The Nintendo GameCube turns 20 years old this year. While part of its claim to fame has always been its compact design, one Reddit user has proven that you can, in fact, squeeze an entire PC capable of running high-end games into the classic home console.
While not as popular as some of its successors like the Wii and Switch, the Gamecube’s unique design and popular titles — particularly Super Smash Bros. Melee — have inspired a steadily thriving fanbase since its launch in 2001. To wit, modder Cityle shared pictures of his one-of-a-kind gaming rig on Reddit this week, which is outfitted with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card, a Ryzen 5 4500u processor, a 2TB Samsung 860 QVO solid-state drive, and 16GB of HyperX DDR4 RAM.
Cityle published his build log here, and it seems it was no easy feat fitting so many intricate parts into something the size of a GameCube. Though clunky by today’s standards, the console measures just 5.9 × 6.3 × 4.3 inches (150 x 161 x 100 mm). Since it’d be nothing short of impossible to fit a top-tier gaming motherboard inside a case this tiny, they transferred one from a disassembled Asus PN50 Mini PC.
Other modifications included constructing custom mounts for the mini motherboard and sandwiching the GPU above it. The disk drive opens up to let in outside air and keep the graphics card from overheating. The whole thing’s powered by an external Dell power adaptor, and its original power button, controller ports, and LED indicator remain fully functioning. My personal favourite part: Cityle spray-painted the original black case a peachy shade of pink.
After running a benchmark test, Cityle noted that the cramped rig has no problems with running hot. Its temperature stays at about 30 degrees Celsius at idle, and while under full load the GPU hits around 60 degrees Celsius and the CPU around 80 degrees Celsius.
The final product is an incredibly clean-looking GameCube that you’d be hard-pressed to distinguish from the real thing. Cityle’s also working on fitting a gaming PC into a Sega Dreamcast. As a sucker for nostalgia, I’m all for this trend of modders seeing how far they can shrink tech into classic consoles. Someone please do the GameBoy Pocket next.
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