My NES PC

[nespcbuild]

I'm brand new to this forum. I joined mostly for help setting up hyperspin on my new project PC. Since I have no experience with Hyperspin I'll probably need all the help I can get. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to log the progress of my build here as well.

Since I currently live in a small apartment, a full cab is out of the question. Instead, I'll be building an emulation/HTPC inside of an NES case. Here are the main components I've chosen for my build:

ZOTAC H67ITX-C-E mobo

Compact board with all of the features I need for the build

Core i3-3240 LGA1155 3.40G processor

I didn't do my homework on this one before I purchased it and it may need to be upgraded for a CPU with better on-board graphics support. I'll have to see how well it performs.

EDIT - It works great! everything up to N64 and NDS runs fine but I did have to use a sandy bridge CPU to flash the bios for this CPU to be campatible

120W PicoPSU-120

No description needed

EDIT - this PSU wasn't compatible with the board. I had to get a picopsu 90

2 Crucial 4GB Single DDR3 1333 MT/s for a total of 8gm RAM

Probably went overboard on the RAM but they were pretty cheap so I went ahead and snagged 2 sticks

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS

Old 80gb HDD from my PS3

I’ll eventually be upgrading to a larger one but this should work for now.

EDIT - This HDD barely fits all of my current emus and romsets. I'll definitely need a bigger one.

I'm also wiring 2 USB adapters from the stock controller ports on the front of the console to internal USB headers on the mobo.

Later, In the cartridge slot, I'll be adding (if I can fit them all) 2 N64 ports, 2 SNES ports, 2 Sega Genesis ports and 1 USB port (All wired to internal USB headers). I also plan to sync four PS3 controllers to the system via bluetooth and I'm looking in to different options to make the PS3 controllers more retro-looking. I'm also going to use a small wireless logitech keyboard with track pad for this system.

EDIT - I used this with a USB BT dongle for the DS3 controllers:

http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-XInput-Wrapper-for-DS3-and-Play-com-USB-Dual-DS2-Controller

I plan on using this system to emulate pretty much everything up to PS1, N64, Sega Saturn, and possibly Sega Dreamcast (if it performs ok without the need for a GPU).

I am still waiting for most of the parts to arrive in the mail but last night, I got the NES USB controller adapters, then soldered one to the original port on the NES and tested it with on my laptop. I didn’t have time to do them both last night though. It was the first bit of work I’ve done on the project since gutting the broken NES console almost a year ago. Here are some pics:

The shell of the NES:

The un-modded NES USB adapter:

Close-up of the chip from the adapter with the original NES controller port soldered to it:

Any suggestions are welcome!

[rfancella]

Dear NES,

Can't wait to see how this turns out. I built a NES and an SNES adapter for my cab. The chips I bought from Raphaël Assénat at Raphnet: http://www.raphnet.net/index_en.php

Some of his insights might help.

Thanks,

Ron

[Zinger19]

I have a few. Since i built/rebuilt/ never finished it. Keep an eye on your temps when the box is closed. Find a good way to vent the heat. Perhaps you could make use of the slots on the top and add 3 mini fans. Something i did, which i thought was neat, was i converted the nes ports to USB. Then I chipped all my controllers and added NES cords to each one to use the nes ports. Even my keyboard had one. Made it more seemless. All depends on how you want to do it though.

Check out my blog http://nesarcade.blogspot.com/ for some ideas. You'll have to go back a ways to find it, but i tried a lot of different things on my build. I would of finished it if i hadnt had my shitty motherboard die twice. Also don't judge my soldering skills. It was my first time soldring and I obviously sucked. Lol

Good luck.

[nespcbuild]

Thanks for the input guys. I am a little worried about the heat. I got a 40mm fan which I'm planning to install on the back or side as an intake fan and either drill a grid of holes or possibly lengthen some of the stock vents on the side for intake. I was hoping the CPU fan would help exhaust some of the heat out the top vents but I may have to add an exhaust fan or two to the top if it runs too hot. I'm definately going to check out your blog Zinger. I've been researching just about every NESPC build I can find on the net to get ideas for this project. The raphnet site looks interesting too but it looks like some of it might be a bit over my head.

