NES PC Build/Tutorial

[jamaster14]

So i've just complete my NESPC build, figured I'd post the results and hardware here as some requested that I do. It was a really fun process where I learned a lot, got to do some fun modifications, and came out with what I think was a pretty good end result. My main goal was to build a PC inside of an NES case where everything was installed in a manner where I could easily add, remove, and upgrade components if needed while trying to leave the outside of the case as close to original as possible.

Hardware List:
1 - Broken NES Case without dents/cracks - $14.99
1 - ASRock AM1H-ITX Motherboard - $59.99
1 - AMD Athalon 5350 - $53.99
1 - Samsung 256 GB Solid State Drive - $119.99
2 - 8GB Corsair Vengance DDR3 Desktop Memory - $44.99
1 - 19v A/C Adapter - $12.99
1 - NES Power/Reset button assembly - $2.99
1 - Phobya Front Panel Extension Cable Kit - $8.99
1- 5MM Red LED (or 5mm LED in any color of your choice) - $1.99
1 - Flat Rubber Screen spline - $4.25
4 - 10mm motherboard standoffs $0.49
1 - 3.5" to 2.5" hard drive bracket adapter - $6.99
2 - NES30 8bitdo Bluetooth NES Controllers - $29.99
1 - Azio 4.0 USB Bluetooth adapter - $12.99
1 - Belkin Micro USB wireless network adapter - $22.99

 

Total:  $398.61

 

Tools Needed:
- Phillips Screw Driver
- Dremmel
- Drill w/ 1/8" or 1/16" bit
- Standoffs, Screws, Washers, and bolts
- Crazy Glue or industrial strength glue/adhesive



1: Gutting the case

Gutting the case is pretty straight forward for the most part. There are 6 Phillips head screws on the bottom that hold the case together. After removing those the case will come apart.



Inside the case you are left with all of the original NES hardware. another dozen or so screws need to be removed after which the components are easily pulled out.



We basically want to remove and discard all of the hardware except for the portion of it containing the yellow and red audio/video RCA input plugs. These usually stick out of the right side of the case, if we discarded it there would just be an empty hole which I wanted to avoid in my build. So to remedy this I simply used a dremell to remove the flat portion and the plugs which I would glue on later to maintain the outside appearence. The plugs will not be used, they are simply for aesthetics.



After removing all of the hardware the inside of the case is left with the Controller plugs and wiring and the Power/Reset button assembly and wiring. Since we are going to use wireless bluetooth game pads instead of USB gamepads or the original gamepads the wiring for the controller plugs can be removed. I cut them off with a pair of electricians scissors and then covered the wiring with silicon to avoid any issues with the wire ends. Since we are rewiring the button assembly, I cut those wires off as well. We will cover that later.

At this point, after removing the 2 screws for the button assemble, we are left with an empty case, and have compelted gutting the case.

[jamaster14]

2: Modifying the case

At this point we need to modify the case so that the motherboard and computer components will all fit inside. This requires removing nearly all of the posts. In some other builds I've notice that people had removed the raised "T" section on the bottom of the case, but I found this was not necessary as there was enough height for everything. Cutting out the "T" section also leaves a pretty large hole in the bottom, so this was something I wanted to avoid.

Using a Dremmel, I removed the following posts:

The end result looked like this:

Next, We need to cut out a hole in the back of the case for the motherboard plate. To do this I used the plate as a template and traced around it in black sharpie before cutting out the the hole with a dremmel. Because of the power/reset button assembly, I cut the hole on the other side (left side if looking from the back) and out of the way. I ended up with this as a result:

The case is now modified and ready to start installing the PC components and hardware

[jamaster14]

3: Installing Computer Hardware

Before installing the actual computer components, I needed something that would both hold them in place and allow me to make easy modifactions later or to swap out any components that may need to be replaced in the future. That meant securing The motherboard in place and installing a hard drive bay.

First, I needed to install some 10mm motherboard Standoffs, so I could secure the motherboard down with some screws while allowing easy installation and removal. To do this I lined up the motherboard in place and marked where the 4 screw holes would go on the bottom of the NES case. I then drilled 4 small holes in the bottom of the case and secured the standoffs in places with washers and screws as shown here:

Next, To house the hard drive we need to isntall a hard drive bay so that our hard drive can easily be installed and removed or upgraded while being held securely in place. To do this I modified this 3.5" to 2.5" hard drive bracket by cutting off the excess sides, leaving us with just a 2.5" bracket. I then drilled 2 holes through the side of the bracket and through the bottom of the case. I stood the bracket vertical and secured it to the NES using screws and nuts similar to how we installed the standoffs:

At this point, all that was left to install the computer components was to screw the components down and install the memory/processor as you normally would:

Next up, we will need to do all of the wiring and electrical modifications...

