Cuzza's Sega SC-3000H Nano-ITX Mod

Cuzza · Jul 9, 2009

Not much happening here because I'm busy ordering parts at the moment, trying to do this without spending a fortune is difficult. Times like these I wish I was American! I have a friend in Oregon who I am trying to get some orders sent to then he'll forward them to me for cheap, but he is not going to be there long so I might need another friend.

Also debating whether to put an optical drive in this thing. Does anyone know the power draw from a laptop style optical drive? Maybe I'll just google it. Typing as I think BTW. While watching Win98 install on an old PC. I miss 98.

MKmods · Jul 10, 2009

the draw from Laptop Hdds and DVDs is practically nothing (they also run off 5V too)

As an example, right now I am using my Intel Atom 330 (1.6Ghz X 2) with 2 gigs of memory, a 10K raptor Hdd and a full size DVD and my comp draws 30 watts of power.

One other thing is the small PSs like I linked to before are much more efficient than standard ATX PSs (I think they are in the 95% range). I notice my comp draws about 10 more watts when I use an ATX PS.

Cuzza · Jul 10, 2009

OK so that's not an issue. I'll worry about putting a drive in it later. I think a slot load one at the front would be pretty swish.

Planning on this for the power supply:
http://www.idotpc.com/TheStore/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=629

It has the wide input range so I'll pick up an old laptop charger I've seen a few 16V ones selling for about $10 that can feed this thing.

Minor update today, had to install the adaptor board in the case, so needed some sort of standoffs. Took some old car-tyre valve caps cut them in half, drilled them and glued them in place.

And the board just screws onto that. easy.

Cuzza · Jul 20, 2009

While I'm waiting for bits to arrive from America this is all that has happened recently on this mod: The AC adaptor showed up! (wow I know)

Thanks to the good people at IBM for this baby.

And it should fit nicely inside the Sega (that's mostly luck rather than good planning), so no silly adaptor on the floor to trip over.

Meecrob · Jul 30, 2009

I would/would have gone with the mitx setup, mound it upside down and add some taller rubber feet, you could also make ur own cooler for the board depending on what you have access to.

if u really wanted to go all out, you could try and find a picoitx board, uber small

p_o_s_pc · Jul 30, 2009

Subscribed. I want to see how this goes

m4gicfour · Jul 30, 2009

*drool* this kind of stuff gives me so many ideas! Since I don't have any old Sega machines anymore, I'll share my idea; maybe you'll want to try it out.

Does the board you are planning on using have a parallel port header?

If it does you may want to look at this: ppJoy software. Run joystick adapters from parallel ports... such as the original Sega controllers (all plug into a standard serial port style plug, you just need a circut... such as the NTPADXP interface from that site.

Sorry, that site wouldn't navigate to the page from the link... so here's the gif; its under:
Supported interfaces > Sega Genesis > NTPADXP. (I've built that one. works good - in fact if I can find the convertor I built you could have it for free)

Then you could wire up the existing ports from your SC-3000H or just buy some D-sub connectors from radioshack (DB9). and then EMULATOR GLORY with original Sega pads, kekeke

You may be able to find some on ebay...

How 'bout an authentic SG-1000 game? Elevator Action!

Meka's a good emulator for early Sega machines (such as yours)
http://img.techpowerup.org/090729/Elevator Action (SG-1000) [!]-01.png

Cuzza · Jul 30, 2009

Meecrob said:
I would/would have gone with the mitx setup

I'm not sure what you mean, I've worked through the possibilities and there is really no way to make it fit, even upside-down. Are you suggesting feet under the case and cut holes in the bottom to let the board components stick out a bit?

m4gicfour said:
Does the board you are planning on using have a parallel port header?

Nope, though I bet I can buy a small USB - parallel port adaptor.

Thanks for those links, you know I hadn't even considered what I was going to actually use this thing for... Sega emulator would be pretty cool. I think I will worry about that after I have the rest of it working. And I'm not ordering the (expensive!) n-ITX board, picoPSU and memory until I know that the keyboard works (the X-keys is on a boat from America as I speak.. hopefully...)

Damn, i should have kept the gamepad connectors off the SEGA motherboard! .....

