Nintendo 64 HD

[dcattena]

Hey my first idea i guess that im going through with, its basically a N64 shell with a pc inside.
It will still have the 4 front controller ports but these will be attached to 2 n64 to USB adapters.

My main use for this will be basically an n64 emulator as a n64 console, all your favorite games but in full HD which is great eye candy .

Ive already done some tests with some adapters and emulation on a 52" screen the games turnout fantastic along with perfect sound.

Only difficult problems im facing is fitting a mini-itx inside the console case, my measurements so far have theoretically proved that this can work im just waiting for a console ive purchased to arrive so i can get some final measurements to see if this is viable

Heres the list of parts i will be using:

nintendo 64 console:

controller adapters x2:

Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi LGA775 v3:

PICOPSU-150-XT:

Samsung 2.5" HDD 160GB:

OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 SLI 2x1GB:

SilverStone Nitrogon NT07-775 Low Profile CPU Cooler:

I have about 4.7cm of total height to use and the 17cm x 17cm motherboard just fits so theoretically it will work

Any feedback is welcome.

Keep checking for updates soon

cheers.

Dcattena

[dcattena]

Some testing screenshots with a hi-res texture addon for goldeneye64.

[f8l_0e]

Bonus points if you get the ram slots to line up with the cartridge slot.

[mofo]

Would a 2.5 inch hdd fit in a cartridge?
mod a cart, stick the hdd in it, run the satas to the mobo, glue in place.

Or if there is enough depth to the n64, place the mobo as far forward as possible and make the cart a hot-swappable hdd cage by attaching the satas to the bottom of the case and placing the hdd vertically inside the n64 cart. When the cart is inserted the satas plug in and voila, boot.

[dcattena]

Thats a pretty awesome idea! Ill see if i can have a perminent cartridge in there housing the hard drive. It might be difficult seeing as the cpu cooler is right near the cartridge slot.

[TheGreatSatan]

Ive already done some tests with some adapters and emulation on a 52" screen the games turnout fantastic along with perfect sound.

Uh

[dcattena]

Lol is that a good thing?

[Luke122]

I think so.. I've got my Mac Mini attached to a 37" Sharp Aquos, only 720p, but still looks great. Gaming? No. Media/Surfing? Yes.

Anyways, I'm a big fan of retro console mods, so I say run with this project! The hot swap SATA cartridge thing would be cool, but not exactly practical. Hdd's are a bit fragile, so parking it in a removable cartridge would just be unnecessary risk IMHO.

Now you COULD do a usb flash drive in the cartridge, since I cant think of any emulators that require drive access faster than USB. You could look into another thread on here, where someone was wanting to run apps from a USB drive. Park your emu's on there, or even some apps.. etc. Maybe even run Readyboost and get a performance increase from it.

[dcattena]

Yeah the hdd does sound abit impractical, the usb does sound nice but maybe i could just stick with the consolw for now and can worry about those towards the end.

Media/surfing would be great too, i might need a little more than 160 gig if i wanna get alot of media on there :S

ill get a wireless mouse and keyboard setup too but it might ruin the picture of a typical living/tv room with pc accesories around. Hopefully i can get a remote for everything and the n64 controllers as a mouse and some keyboard shortcuts which ive managed to make them do so far

Still waitin for the console to arrive!

[dcattena]

Hey just got the console, after about 6 days from ordering it, ive been hacking away at it for half an hour or so with good results just need to rest a bit with this dam sickness ive got thats lasted the past 7 days! lol heres some pics,

woo box!

empty shell:

inside:

conveniently packaged screws including Nintendo's impossible screw bits.

hacking away with imitation dremel:

should have some diagrams up soon if i get around to it

cheers