[jamaster14]

4: Wiring & Power modifications

Since I am using wireless bluetooth game pads, there was not much wiring modification needed. All that needed to be modified was the Power/Reset button assembly. I did run in to some trouble here, as the corner of my motherboard ran into the area where the reset button was. This meant I had to Cut the back of the reset button and would not be able to use it. Thankfully 1) I could still use the button it self for aesthetic reasons and 2) the reset button is not used/critical for use of the PC.

The stock power assemble comes connected to a PC board and soldered. Since I had to cut the board where the connection points were, soldering it from there became impossible. Instead, I purchased a new power/reset button assembly which came without the board intact and instead had the copper leads exposed making it much easier to solder the headers to:

I purchased some front panel header extension cables and stripped one end of them to expose the copper. I then soldered the Power switch header cables to the power button. Additionally I soldered the power LED+ and Power LED- header cables to the ends of the LED light, which just pops right into the assembly:

This left us with a working power button and LED light with motherboard headers on the other end that could easily be plugged in and removed:

At this point, all we needed to do was screw the Power/Reset button assembly back onto the case and connect all the header, SATA, and power connectors:

This leaves us with a fully functional and fully installed computer inside of the NES case which can be powered on using the factory NES power button. We are basically done! Now all we need is the finishing touches to make this thing look as awesome on the outside as it is on the inside...

[jamaster14]

5: Finishing Touches

While everything is now installed and fully functional, it just seemed wrong to leave the box looking like it belonged in a dumpster. The first step was to clean up the back of the case. While the motherboard plate fit really nice, the rough edges of the dremmel cuts were a real eye sore:

To remedy this I used some screen door spline to make a rubber bezel around the back plate. The flat rubber spline works great for this, it lays flat, is easy to work with, and has the perfect width to cover up the jagged cuts from the dremmel. I simply glued it to the back of the case using some crazy glue:

Once all 4 sides were securely on, I used a razor blade and cut the rubber bezel where the case comes apart so I could easily remove the top and bottom of the case. Here is the finished product:

now that everything has more of a factory look, the last thing that is left is to give it a fresh coat of paint. I debated long over whether to give it the original paint color or not and ultimately decided to paint it a glossy black with red lettering. I went this route since my build wasn't really meant to make this a stealth build, but to stay true to the original Nintendo case without much exterior modification but to also give it a pretty badass look at the same time.

I'm currently attempting to paint this myself, although after seeing some of the work that Custom NES guy does, I may just send it out to him as his work is really flawless.

[jamaster14]

Once I finish painting i'll post some before/after photos and maybe a video of it booting up in hyperspin with my NES intro video....

This project was ALOT of fun. I encourage anyone who has thought about making an NESPC to go forward with it, with the new mini and micro ITX motherboard it is alot easier and things fit without nearly as much modification. I also have a lot of parts and cases and wires if anyone is looking for stuff I can donate it to you. Would also be glad to answer any questions.

[floatingyeti]

I did the exact same build except for the rubber bezel on step 5. Good tip I'm going to have to do that.

[jamaster14]

I did the exact same build except for the rubber bezel on step 5. Good tip I'm going to have to do that.

Yea, the rubber stuff and glue combined was like $7 and I think it makes a pretty big difference.

[justinwebb]

Ummm how do you plan on powering it?

[Agrajag]

Great tutorial, thanks!

[jamaster14]

Ummm how do you plan on powering it?

It is powered using a 19v A/C Adapter:

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-3-42A-Watt-Replacement-Adapter/dp/B006RIMS9U

This specific motherboard can use a traditional ATX power supply, or a 19v adapter, that was one of the reasons on settled on that motherboard, so I didn't need to worry about a power supply inside the case:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/AM1H-ITX/

[jamaster14]

If anyone needs it, I have the following hardware left over:

1 - Red LED

2 - Nintnedo Power/Reset button assebmly (the one shown above with no PC board/wiring attached)

? - A bunch of the Phobya front panel cables

1 - Bottom half of an NES case, gutted, in great condition with the gamepad and power/reset button sockets and wiring in tact

1 - nintendo, gutted, with the back cut out (probably no use unless you need some scrap plastic from it)

any of it is yours for free.... for the NES cases id ask for the cost of shipping, if you just need the button assembly and small stuff id ship that to you for free

[Monstermack]

this is exactly the type of build I'm looking to do in the next month or so.

