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I first read about the mini-ITX form factor in ET'southward Land of the Motherboard report back in May. When Nintendo came out with the retro Game Boy Advance SP, the commercials inspired me to dig out my Nintendo Amusement Organization and requite my old friend a facelift. Thus was born: the NESPC.


Afterward doing some research I settled on the VIA EPIA MII1000 series of motherboards considering of its unique inclusion of a PCMCIA slot and CF card reader in the back panel. It sports a 1GHz VIA C3 processor, which I paired with 512MB of PC2100 RAM. Because of the tight space the unmarried PCI slot on the mobo would be unusable, then the PCMCIA slot provided an alternative method to add Wi-Fi to my system. The board besides includes a SPDIF audio connector, S-Video out, Firewire, and integrated graphics, all of which amounts to a nifty HTPC package for streaming audio and playing DivX movies.

I began the projection by dismantling my NES. I removed all the internal components and, subsequently a moment of silent reflection, eighty-sixed all simply the plastic shell, ability buttons, and rear output connectors. Grinding down the mounting posts cleared the interior space and immune me to utilise some ultra-low tech cardboard cutouts to piece of work out the interior organization. I chose a Panasonic slot-loading 24x12x24x16x combo bulldoze to minimize visual impact. This left room for a ii.5-inch HDD on the right side of the box. A Samsung 40GB 5400RPM drive proved a skilful compromise of price and functioning, since I planned on streaming my MP3 collection and just storing some compressed video content on the drive. Power came courtesy of a Morex 80W PSU, which uses an external brick to send power to a tiny DC/DC converter bill of fare within the box. The round nature of the ability connector immune me to install it in the same place as the NES' original power connector had been. Coupled with the power brick, this gives the unit a much more authentic panel experience.



NewEgg.com supplied the more mundane parts with its usual free 3-day shipping service, and LOGIC Supply came through with the more specialized Mini-ITX-specific components with a respectable four-day turnaround. By the finish of the week, I had a glorious pile of estimator goodies ready to exist stuffed into the hulking carcass of my NES. Attaching these components to the case required a completely original organisation that I had to create from a 1mm plastic plate. Afterwards cutting a hole for the rear panel I created four box-shaped mounting posts for the mobo and glued them to the bottom half of the example.


Two more mounting posts were created for the DC/DC power carte to sit slightly beneath the mobo on the right side. On the top half, I created a snap-in mounting bracket for the HDD and optical drive. The slot-loading combo drive was mounted and so that the slot extended just beneath the lip of the cartridge bay, and I created a mask to cover the balance and hibernate the interior components.

With the interior taken care of, it was fourth dimension to give some attending to the system's accoutrements. To go along the exterior looking as accurate every bit possible, I cut the old RCA jacks off of the original I/O cluster and glued them to the case in their original position. The ability supply connector fit perfectly in the pigsty the original had occupied, and only the Channel Select switch couldn't be returned to its original position. I had toyed with the thought of rewiring the controller ports every bit USB ports, but I was unsure of the feasibility of doing so. Fear of shorting out my $175 mobo ultimately dissuaded me from trying it.


NESPC (Back View)
Instead, I created a front I/O cluster from an expansion bracket salvaged from an old case. I removed the metallic bracket, cutting the plastic unit in half, and glued the pieces together to form a single cake with two USB 2.0 and two Firewire ports. Lo and behold, this cake fits perfectly in the space behind the black bezel to the correct of the game-loading slot. To hide the I/O cluster I removed the bezel and carved the holes in the beige plastic behind it. I cutting the bezel at the seam on top and created a swivel with a sprue from an old model kit and a pin. The result is barely distinguishable from the original, as the swivel is very depression profile, merely flips up to reveal a functional outlet for connecting to the forepart of the unit: especially handy for connecting a controller for emulator play.


I wanted to wire the LED and Power and Reset buttons to perform their original functions, and then I cut the leads and rewired them to connectors harvested from some other case. The LED shared a connector with the Reset button so I had to clip in from its PCB and wire it directly. Unfortunately, the NES power switch (when connected) would cause the system to power on briefly and then power off again, so the Reset switch became the power switch.

With all the components installed and cables connected, the box was extremely crowded and took some finesse to get closed. Windows installed without any problem and the organization was up and running in no fourth dimension. The only fan is the ane on the processor estrus sink, and then the system is very quite. Simply, with practically no ventilation and the insulating properties of plastic, the unit gets quite hot. Luckily, the VIA C3 processor produces very footling rut and the PSU and HDD are in an area where the estrus can hands go out the box. Temperatures never reach the signal where the system becomes unstable. With a Wi-Fi adapter, it streams music, surfs the Web, downloads movies, and runs NESticle like a champ. Information technology won't, still, run iTunes visualizer in full-screen mode. Overall, the NESPC makes a keen HTPC that doesn't looks anything similar 1 and makes a unique add-on to my domicile theatre stack.

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