As a very small update, I got the other USB adapter wired up to the 2nd controller port. The rest of my parts should be here by the end of the week and I took a couple of vacation days from work to start on the project. Hopefull I'll have all the hardware done by the end of the weekend. Hopefully I'll have time to start dremeling out the case to make room for the MOBO tonight and update this thread tomorrow with some new pics.

[sandman7793]

There's a build in the cabinet forums of this exact project. I think he mounted the motherboard upside down. Drilled a hole in bottom so cpu could draw air in unrestricted to lower temps. Head over there and checkout the build.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[nespcbuild]

Thanks! I'm trying to avoid cutting a big hole on the bottom if i can but I do see some pretty awesome builds there. I particularly like ZacUSNYR and Rayzor753's buld. I'm definately going to have to try their mod to make the reset button reset the emulator rather than the whole PC. I wanted to do that but had no idea how to set it up. I hope in works in x64. Never would have found that if you hadn't told me to check out the cabs thread! Looks like I'll be adding a PCI serial port to my shopping list.

[trailervert]

Sweet project!

I did an NES project a while back I'll see if I can get some pics up for you maybe it will give you some ideas. I used an acer aspire inside of mine and did not have to cut any big holes for cooling.

As far as the reset to reset the emulator I bought on of those cheap nes usb controllers of of eBay and gutted it wired that to the reset and amped the button to reset the emulators.

Good luck I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nespcbuild]

Thanks! Hmmm I might have to try that for the reset button. I already have one of those cheap controllers and I never use it...

Anyway.... Update! I got some more stuff in the mail:

Now the only essential piece that's missing is the CPU which should arrive today

I removed the plastic posts from the NES case last night with my dremel:

I think I'm going to have to cut some of the T shaped part out to fit the board in though. I plan to cut it out, then re-attatch it with some plastic glue. Wish I could've left it alone but I don't think the board will fit very well unless I mod the T

Donor PC case:

I'm going to cut out the mobo backplate from this old tower and attatch it to the base of the NES

Close-up of the mobo:

Cat in the box:

[subs]

Looking good!

Any suggestions are welcome!

You could hack up and mount a HD Sata dock behind the cartridge door, and load HDs containing ROMs in like they were NES cartiridges. (Probably not a realistic idea but it would be cool.)

[nespcbuild]

That thought did cross my mind when I was planning but unfortunately, I've already gotten rid of the original piece that holds the cartridge in the NES. What would be totally awesome would be to somehow have the thing read an actual NES cartridge using one of those kits you can buy online that rips NES cartridges to ROMs. I'm sure it would be possible but probably a bit too complex for me.

Another update:

Motherboard won't post. I've tried different CPU, different DIMMS (one at a time), different PSU, resetting the CMOS and booting without the CMOS battery. I've tried just about everything I can think of except for a different brand of RAM. I might try to track down a PC speaker to do some more diagnostics. If the RAM isn't detected I may try a different brand. On the bright side, the ebay seller already told me they're willing to RMA it so at least I won't have to worry about getting it exchanged.

I did a bit more work on the NES case today. I cut out the T shaped part from the bottom of the case, then cut out the expansion slot cover and epoxied it back to the T shaped part. Here's a couple of pics:

Cut out:

Pre-glued:

Tomorrow, I'll epoxy the T-shaped piece back to the main NES case. Next, I'll cut out some pieces from the little removable expansion slot cover to fill in the corner gaps underneath and then cut the mobo mounting plate out of the old tower. I'm also going to try and mod the power and reset buttons to try to make them a bit smaller inside the case and free up some room.

[pal251]

First time poster here.

Jealous, I have been wanting to try this for years but never got around to doing it. Good luck I am going to keep tabs on this.

[nespcbuild]

Update - the mobo was bad and I had to ship it back for an exchange. If I have time, I'll get the case mods mostly finished before the new board arrives and possibly mod the power and reset buttons to make more room for the motherboard. Probably won't be any exciting updates until the new board arrives though.

[trailervert]

That freaking blows! Nothing worse that getting all excited to get a package in and then drop everything to start working on it only for the part to be bad.

[trailervert]

Here is how I did my cuts if it helps any. That is the only modification done to the outside of the case. Works pretty slick with the HDMI.

[Zinger19]

Here is how I did my cuts if it helps any. That is the only modification done to the outside of the case. Works pretty slick with the HDMI.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]37109[/ATTACH]

That's really nice and clean and looks better than I ever imagined it would. Most people just cut big holes in the side, but I have to say that looks pretty good.

