NES PC: The PC That Fits Inside an NES

frantik · Post by **frantik** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:00 am

that would actually be kinda cool.. you could make a cart with a female usb slot on it for swappable usb disks

using the controller ports for usb is also pretty cool.. for usb controllers especially

Post by **tepples** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:35 am

Dwedit wrote:To connect S-Video and stereo 1/8" jack to composite input on a TV, I use the converting cable from s-video.com, which costs about $17-$20.

And then you might run up against motherboards with no S-Video output, only VGA or DVI, so you need a $50 adapter to turn VGA into S-Video.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 6:04 pm

Hmm. Everything appears as if falling into place. Magnifique!

There is still the question of cooling.

alienform · Post by **alienform** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 5:26 pm

I got a powerpak instead fits my entire library of games plus some and
runs on original nes hardware cpu. i guess for a project would be nice to try but as a emulator machine kind of expensive. You can get a better result with a $40.00 nintendo + $135.00 powerpak as far as having games
at your finger tips. To answer your question i made one 3 years ago ran Mame on it and was pretty cool but when you add cpu motherboard memory controller case ( old nes) + controller and operating system it can get very expensive quick, Not including a good power supply. also cooling was a issue for me, it got really hot.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 1:07 am

alienform wrote: You can get a better result with a $40.00 nintendo + $135.00 powerpak as far as having games
at your finger tips.

The Original Instructable wrote:Here's the full list of consoles my NES PC currently has installed.
- NES
- Super NES
- Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
- Sega Master System
- MAME (Arcade)
- Game Boy (Color)
- Game Boy Advance
- Sega Game Gear
- Turbo-Grafx 16 / PC-Engine
- Sony Playstation (games run from CD drive)
- Nintendo 64

The NES PC is used without mouse or keyboard! Everything is be done using the gamepads, which makes it feel more like a console (like it should!)

Furthermore - NES Emulation has arrived long ago at the stage whereupon the art is not merely preserving the past but renewing it in new light

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:11 am

COOLING is a major issue!

Let's hear some awesome ways to cool the PANTS of that NES PC?

Let's ROCK IT team!!!

wink

-Mikey

Post by **tepples** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:28 am

Mike wrote:Let's hear some awesome ways to cool the PANTS of that NES PC?

Underclocking. If you'll remember, the N64 was passively cooled. If that's not enough, a small case fan like that of the Wii may suffice.

Dwedit · Post by **Dwedit** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:51 am

Those mini ITX atom boards don't need much in the lines of cooling. The processor doesn't even have a fan (but the motherboard does).
The built-in motherboard fan is crap that falls apart immediately, replace it. Some people replaced it with a big passive heatsink, I just used an identically-sized fan.

Post by **Memblers** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:07 pm

The idea of an NES just sitting there and being LOUD because of fans, sounds horrible to me. I wouldn't want any fans in one, nor a mechanical disk drive.

MottZilla · Post by **MottZilla** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:30 pm

The NES PC idea is kinda nifty but I'd much rather have a big roaring tower with a Core 2 CPU. Anything that would fit into a NES would be like a media PC, only good for less intense tasks which defeats the point with how demanding some emulators are like MAME. And besides I already have a console with a PC inside, it's called the Xbox.

Post by **tepples** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:31 pm

Memblers wrote:The idea of an NES just sitting there and being LOUD because of fans, sounds horrible to me.

Hence passive cooling.

I wouldn't want any fans in one, nor a mechanical disk drive.

Would you be more comfortable with a disk drive if it were a toploader?

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:51 am

Tepples! I like the way you think!

UNDERCLOCKING!

Oh crap! How did I get in Nova Scotia?!!?

frantik · Post by **frantik** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 2:28 am

MottZilla wrote:And besides I already have a console with a PC inside, it's called the Xbox.

I was just thinking.. you might be able to fit a dreamcast inside of a NES case lol.. then you could run a nes emu and windowsCE even

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 10:39 am

MottZilla wrote:The NES PC idea is kinda nifty but I'd much rather have a big roaring tower with a Core 2 CPU. Anything that would fit into a NES would be like a media PC, only good for less intense tasks which defeats the point with how demanding some emulators are like MAME. And besides I already have a console with a PC inside, it's called the Xbox.

MAME runs pretty nice on the desktop version of the intel Atom, and that's available as a Mini-ITX board. There is even a dual-core version now for those willing to spend $85 instead of $70 for the mobo+cpu. (the regular version is only hyperthreaded)