Maban · Jul 30, 2009

I have a few Genesis controllers I guess i could sell(not free, plan to use it again) to you. And also some some kind of 2 to 4 port thing from EA.

m4gicfour · Jul 30, 2009

grr. had to edit my post. That ppJoy site seems to go to the homepage no matter where you link to (that or my firefox is buggered.)

I'm going to look for that converter i made. It's nothing special, but its yours if you want it.

Cuzza said:
Nope, though I bet I can buy a small USB - parallel port adaptor.

Thanks for those links, you know I hadn't even considered what I was going to actually use this thing for... Sega emulator would be pretty cool. I think I will worry about that after I have the rest of it working. And I'm not ordering the (expensive!) n-ITX board, picoPSU and memory until I know that the keyboard works (the X-keys is on a boat from America as I speak.. hopefully...)

Damn, i should have kept the gamepad connectors off the SEGA motherboard! .....

If you do go for a parallel-to-usb adapter, be careful. I've heard that most only support printers (perhaps only emulate a specific PP mode or protocol?) If that's the case, it'd be useless anyway. That said, I haven't actually used any USB-PP adaptors so I don;t know YMMV

Cuzza · Jul 30, 2009

Maban said:
I have a few Genesis controllers I guess i could sell(not free, plan to use it again) to you. And also some some kind of 2 to 4 port thing from EA.

Thanks for the offer, if I can't get hold of one here in NZ I'll ask you next

m4gicfour said:
I'm going to look for that converter i made. It's nothing special, but its yours if you want it.

That would be great.

Meecrob · Jul 30, 2009

Cuzza said:
I'm not sure what you mean, I've worked through the possibilities and there is really no way to make it fit, even upside-down. Are you suggesting feet under the case and cut holes in the bottom to let the board components stick out a bit?

Nope, though I bet I can buy a small USB - parallel port adaptor.

Thanks for those links, you know I hadn't even considered what I was going to actually use this thing for... Sega emulator would be pretty cool. I think I will worry about that after I have the rest of it working. And I'm not ordering the (expensive!) n-ITX board, picoPSU and memory until I know that the keyboard works (the X-keys is on a boat from America as I speak.. hopefully...)

Damn, i should have kept the gamepad connectors off the SEGA motherboard! .....

yeah, mostly the cpu/chipset coolers and if needed the ram, it would lead to better temps (fresh air on the coolers) and if u gota dremel it shouldnt be that hard to keep it pretty covert looking, saw a guy do that with an old dead amega computer that was just a bit larger then what you got there, but he was even able to mount a laptop optical drive sticking out the back!!!

Cuzza · Jul 31, 2009

interesting idea, might keep it in mind for future upgrades. but for now I want to keep the case stock, which means nano-ITX. i have also obtained a slot-load optical drive out of a iBook which I am already struggling to find space for,there would definitely be no room to fit that in if i go m-ITX. thanks for the input though!

Cuzza · Aug 2, 2009

ZOMG Actual Progress!!!

OK team, here's the latest:

I picked up this slim optical combo drive for $20. It's a slot-load job out of an iBook G4

So to mount this I had to cut a slot in the side of the case. It will go through the two joystick port holes.

This is the result, I'm very pleased considering I used an angle grinder and an old soldering iron to cut the plastic. You can see through the gap the sticky foam strips I'm using to raise the drive and also dampen vibrations.

So the drive mounts in there like so

And this is what it looks like from the outside

Now I need some input: Do you think I should paint the bezel on the drive black? Would be more stealth, make things look more stock I guess. But I kinda like the white. Opinions welcome.

Mark_Hardware · Aug 2, 2009

very nice work, man! some of this stuff is way over my head lol

a111087 · Aug 2, 2009

paint it

Cuzza · Aug 3, 2009

a111087 said:
paint it

OK

It does look good painted. This photo really shows up my scuff marks and dodgy paintwork, you hardly notice that with the eye.

djshadow · Aug 3, 2009

Can't wait to see some testing pictures . I believe in all 100% that it will be success . Subd :toast:

Meecrob · Aug 3, 2009

Cuzza said:
OK

http://img.techpowerup.org/090803/SV402778.jpg

It does look good painted. This photo really shows up my scuff marks and dodgy paintwork, you hardly notice that with the eye.

if you want some advice on how to clean the scuff marks off, grab some brasso and give it a good scrubing

h3llb3nd4 · Aug 3, 2009

wow you're mking progress Cuzza!

