Sega Saturn Mini PC
I think it was late 2004 when I first discovered the Via EPIA Micro ATX format. I loved the Idea of a tiny computer, with the power to run Windows or Linux that could be installed almost anywhere. The EPIA is an all in one solution. It has CPU, video, sound and networking in the a board that measures 17cm x 17cm. That’s up to 60% samller than most ATX system boards.
I saved up and got a Via C3 800mhz board, which was an entry level system, and a mini ATX PSU. To finish this I was going to need a good case to install it all in. I had seen a few examples of people installing this board in a games console cases. www.mini-itx.com has lots of photos of custom installations, some of them are very creative and unusual.
I settled on a Sega Saturn case to house the board and PSU. I wanted to everything in the case and keep it all as tidy as possible. My other Idea was to use a NES case, but it just seemed to large. I like a challenge.The first thing I did was to strip out as much of the internal plastic as possible to make room for the motherboard. I then installed copper stand-off’s so the motherboard could be secured firmly. I found it easer to install the metal back plate than to cut holes for each of the PC’s connectors.Most of the cutting was done with a Dremel.
I found plenty of room for the PSU. The ATX bridge cable was just long enough to reach over to the PSU, and left plenty of room to get the case top back on. The PSU connects to an external power brick like a laptop.
The next stage was to add the IDE cables and drives. I cut a small gap out of the top of the case for the DVD-Rom drive. This held the drive well enough, but I always meant to make a proper solution of mounting the DVD to the case top.In this picture I was using a temporary cable for the switches and LEDS.
This is the most complete picture I have of this project. As you can see I cut a hole for a small fan to help cool the processor directly below it. I installed the power and reset switches to the original positions and the same for the LEDs. Later I added two USB ports to where the joysticks would go.I setup a striped down version of Windows XP and installed a few emulators. At the time there was no real option for emulating the Saturn but it worked great for Megadrive and Mame.
Soon after the project was complete I upgraded it with a new motherboard with a faster processor and DDR memory. I used it for a short time as a media centre. This computer has ended up as a Linux test bed. It has been re-cased in a professional miniATX case. I have plans to use it as a nasdrive at some point. -Neil 2008
David
Nice mod, but these type of mods look better the more stealthy they are. I think the fan hole was not needed.
The cart slot could have been better modded if airflow was really needed.
Ultimate saturn mod would include modded topload usb dvd drive, with customised dual boot os allowing the choice of saturn iso loading or regular os. all skinned to look like the Saturn bios.
8bitplus
At the time (2004) the Saturn emulation was not far along enough to play many full games. Also it was only a 800mhz C3 when I started the mod, even now you need a dual cpu intel/amd pc to get full speed with no frameskip.