[STALLED] Watercooled SNES!

[ChairmanDev]

I've been wanting to have an old school Nintendo case for the longest time and finally got around to the idea of designing/3D printing one specifically for PC parts.

I don't have too much experience modeling things that aren't sheet metal/super boxy, so I found this to be a lot more challenging. I had originally wanted to go with an N64, but decided against that. The SNES is a bit bigger, allowing for more powerful hardware.

The plan from the beginning was to base an eGPU box off of the old school disk drive accessories that Nintendo and aftermarket companies made for these consoles. The mobo would of course be mounted in the console. I think with this setup, I can support a 65w or maybe even 95w CPU and a 1080 mini. Here's a deeper explanation as to how I plan to lay this out.

Spoiler: SNES disk drive

My model is about 7% larger than an original SNES just to give me some more wiggle room for parts. It supports a triple 50mm radiator, 45mm thick. As for the block and pump, the Swiftech Apogee Drive II looks to be perfect for this application. The reason that I've designed in support for watercooling is due to the GPU box idea. I figured that the GPU box would choke out any intake for a downdraft air cooler.

Clear top to show off the internals. Just imagine that the EK block is a Swiftech one.

I cut some intake holes into the bumps for controller ports. It's probably not enough to feed the fans, but I'll mess around with it some more.

Spoiler: Additional Pictures

The model isn't completely finished. I still have to figure out a decent way to get the power and reset buttons working. Maybe some mounting points and whatnot. The next big part will be the disk drive GPU box idea. Any suggestions as to how I could improve this would be awesome! Thanks.

UPDATES:

-12/30: Watercooling ideas​

 

[Josh | NFC]

Pretty sweet! I'm super interested in seeing how you work around all the challenges and end up fitting everything.

The Apogee drive is fairly large so I would suggest modeling it up before moving further as things might need to move around. Plus, I could use the model in the resources section because I have been planning on using one for a while and that would be helpful

I wanna see you incorporate a micro reservoir so get on that!

One idea to tinker with...what if you reversed the layout? Have the I/O in the front and the rad exhaust in the back? You could make the front a third part that flips up or pops off and reveals the I/O. This serves the functional purpose of giving your teeny radiator the ability to actually work--afterall it is going to be less cooling than a small air cooler so it needs all the help it can get.

Anyway, love it. Keep it up. Make it happen.

 

[rfarmer]

That is very cool, look forward to seeing your progress. Take a look at this NES build if you have never seen it, pretty cool.

 

[ChairmanDev]

Hey @Josh | NFC , awesome to hear that you like it! The Apogee with the stock pump is a bit too tall for this case, but I think it's compatible with standard DDC pumps (can anyone confirm that for me?). So I plan to just buy the Apogee block without the pump, and get an Alphacool DDC pump. It's considerably lower profile without that massive heatsink stacked on top, so it should fit with a bit of room to spare.

I first thought to just use a T-fitting to fill the loop as even the Swiftech micro res doesn't fit. But now that I think about it, a custom super tiny res will probably look hilarious in this case - I'll give it a shot.

I might play around with that reversed layout idea to see how it looks, but I think I want to keep the I/O and all of the cables coming out of the back. Keep it looking like a sleeper. I definitely need to do something about more intakes though.

Do you have any experience with 50mm fans? There's not a ton of information out there about them. For now, I'm looking at the ones that Gelid makes.

Also, I can't seem to find an Apogee model in the resources section. Would you happen to have a link to that?


Hey @rfarmer thanks! Haha yeah I came across that build when I was researching. What made me want to do a SNES instead of an N64 was a fuckin awesome looking NES that was posted up on Reddit. I figured the boxy look would suit the Borderlands theme better than an N64, and I prefer the SNES to the NES. Made up my mind on the spot when I first saw that one LOL.

 

[Phuncz]

Interesting project ! One way to make hidden ventilation openings is to use "louvres" like they did in the 80's muscle cars (and more recently too)

Spoiler: Louvres

But vertically alligned with the openings on the bottom so the openings don't show from the front or sides.

 

[Guardsmon]

Hey ChairmanDev, I where are you based, I don't know if its any use, but I have a 3x40mm rad knocking about in my attic?

 

[ChairmanDev]

@Phuncz I hadn't thought of incorporating louvres, seems like it'd be perfect for this. Needs all the ventilation it can get haha.

@Guardsmon I'm in Connecticut. Does the rad use standard fittings?

 

[Guardsmon]

Aah, I'm in UK, probably not worth the cost. Unfortunately not with the connection its an Alphacool and uses 10mm barbs. I used it on a Streacom F1C that I hung it off the back of. TBH I didn't use it for very long as if I wanted quiet then it couldn't cool well, or if I wanted cooling it was too noisy. That was 3 years ago mind with a 55W CPU and a lid of the top.
Your design looks good and I think that rear fan is going to be critical to keeping the temps down.

 

[ChairmanDev]

@Guardsmon Ah, I see. I’ve built in the bigger cousin of the F1C, the Wesena ITX-5. Used a Corsair H5 SF (also 3x40 rad) to cool a 65w i7. Was actually enough to cool it, but it also uses a massive blower fan and wasn’t too quiet.

The 3x50 has considerably more surface area than a 3x40, so I’m somewhat hopeful that it’ll be enough.

 

[Craiga35]

How do you plan on powering the GPU? Is the eGPU box going to have it's own PSU or are you going to make that part of the connector and run it off the internal PSU?

 

[ChairmanDev]

How do you plan on powering the GPU? Is the eGPU box going to have it's own PSU or are you going to make that part of the connector and run it off the internal PSU?

