Looking for a motherboard setup that will fit in a original NES case

[Doombot]

My birthday gift to a special someone (Not you Bluecross, although you are special), is a emulator with a original NES case. I found a site along with ONE additional motherboard suggestion.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Nintendo-NES-PC/

Jetway 1.5GHz C7D

I'm guessing since it's 2 years after the write up, I shouldn't have trouble finding a cheaper motherboard yet more powerful. The one used had SOME issues with Nintendo 64 games. I'd like something that could play anything up to (but it doesn't have to include Playstation) games.

Basically I want to make a Nintendo, Genesis, Dreamcast game... using ROMS from the games we have of course. *cough* *collar tug*

So any suggestions for a combination of motherboard, processor, RAM, DVD/CD drive, heatsink, power supply, hard drive?

[Loveshack]

Try the guts out of a  Yobo FC3 Plus System.  That plays NES, SNES, AND Genesis games.  It's got cart slots, so I'm not sure if you could jury rig a hard drive full of ROMS to it, but you never know.  It's about the same size as an NES.

[Doombot]

I COULD...

But part of the present is the work that I put into it and the retro feel. There's just something about a Retro NES that plays everything from Atari to oh Playstation I suppose.

Thanks for the link and the imput but I want to build it myself. It'll be good practice for when I make the MAME unit.

[Chucara]

Any mini-itx board should do. I suggest either an Intel Atom based board, or a VIA EPIA. (I have an EPIA myself, performance is awesome and power consumption low).

I don't know what the insides of a NES looks like, so measuring before you buy might be a good idea. Mini-itx is 6.7x6.7 inches.

Any of the motherboards in this table will do if mini-itx fits:

http://mini-itx.com/store/?c=2

[Doombot]

Any mini-itx board should do. I suggest either an Intel Atom based board, or a VIA EPIA. (I have an EPIA myself, performance is awesome and power consumption low).

I don't know what the insides of a NES looks like, so measuring before you buy might be a good idea. Mini-itx is 6.7x6.7 inches.

Any of the motherboards in this table will do if mini-itx fits:

http://mini-itx.com/store/?c=2

Thanks! Low power consumption is another want. I also want to set it up so if he wants to use it as a "real" computer, he has that option. So the board with a awesome performance is nice. Thanks!

ps. Oh do you have a link to the board you use? (So I don't look at the wrong one by accident).

[Chucara]

Mine is this the VIA EPIA SN: http://mini-itx.com/store/?c=2#epiasn

I bought this one almost solely for the 4 SATA ports, as I use it to build a Network Attached Storage PC.

If you're getting a VIA board, you might even consider sacrificing some CPU speed for a fanless setup (which will probably still need a case fan as I'm not sure about the circulation in a NES case) which would make it completely quiet.

I don't know what the performance of the VIA processors are compared to an Intel Atom 1.6, as Atom hadn't hit the stores when I bought mine, and power consumption was more important for a PC running 24/7.

Also note that you'll need a small power supply, either internal or external. I use an internal 80W PSU bought from mini-itx.com. And depending on how much space is in the NES box, you might need a a 2.5" harddrive. (Any normal SATA drive for laptops will do)

Something that many people miss when building stuff like this is heat dissipation. Before sure you test it thoughtly by running intensive tests for a few hours in an environment similar to where the box is going to be placed. If it runs too hot, start drilling holes for fans unless the NES case has some already.

If you're really awesome, you'll solder on the on-switch to the one on the NES, and possible add a DVD-drive where the cases usually go. Then again, physical media like DVDs might not even be necessary.

All in all, it sounds like a freakkin' cool project and one hell of a gift. If my girlfriend gave me this, I'd marry her on the spot

[Swash]

From memory it was the N64 emulation software that had problems.  That's going back a long way though, so my information may well be out of date.

[Doombot]

If you're really awesome, you'll solder on the on-switch to the one on the NES, and possible add a DVD-drive where the cases usually go. Then again, physical media like DVDs might not even be necessary.

All in all, it sounds like a freakkin' cool project and one hell of a gift. If my girlfriend gave me this, I'd marry her on the spot

Thanks for the information. Yes, I am really awesome, so I plan using the NES switch to power the computer and I'm adding a DVD drive. They fit almost perfect into the cartridge area.

Oh yes... bragging rights are in order and not just for me. Imagine the geek cred he's going to get!

"My girl built me a NES/ATARI/NEO GEO/GENESIS/PLAYSTATION/SUPER NINTENDO/NINTENDOOOO SIXXXXX TEEEE FOOOOOR/TURBO GRAPHIX, DREAMCAST/ETC Emulator all housed in a NES unit."

Now... how to hide this from him and build it in the meantime.

Fortunately I work from home 2 - 3 days a week so I can alter my schedule.

[Doombot]

From memory it was the N64 emulation software that had problems.  That's going back a long way though, so my information may well be out of date.

Well that's good to know. I figure if it plays up to N64 it's "good enough". I'm not worried about playing Xbox and Playstation games on it. It's a retro gaming system so it's going to emulate about 15 - 20 (not sure if he's going to play Pong on it) years worth of old games.

[Chucara]

AFAIK there are some pretty stable N64 emulators out now. I remember trying one waaay back which basically didn't work. But I also seem to remember having played Mario 64 for quite a while, and I've never owned a N64.

I haven't heard about an Xbox emulator, but I know a PSX emulator exists. I don't know how it performs though.

[Chucara]

Oh, and take a few pics of the process. Also, let me know what the most tricky parts were when you're done. I have a spare VIA board (an older model) and I might just try a project similar to yours one day.

[Doombot]

Oh, and take a few pics of the process. Also, let me know what the most tricky parts were when you're done. I have a spare VIA board (an older model) and I might just try a project similar to yours one day.

Sure thing. I'll document the whole process. I figure there will be other people on the web that'll like to know.

The only "Cheat" I'm going to do is get those USB controllers. I don't feel like soldering 7+ different type of controllers.

[KMD]

Project 64 works as probably the best N64 emulator around, (1964 works well too). For Nes I would recommend Jnes and for Super Nintendo try Zsnes. Good luck on the project, it sounds pretty awesome. 

[TK]

If you want a machine with quite a bit of power there are some ITX s775 boards out there, one that I know of has a PCI-express slot, the only issue I could see would be shoehorning a powerful PSU in there or putting a standard one into an external case.  This is the board may be a different model in different territories though: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-000-ZT&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1436