Emulation Machine Part 3 - COMPLETED!!
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Emulation Machine Part 3 - COMPLETED!!
Yes, I finally finished it. Should of been done long ago, but I'm both lazy and have other stuff, plus I went out of state a couple times.
For those who missed out on the previous posts, I decided to build a machine targeted at emulation, plus DVD playback and DivX playback.
It is based around a miniITX motherboard. THey're tiny mobos, about 7"x7". They have the full outs and ins on a standard mobo, plus built in video, audio (with 5.1 audio, though I'm not using it), TV out (very nice quality, as that is a major design feature), and a built in processor. Cost was about $160 with shipping. The model I got has a 1 ghz processor, and only has one fan. They're very quiet and produce little heat. I should note, however, that like a Duron or Celeron, these don't perform nearly as well as a 1ghz Pentium 3 or Athlon t-bird. They perform more like a Pentium 3 500 mhz. Which is good enough for my purpouses. You just add case, power, ram, HDD, and CD and that's it.
Power supply is a standard ATX. $25.
Ram is 256 DDR@266. $30.
DVD-ROM (8x) was $30 shipped.
Power button came from an old machine.
10 gig HD was free, pulled from an old machine that I don't have very many other parts too.
The bracket piece that holds the DVD-ROM and HD was free, pulled from another incomplete computer.
Piece of wood (I'll get into that): $2.50
2-port PSX controller to USB adapter: $14 shipped.
Case: $25 (see the pics )
A few extra screws and rubber doodads: $4
Total cost of around $290.50. There's more stuff, little things, etc, so it's probably more like an even $300.
And here it is, in all its glory!!!
You can see it's pretty messy inside. The power button is below the Craftsman logo, along with LEDs. For some reason the LEDs don't work anymore. Dunno what happened. The upper right thing is front USB and firewire ports, which came with the mobo. Pretty nice really. Easy mount job, just cut the holes and cut screw holes, then screwed it straight in.
The DVD-ROM+HDD is mounted on a bracket which has this little overhang, so we ran some pretty strong wood through there, and just drilled screws into both sides. It feels solid, and if someone the wood cracked ( ) the fit is good enough that it wouldn't fall onto the mobo, at least not for a long time - I would notice first.
The power supply has a bunch of ventilation holes drilled, plus a hole cut for the plug, then it's just screwed straight in. Pretty quiet PSU, considering it's an offbrand. This thing is whisper quiet, the whole machine. Better then I expected.
That's the tray ejected, just to give you some idea. BTW, if you recognize what that is in the lower left: No, I am NOT a Mormon - someone at school gave that to me, hoping to convert me.
The back. This is probably where it looks worst. Oh well. To some extent, I wish I had custom cut the holes, but it was a huge pain getting this to fit as is, so I'm not that concerned.
Here it is running. Works perfect. It seems to stay pretty cool, but I'm not going to stress test it. I have no intention of this PC staying on for more then a few hours at a time, so heat dispersion is probably fine as is.
If you're wondering, I have quite a bit of MAME roms, SNES, NES, Genesis, and Master System ROMs on there. Still have like 6 gigs free too. Pretty happy with it all. What do you guys think?
For those who missed out on the previous posts, I decided to build a machine targeted at emulation, plus DVD playback and DivX playback.
It is based around a miniITX motherboard. THey're tiny mobos, about 7"x7". They have the full outs and ins on a standard mobo, plus built in video, audio (with 5.1 audio, though I'm not using it), TV out (very nice quality, as that is a major design feature), and a built in processor. Cost was about $160 with shipping. The model I got has a 1 ghz processor, and only has one fan. They're very quiet and produce little heat. I should note, however, that like a Duron or Celeron, these don't perform nearly as well as a 1ghz Pentium 3 or Athlon t-bird. They perform more like a Pentium 3 500 mhz. Which is good enough for my purpouses. You just add case, power, ram, HDD, and CD and that's it.
Power supply is a standard ATX. $25.
Ram is 256 DDR@266. $30.
DVD-ROM (8x) was $30 shipped.
Power button came from an old machine.
10 gig HD was free, pulled from an old machine that I don't have very many other parts too.
The bracket piece that holds the DVD-ROM and HD was free, pulled from another incomplete computer.
Piece of wood (I'll get into that): $2.50
2-port PSX controller to USB adapter: $14 shipped.
Case: $25 (see the pics )
A few extra screws and rubber doodads: $4
Total cost of around $290.50. There's more stuff, little things, etc, so it's probably more like an even $300.
And here it is, in all its glory!!!
You can see it's pretty messy inside. The power button is below the Craftsman logo, along with LEDs. For some reason the LEDs don't work anymore. Dunno what happened. The upper right thing is front USB and firewire ports, which came with the mobo. Pretty nice really. Easy mount job, just cut the holes and cut screw holes, then screwed it straight in.
The DVD-ROM+HDD is mounted on a bracket which has this little overhang, so we ran some pretty strong wood through there, and just drilled screws into both sides. It feels solid, and if someone the wood cracked ( ) the fit is good enough that it wouldn't fall onto the mobo, at least not for a long time - I would notice first.