Cuzza · Aug 4, 2009

Meecrob said:
if you want some advice on how to clean the scuff marks off, grab some brasso and give it a good scrubing

seriously? brasso on plastic?

Meecrob · Aug 4, 2009

yeah, i have used it to buff out all sorts of scuffs and scratches, google stuff like "ipod brasso" or "zune brasso" for example, its a wonder to see how many uses brasso has!!!

I also found the silver polish made by the same company to be quite good, but its not as abrasive so you have to scrub ALOT longer, if you wanting to get ultimate shine, use brasso then silver polish to get a nice mirror effect(mostly for metal or pmp screens)

Cuzza · Aug 5, 2009

OK i'll try it

EDIT

Dug around in the shed found an old can of Brasso, this must be 20 years old lol

But still works, check it out, shiny.........

Cuzza · Aug 7, 2009

The most important day of this project so far...

Well guys, the X-keys board finally showed up! check it out:

I went to hook it up and realised that my diagram was wrong, AGAIN, DUH!
Here's the updated version, I know this one is right:

Now, here it is installed next to my adaptor board in the Sega case:

Connect them with the floppy cable:

And this is the final product:

And guess what? It works! Have a look at the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2UKTwX8dUo

So pleased right now, if this didn't work the whole project was fucked. But now it's game on.
And just for fun here's a pic of the hard drive which showed up today as well:

Yukikaze · Aug 7, 2009

Awesome !

Processor	AMD Phenom II 555BE unlocked X4 @3.8GHz
Motherboard	GA-78LMT-S2P
Cooling	Thermaltake Blue Orb + open case in cold room = low temps lol
Memory	8Gb DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	GTX580
Storage	64GB SSD Super Talent
Display(s)	22" Chimei, 17" Philips
Case	POS!
Power Supply	Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800W

System Name	Crossflow III
Processor	AMD 965 (4.04Ghz)
Motherboard	Asus Crosshair III
Cooling	Air
Memory	4 gigs Mushkin 7-7-7-20@1T
Video Card(s)	single 9800GT
Storage	Raptor 150's in Raid0
Display(s)	LG Flatron 24"
Case	Custom
Audio Device(s)	AuzenTech X-Raider W/OP637
Power Supply	Custom modded Corsair 750HX
Software	Win 7 64/Solaris Utility
Benchmark Scores	3DMark06--21963 so far

Processor	AMD Phenom II 555BE unlocked X4 @3.8GHz
Motherboard	GA-78LMT-S2P
Cooling	Thermaltake Blue Orb + open case in cold room = low temps lol
Memory	8Gb DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	GTX580
Storage	64GB SSD Super Talent
Display(s)	22" Chimei, 17" Philips
Case	POS!
Power Supply	Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800W

Processor	AMD Phenom II 555BE unlocked X4 @3.8GHz
Motherboard	GA-78LMT-S2P
Cooling	Thermaltake Blue Orb + open case in cold room = low temps lol
Memory	8Gb DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	GTX580
Storage	64GB SSD Super Talent
Display(s)	22" Chimei, 17" Philips
Case	POS!
Power Supply	Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800W

System Name	el'lappy\|Cruncher \| Cruncher 2
Processor	intel C2D T6400 \| i7 3770k @4.2ghz \| AII X2 220 @3.4ghz
Motherboard	some Acer \| Asus P8Z77-V Pro \|Gigabyter GA-M61p-S3
Cooling	dual 80mm cooling fan \| WC'ing ) \|cheapo
Memory	2x2gb ddr3 \| 2x2gb Ripjaws 1600 \|4x512mb D9s
Video Card(s)	onboard \| 60 1GB(hd7770 ) \|8800GTS
Storage	Momuntus xt 320gb \|Kingston Hyper X 120gb SATA III\|500gb WD
Display(s)	17in \| 42" 1080P HD 3D TV
Case	lappy case \| CM HAF XB \|none yet
Audio Device(s)	onboard \| onboard \| onboard
Power Supply	Dell brick w/ acer end end \| Antec EW 650w \|Antec SP 350w(upg.soon)
Software	Windows 7 Ult. 64bit---->------->

