Passively cooled PS2 emulation/PS2 PC

[thevicparable]

So, I've been planning this build since my laptop and PS2 died in 2014. Somewhere on the internet I had seen a build in an old NES and wanted to do the same. The main goal with this build was to spend as little money as possible on as few parts as possible. With my move overseas coming in seven months, this summer was really the last chance I had to get things started.

 

Parts list:

Gutted PS2 chassis

AsRock j4205-ITX motherboard with embedded Pentium quad core CPU

2x4GB DDR3 memory from my old laptop

120GB SSD from parents' old computer

140W Pico-PSU

40mm case fan which may or may not be used

Front panel cables pulled from old random case, hopefully to be soldered to original PS2 power switch

 

Zalman 500W PSU for building and testing system before switching to Pico unit.

 

[thevicparable]

The first step was to simply build and test the system before attempting any further case mods. The PS2 itself I gutted in 2014, and every other part has been lying around for 3-4 years until the motherboard arrived earlier this week. After installing Windows and testing some emulators I moved the system from the 500w supply to the Pico-PSU. Glad to report everything is stable and working well. So far I've only emulated up to PS1/N64. I don't have high hopes of anything from the next gen running (e.g on Dolphin or ps2) but we'll probably see about that tomorrow.

 

 

I fricken love Crash Bash alright.

 

Next step is more of the actual case mod. I've never really done anything like this before so it's gonna be a lot of research and trial and error. Worst case scenario and I cock it all up I can easy find another broken PS2 online.

 

I'm back to work full time from Monday so I'm not sure how frequently I'll update this, but I hope some of you stick around to see this project through with me.

[PlayStation 2]

If you can, run SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom on it and have a PS2 controller plugged in for maximum authenticity.

I mean, it ain't a bad idea. 

 

More on topic, I'm loving it. Keep it up, I might try to do something like this someday, but with an Athlon 200GE.

[thevicparable]

1 minute ago, handymanshandle said:

If you can, run SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom on it and have a PS2 controller plugged in for maximum authenticity.

I mean, it ain't a bad idea. 

 

More on topic, I'm loving it. Keep it up, I might try to do something like this someday, but with an Athlon 200GE.

Thanks!

 

The original controller ports definitely didn't survive the gutting, and I've only got one good Dualshock 2 left unfortunately, but will definitely pick up some sort of USB lookalike.

 

[thevicparable]

Little update, this is my first post from the PC itself. It didn't like my wifi dongle so I've finally been able to move downstairs closer to the router to run an ethernet cable while I install updates and configure emulators properly. Haven't quite decided how I'm gonna run them, any software solutions? I'm looking for something simple. Last time I did research (a few years ago) Kodi seemed like a good option, any other/better ideas?

 

Work has been crazy so far this year so I still haven't done any more physical work on planning the case layout. I ordered a set of tall standoffs on Amazon, but upon receiving them realized they were m3 to m3 and not motherboard screws so that has set me back a bit. They'll be put on TradeMe alongside the original motherboard I ordered which was delayed.

[thevicparable]

Cut my foot at the beach so I’m off my feet a few days, so I’m finally going back to work on the PS2 build. Windows is installed and all the hw works so I’m taking it back upstairs towork on the fit and figure out how I’m gonna mount the mobo and other parts. Also will test two USB ports I prematurely glued into the case a few years back.

 

Software can wait.