I have a Dream...The Dreamcast SFF build!

[Ross Siggers]

14 hours ago, PacketMan said:

I love you for doing this. The Dreamcast was my first console and I really loved it. Thank you.

You're welcome man! The Dreamcast was one of my first consoles too, at least, the first one I owned myself. Hope you stay around to see the build through to the end  

 

And don't worry, only one broken Dreamcast was taken apart Excluding this(I still kept the internals btw), I have;

x2 consoles

x1 Behar Bros HDMI adapter
x7 controllers

x8 VMU

x3 rumble packs

x1 mouse

x1 keyboard

And I don't know how many games. But a decent amount, with some rare ones too.

 

[Ross Siggers]

My Dynamo 360 psu arrived in the mail today!! 

 

... Oh wait. 

 

 

 

 

Customs cost is almost 50% the cost of the item. Pisstake really, for something I'm going to return...

 

.

[GrogStache]

Nice build concept! We both seem to have decided on similar challenges for ourselves. Good luck on this, I'll be checking in with it for sure, maybe even to see if you've solved issues I'm trying to figure out myself still.

[Ross Siggers]

5 hours ago, GrogStache said:

Nice build concept! We both seem to have decided on similar challenges for ourselves. Good luck on this, I'll be checking in with it for sure, maybe even to see if you've solved issues I'm trying to figure out myself still.

Nice, what're you building? I think one day I'd like to build a small form factor build in a more sensible size, using an ITX board. This is a bit much to take on as a first venture!

In related news, I realised that once I get the Dynamo 360 from the evil clutches of customs, I'm getting quite close to firing some kind of computer up. I'll be adding the powered GPU rised and different power supply later, but I'd be able to test my motherboard and second hand i7  

[GrogStache]

1 hour ago, Ross Siggers said:

what're you building?

Looks like you found the Falcon build log, lol. I'm actually kinda bummed that there's not a "dynamo 500" as it would super help me out as I try to make sure everything in my case both fits and is supported properly.

[Ross Siggers]

*sigh* Dammit Amazon... Does anyone need an ultra low profile Intel 115X cooler?

 

 

[BLLDoesTech]

49 minutes ago, Ross Siggers said:

*sigh* Dammit Amazon... Does anyone need an ultra low profile Intel 115X cooler?

 

 

 

Amazon messes things up alot

(But if you seriously don't want the second cooler I'll take it for my NES build)

[Ross Siggers]

@BLLDoesTech I can give you a great deal on it, but I suspect shipping from the UK to the US might catch us out  

[BLLDoesTech]

3 hours ago, Ross Siggers said:

@BLLDoesTech I can give you a great deal on it, but I suspect shipping from the UK to the US might catch us out  

yeah shipping would kill it I'd pay more to ship than the thing's worth

sell to someone in your country i guess

[Ross Siggers]

@BLLDoesTech regarding the shipping costs, I just ran into that very issue today.

 

Turns out the package that I said required a customs charge wasn't what I thought. It was infact the ram I bought from @ccRicers! I like buying from the community when possible, and even when we looked at cheap shipping from the US it was a pretty competitive price...

 

Although I guess we both forgot about customs

 

[Ross Siggers]

Time for a real progress update!

 

With my newly acquired RAM slotted onto the board, and one of my many many Silverstone coolers installed, I can now get to planning the final position for mounting the motherboard. I wish Low-profile Sodimm was a thing, because as predicted(measured), the RAM is the tallest part of my motherboard  

 

 

 

I've drawn out the round hole that I'm cutting for the CPU intake, and also the rectangular slot that I've drawn out for where the ram sticks sit...just incase I need to cut a slot and hang them out the bottom of the case   But... even without cutting anything on the floor...

 

THE MOTHERBOARD AND GRAPHICS CARD BOTH FIT!!! THE LID GOES ON AND EVERYTHING!!! 

 

 

Don't be alarmed, the curve of the top of the console means the cooler has a few mm clearance, even though it does look like it's sticking up in the picture  

Next up, I have to trim some the stand-offs in the lower half of the case, that I've decided I 100% don't need, and also work on that new compact latch mechanism, because I really need to work out the graphics card placement. As I've stated before, the original latch is needlessly large, and gets in the way. So maybe in the next few days I'll crack out a Dremel and  get that done  

I also ordered the adapter for my GPU. With STX builds, the ones I've seen have a literal PCI-E slot slapped straight onto an M.2 card, with a power plug on it as well. Then people use a regular x16 riser to go to wherever the card is. What I actually found on eBay, was a solution that packages things a bit better. It goes straight to the 16x in one piece. Apparently, this is going to give me full PCI-E gen 3.0 speeds. Buuuut I have my doubts. 