The power supply has a bunch of ventilation holes drilled, plus a hole cut for the plug, then it's just screwed straight in. Pretty quiet PSU, considering it's an offbrand. This thing is whisper quiet, the whole machine. Better then I expected.
That's the tray ejected, just to give you some idea. BTW, if you recognize what that is in the lower left: No, I am NOT a Mormon - someone at school gave that to me, hoping to convert me.
The back. This is probably where it looks worst. Oh well. To some extent, I wish I had custom cut the holes, but it was a huge pain getting this to fit as is, so I'm not that concerned.
Here it is running. Works perfect. It seems to stay pretty cool, but I'm not going to stress test it. I have no intention of this PC staying on for more then a few hours at a time, so heat dispersion is probably fine as is.
If you're wondering, I have quite a bit of MAME roms, SNES, NES, Genesis, and Master System ROMs on there. Still have like 6 gigs free too. Pretty happy with it all. What do you guys think?
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Probably not. MiniITXs run extremely cool, it's one of the main reasons people like them. It's still a little more sealed then I would like, so I might cut slits in the top for ventilation. Haven't decided. I should probably leave it on for a couple hours playing a DivX and see how hot it gets.
The main reason I wanted this specialty case: well, for it to be unique, and also for it to be portable. Another plan I have is to add some kind of netting running across the top of the lid. So I can stick my PSX-to-USB adapter in there, the power cord, RCA cords, and a CD or two of divx stuff I want to watch.
edit: What's a good temp for it to be at? The BIOS has a temperature reading, it was around 50 degrees after being on for an hour or so.
The main reason I wanted this specialty case: well, for it to be unique, and also for it to be portable. Another plan I have is to add some kind of netting running across the top of the lid. So I can stick my PSX-to-USB adapter in there, the power cord, RCA cords, and a CD or two of divx stuff I want to watch.
edit: What's a good temp for it to be at? The BIOS has a temperature reading, it was around 50 degrees after being on for an hour or so.
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ToolboxPC, going with the usual mini-ITX cliche.
Oh yeah, thanks for the compliments. It has a few ugly spots though, which I almost painted over. I decided though, that it is a toolbox and looking a little used is ok. There's some slight marks where this metal shaping dremel tool got out of hand, etc.
There's also a slight bit of black duct tape covering the exposed steel where the mobo comes out, and where the DVD-ROM comes out. I did such a good job mounting the mobo it doesn't actually touch any metal, but I still wanted it to be protected from electrical shock just in case. Duct tape is not a conductant, just so you know. Plus it looks better with the duct tape, since you can't see grey steel against black pain.
For some reason the LEDs stopped working. Still haven't figured that out. I booted the machine up just before installation, and they worked then. Oh well.
Oh yeah, I didn't even notice this before, but the degrees I was talking about at 50 was in celsius, so well over 100 in fahrenheit. Is this too high? I booted it straight to the BIOS, and it almost immediately is at 40 celsius, 100 fahrenheit. Is that acceptable? What's a normal temperature, does anyone know? It doesn't say in the manual. I might considering adding a fan, as noise isn't a huge concern for me. Blah, not looking forward to taking apart and putting it back together though, afraid I'll break something.
Oh yeah, thanks for the compliments. It has a few ugly spots though, which I almost painted over. I decided though, that it is a toolbox and looking a little used is ok. There's some slight marks where this metal shaping dremel tool got out of hand, etc.
There's also a slight bit of black duct tape covering the exposed steel where the mobo comes out, and where the DVD-ROM comes out. I did such a good job mounting the mobo it doesn't actually touch any metal, but I still wanted it to be protected from electrical shock just in case. Duct tape is not a conductant, just so you know. Plus it looks better with the duct tape, since you can't see grey steel against black pain.
For some reason the LEDs stopped working. Still haven't figured that out. I booted the machine up just before installation, and they worked then. Oh well.
Oh yeah, I didn't even notice this before, but the degrees I was talking about at 50 was in celsius, so well over 100 in fahrenheit. Is this too high? I booted it straight to the BIOS, and it almost immediately is at 40 celsius, 100 fahrenheit. Is that acceptable? What's a normal temperature, does anyone know? It doesn't say in the manual. I might considering adding a fan, as noise isn't a huge concern for me. Blah, not looking forward to taking apart and putting it back together though, afraid I'll break something.
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- Mental DCEmu
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50C is fine. You have nothign to worry about as far as the cpu goes. Pentiums can handle 80C before they start to get damaged. My AthlonXP 1800 runs at a steady 59C. If anything, you might have to worry about the hdd getting too hot in there. Touch it after about an hour. If you can keep your hand on it without feeling too uncomfortable, you'll be o.k. Also, if the drive gets too hot, it will shut down. If you haven' had any problems, you'll probably be ok.
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This was the BIOS. I don't have a temperature to measure this with, anyone have suggestions on where to get one?