[nespcbuild]

That freaking blows! Nothing worse that getting all excited to get a package in and then drop everything to start working on it only for the part to be bad.

Yeah it sucks. I even took a couple of vacation days to try to have the hardware part of the project done by the end of the week but oh well. I got about 75% of the mods to the NES case done and the new board should arrive in a week or so.

[nespcbuild]

Here is how I did my cuts if it helps any. That is the only modification done to the outside of the case. Works pretty slick with the HDMI.

Wow! That looks nice. How exactly did you do that? I was planning on cutting out just an HDMI and 2 USBs right here:

[trailervert]

Yes that would work putting the HDMI and usb's there. What I did was, cut the NES case to match the REVO's back plate. I used bondo to smooth the cuts and hold the back plate in. Sanded and painted it. I cant seem to find my work in progress pictures, but Ill keep looking. If I locate them I will upload an album so you can see. If you have a dremel you can cut the case pretty well but with out it, it was really difficult to cut.

[trailervert]

That's really nice and clean and looks better than I ever imagined it would. Most people just cut big holes in the side, but I have to say that looks pretty good.

Thanks Zinger! It was a fun build

[nespcbuild]

Yes that would work putting the HDMI and usb's there. What I did was, cut the NES case to match the REVO's back plate. I used bondo to smooth the cuts and hold the back plate in. Sanded and painted it. I cant seem to find my work in progress pictures, but Ill keep looking. If I locate them I will upload an album so you can see. If you have a dremel you can cut the case pretty well but with out it, it was really difficult to cut.

Nice. I never would have thought to use bondo. That's a good idea! I do have a dremel but I can't make very precise cuts with it so I might have to try your bondo method. Did you ever try an exacto? I was thinking I might try that to make the cuts more precise. I imagine it would take a long time and be a real PITA but it might be wotrth it if I can get them just right.

[nespcbuild]

Got the power and reset buttons modded. I de-soldered the old board and LED, and I kept the metal bracket and the LED. I used a kitchen knife to cut a small line on the new power button assembly, then filed out a notch on each side to that it would slide in to the metal bracket on the NES. I still need to tweak the bracket a bit but here are some pics of the progress.

The Notch:

From the side:

In the bracket (bracket still needs some tweaking):

Buttons attached:

In the case:

I also soldered the old LED to some wiring to connect to the mobo but didn't get any pics of it yet. Hopefully it still works.

[nespcbuild]

The replacement motherboard finally arrived. Everything is working and I installed windows last night. Now I just need to make a few more slight mods to the NES case and flash the bios so that I can install the ivy bridge processor. Then I can put everything together and start installing all the software.

[nespcbuild]

Did a bit more work last night. I took the old springs from the power/reset buttons and tweaked them a bit, then reinstalled them. The action on the buttons feels a lot nicer and more balanced now.

I also cleaned up the wires and chips for the NES to USB adapters and got the cables spliced and ready to wire up to the USB header connectors. I wrapped the chips in teflon tape, then wrapped that with electrical tape.

Most importantly, I finally cut out the backplate form my donor tower to use with the NES PC. What a pain! At least it’s out now though. I still need to make a few cuts to get it just right. You can see what needs to be cut is marked in green.

[nespcbuild]

Cleaned up some of the cables last night and tested them inside the case. I spliced the NES USB adapter cables to the header pin connectors, shortened the power and led cables and I wired the reset button to a COM header for a serial port so I can try ZacUSNYR and Rayzor753’s loopback trick.

After that, I connected everything and placed the board in the NES to test the NES controllers and make sure I didn’t screw anything up. Everything went well.

I don’t know if I mentioned before that I had previously ordered the wrong type of picopsu and had to order another one. I’ve been using a normal psu for testing as you can see in the pics. The new picopsu should arrive today though and once I get some fine tuning done to the motherboard backplate I can finally install everything inside the NES case this weekend. I can’t wait to start playing some awesome old-school games on this beast!

Here are some pics from last night:

[nespcbuild]

Got my picopsu in the mail and it works. They sent me two of them by mistake so I guess I'll have a spare if anything happens to the first one. I stuffed everything in the NES with the top part on for the first time last night, finished installing windows updates and played a bit of 007 Goldeneye in pj64.