 

 

 

 

[kelvinhall05]

Lookin' good! I'm too young to know what a Dreamcast is (even though I watch a lot of old computer/console videos), but I'm a huge fan of sleepers and SFF  

[Ross Siggers]

29 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Lookin' good! I'm too young to know what a Dreamcast is (even though I watch a lot of old computer/console videos), but I'm a huge fan of sleepers and SFF  

Although I didn't realise when I started this build, the 20th anniversary of the Dreamcast Launch was last week

 

Most people dismiss it as a failed console that was quickly overtaken by the ps2. But damn if it didn't have some great games and innovative features. 

[GrogStache]

Nice job fitting that motherboard in there with the gpu! Looks like an amazing fit.

[Ross Siggers]

2 hours ago, GrogStache said:

Nice job fitting that motherboard in there with the gpu! Looks like an amazing fit.

I'm hoping to get it fitted so I don't have the RAM hanging out the bottom of the case. We'll have to see! I need some kind of shallow headed bolts to mount the gpu cooler, so I don't lose anything there 

 

 

[BLLDoesTech]

Sad news guys...

My Dreamcast went up in smoke last night

It was such a great console

1999-2018

[Ross Siggers]

1 hour ago, BLLDoesTech said:

Sad news guys...

My Dreamcast went up in smoke last night

It was such a great console

1999-2018

Was it actually an OG launch unit? What happened  I demand a 21-gun salute, and a statue funeral. AT ONCE.
 

[BLLDoesTech]

29 minutes ago, Ross Siggers said:

Was it actually an OG launch unit? What happened  I demand a 21-gun salute, and a statue funeral. AT ONCE.
 

It was an original Dreamcast, worked great for the last 3 years, last night I was playing Sonic, and I started to smell a funny smell, that's when the screen froze and went black

I jumped up and saw smoke coming from it, so i grabbed it, unplugged power video, etc, and threw it off the porch, aand watched it burn

 

I'll be sure to give it a proper funeral

 

I inspected it and the power supply seems to be the problem

[Ross Siggers]

40 minutes ago, BLLDoesTech said:

It was an original Dreamcast, worked great for the last 3 years, last night I was playing Sonic, and I started to smell a funny smell, that's when the screen froze and went black

I jumped up and saw smoke coming from it, so i grabbed it, unplugged power video, etc, and threw it off the porch, aand watched it burn

 

I'll be sure to give it a proper funeral

 

I inspected it and the power supply seems to be the problem

Wait did it literally melt? If it just went pop I'd have suggested replacing the power supply but it sounds a mite more serious... 

 

I can't even send you parts because the one I dismantled obviously has the UK rated power supply

[BLLDoesTech]

6 minutes ago, Ross Siggers said:

Wait did it literally melt? If it just went pop I'd have suggested replacing the power supply but it sounds a mite more serious... 

 

I can't even send you parts because the one I dismantled obviously has the UK rated power supply

the power supply went and caught on fire, and I didn't have a fire extinguisher handy so I had to let it burn in the back yard, I tried to put the fire out with the garden hose, but couldn't save the rest of the dream cast

 

In a bit I'll get some pics of it

[Ross Siggers]

3 minutes ago, BLLDoesTech said:

the power supply went and caught on fire, and I didn't have a fire extinguisher handy so I had to let it burn in the back yard, I tried to put the fire out with the garden hose, but couldn't save the rest of the dream cast

That SUCKS. I don't know many people who have a fire extinguisher to hand, so you probably gave the best you could

 

[BLLDoesTech]

2 minutes ago, Ross Siggers said:

That SUCKS. I don't know many people who have a fire extinguisher to hand, so you probably gave the best you could

 

yep, I kinda saved sonic, disk seems OK some smoke damage, but the rest is scrap, guess I'll go give it a proper funeral now

[Ross Siggers]

5 minutes ago, BLLDoesTech said:

yep, I kinda saved Sonic

Adventure 1 or 2? Both good, but the sequel definitely has more playtime for me. 

[BLLDoesTech]

4 minutes ago, Ross Siggers said:

Adventure 1 or 2? Both good, but the sequel definitely has more playtime for me. 

I own all four (sonic, sonic shuffle, adventure, and adventure two) but the one in the dream cast was sonic adventure

[Ross Siggers]

3 minutes ago, BLLDoesTech said:

I own all four (sonic, sonic shuffle, adventure, and adventure two) but the one in the dream cast was sonic adventure

Wait what was the fourth sonic game on Dreamcast?

I have Adventure 1 & 2, and I recently managed to find a copy of Shuffle. It's a terrible game, but rare to find selling on the used market so i had to snap it up. I also have the initial release copy of Phantasy Star Online, that came with the Adventure 2 demo disc. I really want a good condition copy of Sonic Adventure 2 Birthday Edition though...