I'm not too worried about the HD, it's an older one at a lower speed and always seemed cooler then more modern ones. I'm still going to keep checking it anyways. Fortunately I have no intention of this machine staying on more then a few hours at at time.
A fan is a possibility, I just don't know if there is room. I would feel comfortable with a few cut slits for more ventilation though. Bleh, I'm just afraid I'll somehow break something taking it apart. I'm very paranoid.
edit: Oh yes. I don't know the exact weight, but I would say it is probably 20 pounds. Not light, but it's small enough that it is easy to carry around. Point in fact, it is comparable to a toolbox with tools in it.
I'm not too worried about the HD, it's an older one at a lower speed and always seemed cooler then more modern ones. I'm still going to keep checking it anyways. Fortunately I have no intention of this machine staying on more then a few hours at at time.
A fan is a possibility, I just don't know if there is room. I would feel comfortable with a few cut slits for more ventilation though. Bleh, I'm just afraid I'll somehow break something taking it apart. I'm very paranoid.
edit: Oh yes. I don't know the exact weight, but I would say it is probably 20 pounds. Not light, but it's small enough that it is easy to carry around. Point in fact, it is comparable to a toolbox with tools in it.
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In it? Do you mean on the HD? What's inside hardware wise is up above.
Right now, I have NES, SNES, Genesis, SMS, and Arcade emus plus tons of roms.. I also have DivX installed, and soon will be installing WinDVD for DVD playback...
Stuff I will be adding later: Atari 2600-7800 (I got a complete ROM set for all of them - it's only like 9 meg hehehe), Colecovision... More arcade ROMs. Suggestions are welcome. Keep in mind this machine is roughly equivalent to a Pentium 3 500 MHz machine, though it has 256 megs of DDR ram. So much beyond PSX is probably too much. Game Boy series is possible, though Game Boy Advance probably will require quite a bit of frame skipping (probably at least 4 or 5). Hmm.. What else... I'll probably put one of those split screen Doom source ports on there maybe. Duke 3D will get on there if a split screen port is ever released for it.
I might start putting a few sega CD images on there. Not many games I'm interested in for that though.
One thing I would like to get is a SNES USB adapter, if one exists. I prefer the SNES's D-pad to the PSX's, and most of the emus don't need more then 6 main buttons anyway. Plus then I could play, for example, Simpsons arcade 4-player at home!!
One slight footnote: I tried running the various emus, plus playing PSX games (Broken Helix off my CD of it) for around 45 minutes.. The temperature never got above 55 celsius. It should be ok, but the real test will be divx for a full two hours. I'm going to put a temperature monitor on there, have it running while it plays, to make sure I don't fry it though (I'll shut it down if it ever gets to around 70 celsius - I plan to have this software temperature monitor always running, and interrupt whatever is running to alert you if it gets to about 70 - better safe then sorry).
Intellivision will also be added eventually.
Have I missed any major systems? None spring to mind. Remember that Game Gear is effectively included with Sega Master System.
Right now, I have NES, SNES, Genesis, SMS, and Arcade emus plus tons of roms.. I also have DivX installed, and soon will be installing WinDVD for DVD playback...
Stuff I will be adding later: Atari 2600-7800 (I got a complete ROM set for all of them - it's only like 9 meg hehehe), Colecovision... More arcade ROMs. Suggestions are welcome. Keep in mind this machine is roughly equivalent to a Pentium 3 500 MHz machine, though it has 256 megs of DDR ram. So much beyond PSX is probably too much. Game Boy series is possible, though Game Boy Advance probably will require quite a bit of frame skipping (probably at least 4 or 5). Hmm.. What else... I'll probably put one of those split screen Doom source ports on there maybe. Duke 3D will get on there if a split screen port is ever released for it.
I might start putting a few sega CD images on there. Not many games I'm interested in for that though.
One thing I would like to get is a SNES USB adapter, if one exists. I prefer the SNES's D-pad to the PSX's, and most of the emus don't need more then 6 main buttons anyway. Plus then I could play, for example, Simpsons arcade 4-player at home!!
One slight footnote: I tried running the various emus, plus playing PSX games (Broken Helix off my CD of it) for around 45 minutes.. The temperature never got above 55 celsius. It should be ok, but the real test will be divx for a full two hours. I'm going to put a temperature monitor on there, have it running while it plays, to make sure I don't fry it though (I'll shut it down if it ever gets to around 70 celsius - I plan to have this software temperature monitor always running, and interrupt whatever is running to alert you if it gets to about 70 - better safe then sorry).
Intellivision will also be added eventually.
Have I missed any major systems? None spring to mind. Remember that Game Gear is effectively included with Sega Master System.
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- Mental DCEmu
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- Mental DCEmu
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Yeah, I know for a fact you can for most systems. Getting the analog sticks to work right is supposed to be by far the hardest part. Adapters cost like $10 though, and the parts wouldn't be that much less then that anyways.
I'm going to be adding one of the Dance Dance Revolution clones and a bunch of songs. Haven't thought of much else yet.
I'm going to be adding one of the Dance Dance Revolution clones and a bunch of songs. Haven't thought of much else yet.