did an NES PC and cut holes into the sides just big enough for water cooling tubes. he also decided not to go with the internal dvd/cdrom to solve some of the space issues. he mounted the case onto an old end table and the power supply inside of it. its just a matter of cutting into the table (or desk) to get the PSU to fit and the fans and everything else inside.

hope this helps ^_^

[gggelo]

just a quick update, i've been researching like a madman on the possiblities as to what can go in the nes pc.

Mobo:

Zotac ION - HIGHLY recommended, will have no space and heat problems and best value, drawback is performance (intel dual atom running at 1.6ghz)

Zotac 9300 -GREAT in terms of upgrade ability (can run core 2 duo/quad, celeron and etc.) problems come in at heat (creates x4 or x5 more thermal energy than atom) and price (board + processor = $$$)

the main thing derailing me from going with the 9300 is the amount of heat it'll produce, the only way i was told that i can cure that is either to cut and mount fans or water cooling (which seems really complicated) also planning to overclock the atom to 2.0 (supposedly highest ghz while maintaining stability) so it somewhat makes up for the drawback in power but still nothing compared to 9300.

Hard Drive:

HDD: Best value

SSD: Expensive but faster, doesn't crash when shaken (very very hard), but $/per gb is insane (100 gb = $200-$300?)

what i thought of doing was getting an ssd large enough to fit windows 7 in and have it set so everything i save'll go into the hdd like my pictures, videos or etc.

RAM:

Regular or Dual channel?

There's been a report that someone was able to overclock the ion itx at 2.2 but as to how, only the parts they used was posted.

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/20 ... a-ion.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

CD/DVD/Bluray Drive:

Not sure what i'm gonna do about this one quite yet, it seems to be a waste to have something hd capable and not put a bluray player/burner but i don't wanna shell out the extra cash so maybe a cd/dvd burner for now till i either make more money or blurays have a price drop.

also having a hard time finding a slim dvd drive, i'll need sata but most slims are ide (made for laptops) so maybe i'll just get the adapter for it or somehow make an external slim into an internal one? this one's still up in the air.

thoughts/inputs/feelings?

[nevermind1534]

all that dual channel usually means, is that you get a kit of two modules of memory. Go ahead and get the cheapest 4GB kit if you want to put the full 4GB in it.

If you go with a core 2 duo or anything fancy like that, you will also have more space constraints, because of the requirement for a larger heatsink, unless you do water cooling.

I can get a dvd drive recommendation for you shortly.

[vskid]

Mobo:
The ION board should be good enough to be used as an HD media player. The only thing it'll struggle with is newer games.
If you really want a power house, you should be able to keep the 9300 cool. I would mount the fan on the side of the heatsink and have the exhaust air ducted to outside the case. Then you won't have as much heat hanging around inside the case. I would plan on getting a dedicated GPU if you get the 9300, the onboard graphics are comparable to the ION and will really hold it back for gaming.

Storage:
Unless you plan on dropping your NES PC often, I would just use hard drives. The SSD will be faster, but probably not noticeably.

Disc drive:
The slim external drives are the same as laptop drives, so probably a good chance they'll be IDE. It shouldn't be too hard to find a SATA slim drive.