My question is what's the limit for console emulation with your exact setup? My goal it to at the very minimum get up to N64, but I'd like to be able to get up to Gamecube/Dreamcast performance...all crammed inside a NES case.

[njgsx96]

I just built the same thing although I was lazy and ended up using an Intel NUC i5. Added BT and wireless adapters and routed out holes for 2 USB, 1 HDMI and the power adapter. Picked up a nice BT keyboard/trackpad combo and use the NES30 controllers. The inside is just some ugly hot-gluing. I plan to use the side holes where the audio/video jacks used to be for RJ45 and audio out, but no rush there. it is up and running and looks awesome above the PS4. It is my portable retro gamer PC but main use is for watching movies while I get Hyperspin set up. I was going to try something new and use GameEx but it seems like a lot of work when I already have Hyperspin set up in my cabinet so I decided to scratch the GameEx idea and go with Hyperspin.

Definitely a cool project. I am thinking of making another but going the route you did with the mini-itx board. There was a cool youtube video where someone did this and made a Plexiglass platform which made mounting everything inside nice and clean.

[jamaster14]

this is exactly the type of build I'm looking to do in the next month or so.

My question is what's the limit for console emulation with your exact setup? My goal it to at the very minimum get up to N64, but I'd like to be able to get up to Gamecube/Dreamcast performance...all crammed inside a NES case.

I've tested it with N64 and PS1. i have not tried anything higher then that, although my guess is the video card/processor could handle it.

[jamaster14]

I just built the same thing although I was lazy and ended up using an Intel NUC i5. Added BT and wireless adapters and routed out holes for 2 USB, 1 HDMI and the power adapter. Picked up a nice BT keyboard/trackpad combo and use the NES30 controllers. The inside is just some ugly hot-gluing. I plan to use the side holes where the audio/video jacks used to be for RJ45 and audio out, but no rush there. it is up and running and looks awesome above the PS4. It is my portable retro gamer PC but main use is for watching movies while I get Hyperspin set up. I was going to try something new and use GameEx but it seems like a lot of work when I already have Hyperspin set up in my cabinet so I decided to scratch the GameEx idea and go with Hyperspin.

Definitely a cool project. I am thinking of making another but going the route you did with the mini-itx board. There was a cool youtube video where someone did this and made a Plexiglass platform which made mounting everything inside nice and clean.

you could easily mount a plexiglass motherboard mount to the bottom of the case if you routed out the "T" section. I originally wanted to use a similar mount, but did not want to remove that 'T' section as it leaves an open hole in the bottom, so i decided to just add the standoffs and mount to that.

I use this logitech keyboard/trackpad combo...

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=&cs=04&sku=A7837773&ST=pla&dgc=ST&cid=262075&lid=4742361&acd=1230980794501410

Small and works great for a living room setup.

do you have 2 NES30's set up with hyperspin? i've had trouble getting 2 to work and stay connected after reboots?

[trailervert]

That looks awesome. Very nice build!

[jamaster14]

Here are some pictures of the final product, after i had it painted by customnes guy:

 

[jamaster14]

Finished product

 

 

 

 

 

[Agrajag]

Stunning!

[loxymiracles]

was planning on building a htpc/emulator device for the bedroom or living room. might have to snag this idea

[Tribe Fan]

Looks amazing. Can I ask how much custom nes guy charges for a paint job like that? Thanks.

[MildAnti]

F'N awesome!!!

[jamaster14]

Looks amazing. Can I ask how much custom nes guy charges for a paint job like that? Thanks.

 

he doesnt have any set prices on his site.  He Charged me $180 for mine.  which included the paint and also sanding down the edges and making all my cuts super clean and perfect. the paint is like a new car shine, the pictures dont do it justice.

[jamaster14]

was planning on building a htpc/emulator device for the bedroom or living room. might have to snag this idea

if you do and need any help or have any questions feel free to ask.  i also have some spare parts laying around i can send you if you need them.