I recently picked up a KMPKT Dynamo combo which suits this build perfectly. The 200w Dynamo Mini will power everything in the SNES while the 360w part will power everything in the eGPU box. I'll probably pick up an HDPLEX 400w internal AC-DC converter to stuff into the eGPU box which should be able to handle everything. In the case that I want to run the SNES as a standalone box for portability or whatever, I can just hook the 200w Mini up to a power brick and be good to go.

 

[ChairmanDev]

I drew up a preliminary reservoir last night to slot in next to the mobo. I'm not too sure if it's the best design for the job, but there's not many other configurations I can do given the space restrictions. If you look closely, you can see an internal channel that connects the block/pump to the upper port of the rad. I did this just so I wouldn't have to route a tube around the res, can just go straight through it.

For the flow direction, I'm thinking of having the right block port be an inlet so it's pulling from res>rad>block/pump combo. It may make it a bit harder to fill, but I can always turn the case over to get the pump primed. I think it's better than flowing the opposite direction where the inlet is situated on the left. This would have the block/pump pulling directly from the res, and I feel like this would increase the risk of the pump sucking in air if the res isn't filled to the brim. I also need to add in a drain port, but that's simple enough. If anyone has any suggestions as to how I can make it better, that'd be awesome.

EDIT: Swiftech Apogee block/pump combo is a no go! Looks like it just barely doesn't fit, even with a lower profile aftermarket pump and low profile 90* fittings. I'll be looking at cannibalizing a block/pump combo from the Fractal AIOs.

 

[Craiga35]

If you can find one, you should look into one of the Fractal Design Kelvin AIO blocks. They unfortunately aren't available stateside because of Asetek's Patent, but if you can import one from overseas they'd be perfect for this build. It's essentially a pump/block from an AIO but with g1/4 fittings and a fillport as well.

EDIT: Because if you have it like that you're going to struggle to fill that loop. The res outlet should be higher than the pump inlet in order to let gravity feed the pump. The only way you're going to do that with a tall fitting like the apogee drive 2 is to tilt the case on it's side. Which puts your fillport at a 90 degree angle.

With a block with a fill port, you can fill it like an AIO outside the case, seal it, then install it. And for maintenance, remove it and empty the loop outside the case, no reservoir needed.

Also probably a bad idea to reverse the direction like that. It's a lot easier to have a big air bubble in your rad and not know it, due to it being opaque, than your res. Also your res will be fine not completely full and will not pull in air as long as the fittings are completely submerged.

EDIT2: There's one listing on eBay form Israel for about $200 for the 120mm rad variant. That $200 doesn't seem so bad when you consider it acts as a waterblock, (~$60) pump, (~$80) and a custom reservoir (Who knows?) I think that's a pretty decent tradeoff.

Plus it cuts down on space so maybe you can fit one of the DC-DC components in the reservoir's place.

 

[ChairmanDev]

@Craiga35 Hmm, I get what you mean. That shakes things up a bit as an Apogee block + an Alphacool pump is about $120-$130, and a custom reservoir would look really cool. But going with the Kelvin block simplifies things considerably and is probably equivalent/tiny bit more in cost when all's said and done. I'll definitely look into it.

As for the reservoir idea, just to make sure I'm understanding what you're saying - flow direction of reservoir straight to block/pump is the better option right?

EDIT:
Alright, so I talked to some people with an Apogee block. It looks like it just barely doesn't fit even with low profile 90* fittings. I guess I'm gonna have to go with Fractal now.

 

[AleksandarK]

Awesome little project!
Two questions:

1.

I think with this setup, I can support a 65w or maybe even 95w CPU and a 1080 mini.

How? There is no room for the GPU. Do you have any models of the case with the GPU?

2. What software do you use for designing? Btw, your renders are amazing!

 

[ChairmanDev]

Awesome little project!
Two questions:

1. How? There is no room for the GPU. Do you have any models of the case with the GPU?

2. What software do you use for designing? Btw, your renders are amazing!

Hey thanks! I'm glad you like it.

I'll be basing a GPU enclosure on a floppy disk drive accessory that was made for the original SNES. It'll sit on top just like the original.

I use Autodesk Inventor for modeling and Inventor Studio for all of the rendering.

 

[ejectbutton]

Hey thanks! I'm glad you like it.

I'll be basing a GPU enclosure on a floppy disk drive accessory that was made for the original SNES. It'll sit on top just like the original.

I use Autodesk Inventor for modeling and Inventor Studio for all of the rendering.

Really awesome idea! I was wondering the same thing, about the graphics card. I'll be interested to see how you get pcie up to that expansion.

 

[rfarmer]

Hey thanks! I'm glad you like it.

I'll be basing a GPU enclosure on a floppy disk drive accessory that was made for the original SNES. It'll sit on top just like the original.

I use Autodesk Inventor for modeling and Inventor Studio for all of the rendering.

Very cool idea, are you planning an itx size graphics card?

 

[Craiga35]

@Craiga35
As for the reservoir idea, just to make sure I'm understanding what you're saying - flow direction of reservoir straight to block/pump is the better option right?

Most definitley. It's always easiest to have the res feeding the pump so that it never runs dry.

If you do go the custom res route, which there's no reason why you still couldn't with the Fractal, the best option would be to have your fillport be built into the right side wall. That way you can tip it on it's left side to fill and then just use that as a drain port as well. Just tip it the other way. The rest of the loop will still be sealed and it's a small case so moving it around in your hands should get 90% of the water out.

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

Very interesting project, I will keep an eye on it. By the way, nice Gunbound avatar you've got there