Cuzza's Sega SC-3000H Nano-ITX Mod

Cuzza

MKmods

Case Mod Guru

Cuzza

Cuzza

Meecrob

New Member

p_o_s_pc

F@H&WCG addict

m4gicfour

Cuzza

Maban

m4gicfour

Cuzza

Meecrob

New Member

Cuzza

Cuzza

Mark_Hardware

New Member

a111087

Cuzza

djshadow

New Member

Meecrob

New Member

h3llb3nd4

New Member

Cuzza

Meecrob

New Member

Cuzza

Cuzza

Yukikaze

Processor	Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	MSI MAG X570S Tomahawk Max WiFi
Cooling	EK Supremacy EVO Elite + EK D5 + EK 420 Rad, TT Toughfan 140x3, TT Toughfan 120x2, Arctic slim 120
Memory	32GB GSkill DDR4-3600 (F4-3600C16-8GVKC)
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Radeon RX 7900XTX Gaming OC
Storage	WDBlack SN850X 4TB, Samsung 950Pro 512GB, Samsung 850EVO 500GB, 6TB WDRed, 36TB NAS, 8TB Lancache
Display(s)	Benq XL2730Z (1440P 144Hz, TN, Freesync) & 2x ASUS VE248
Case	Corsair Obsidian 750D
Audio Device(s)	Topping D50S + THX AAA 789, TH-X00 w/ V-Moda Boompro; 7Hz Timeless
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000i
Mouse	Sharkoon Fireglider optical
Keyboard	Corsair K95 RGB
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	Mark1
Processor	Intel Core2 Extreme QX9770
Motherboard	EVGA 790i FTW PWM
Cooling	Koolance Exos 2.5
Memory	OCZ SLI PC3 14400 4Gb
Video Card(s)	GTX 285 FTW
Storage	WD raptor 300 Gb, WD 2tb
Display(s)	ASUS 25.5"
Case	NZXT Lexa Blackline
Power Supply	Tagan BZ 1100w
Software	Vista 64bit

Processor	Intel Q9400
Motherboard	asus p5q-pro
Cooling	Ultra120
Memory	6GB ddr2
Video Card(s)	NVS 290
Storage	3TB + 1.5TB
Display(s)	Samsung F2380
Case	Silverstone Fortress FT02B
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi
Power Supply	750W PC P&C
Software	win 7 ultimate 64bit

System Name	Emotion
Processor	AMD Phenom X3 8650 @ 3.143Ghz on 1.375V
Motherboard	Giga-byte GA-M720-US3 (can cook eggs on NB cooler, rly)
Cooling	Zalman CNPS9700LED
Memory	Kingston 2x1GB KIT 1066Mhz DDR2 @ 1092mhz 2.2V 5-5-5-15
Video Card(s)	ASUS HD4670 1Gb GDDR3 855/1000 - I wish I could push Volts on it :(
Storage	500GB WD BLACK 32MB (soon 2x on RAID0 )
Display(s)	BENQ G2420HDBL
Case	Homemade
Audio Device(s)	-
Power Supply	Chieftec 650W TURBO series
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Benchmark Scores	3DMark06 - 9032Marks Super PI - 24.458s wPrime 32M 17.895s

System Name	My mobo is Laughing at me
Processor	E7400
Motherboard	P5KPL-E Bios flashed to 0601 (Piece of poo!!)
Cooling	Thermalright Ultra 120a
Memory	GENERIC 2 GB DDR2 800
Video Card(s)	NONE!! Beat that!!
Storage	500GB SAMSUNG SATAII, 250GB SAMSUNG SATAII and o'l crappy 4gb maxtor
Display(s)	ACER X223W Q
Case	AEROCOOL ZERODEGREE (planning to mod)
Audio Device(s)	REALTEK ONBOARD
Power Supply	GIGABYTE 460W
Software	Win 7 x86 build 7022
Benchmark Scores	Super Pi 1m 17.000 :(

System Name	Dire Wolf IV
Processor	Intel Core i9 14900K
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX Z790-I GAMING WIFI
Cooling	Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280
Memory	2x24GB Corsair DDR5 6667
Video Card(s)	NVIDIA RTX4080 FE
Storage	AORUS Gen4 7300 1TB + Western Digital SN750 500GB
Display(s)	Alienware AW3423DWF (QD-OLED, 3440x1440, 165hz)
Case	Corsair Airflow 2000D
Power Supply	Corsair SF1000L
Mouse	Razer Deathadder Essential
Keyboard	Chuangquan CQ84
Software	Windows 11 Professional