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NFG Forums => Console Mods => Topic started by: RobIvy64 on November 27, 2004, 04:28:22 PM

Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: RobIvy64 on November 27, 2004, 04:28:22 PM
HOLA!

Im sure you have seen the japanese site explaining how to overclock your dreamcast.
Well I have performed the mod and have a full write-up HERE. (http://www.geocities.com/robivy64/ucm)

-R
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: dj898 on November 27, 2004, 06:31:00 PM
cheers mate

I also have OC DC I got from a chap in UK..
what did you have in mind for cooling as mine gets quite warm after a while...??

cheers
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: RobIvy64 on November 27, 2004, 06:43:19 PM
what do you have yours running at?

I ran a 40 MHz oscillator to mine, so the CPU speed is 240 MHz.

As for cooling, I am working on that, I am leaning towards a LARGE fan :).

-R
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: dj898 on December 01, 2004, 08:48:38 AM
same here... 40

I've been thinking of a way to put bigger cooling fan there...
since I have spare empty DC shell I will see what I can come up with over this x-mas holiday...
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: kendrick on December 01, 2004, 08:58:14 AM
If I read the original Japanese page right (or more honestly, interpret the pretty pictures right) it looks like guy who created that monster used the liquid cooling mechanism from the very first generation Dreamcast. That's actually pretty sharp, since one of the cost-cutting measures in later revisions was to improve airflow and reduce the heat output of the chips so that the liquid cooling wasn't necessary.

-KKC, hacking custom batteries for his Nomad. Because nothing says Christmas like lithium-ion cells.
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: dj898 on December 01, 2004, 09:54:55 AM
umm... isn't improving airflow and reducing the heat output of the chip good thing cost cutting measure or not?
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: phreak97 on December 01, 2004, 11:23:09 AM
i think he was saying he put liquid cooling in one of the new heat officient models, meaning heat efficiency + cooling system to overcome low efficiency = happy dreamcast.
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: dj898 on December 01, 2004, 12:29:24 PM
i thought the Japanese guy used early DC with heat pipe coz the metal shield looked different from later revision and I don't think you can put the heat pipe into later DC unless you swapped the metal shield as well as the plastic shell... ???
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: ilesj on December 02, 2004, 03:46:07 AM
I assume, thet the Japanese site you are talking about is this: http://www.echna.ne.jp/~kim/Kim4/Link5.html (http://www.echna.ne.jp/~kim/Kim4/Link5.html). Does anyone have it translated? I tried with babelfish, but for some reason it didn't work. And also, what's the racing game in the pictures?
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: Darkman on December 02, 2004, 03:56:42 AM
QuoteAnd also, what's the racing game in the pictures?
I'm guessing its Shutokou Battle 2, a.k.a. Tokyo Extreme Racer 2. Surely looks familiar.
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: dj898 on December 02, 2004, 11:31:56 AM
I thought that was the original web site every one was talking about???
anyway the different would be that guy used old heat pipe DC and put the switch to toggle between normal and overclock which is nice. I'm not fond of his idea of bigger fan and cut out the side of case...
like he said the motivation was he wants to play Shutokou Battle 2 without frame rate fluctuating... :)

I might down the track put the switch and upgrade the cooling system without altering the case too much...

cheers
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: qatmix on December 05, 2004, 12:10:00 AM
You cannot add pipes to anything other than the original motherboard DCs. the plate is a different size, and there is also more importantly a connection missing of the motherboard which powers the cooling.

Btw mate, its easy to add a switch to you dc, ive already added teh wire, you just need to add the switch.

cheers
Q
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: smartass on January 11, 2005, 03:10:43 PM
QuoteI am leaning towards a LARGE fan :).

-R
Don't lean too close!
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: NFG on January 11, 2005, 06:28:44 PM
Quoteand there is also more importantly a connection missing of the motherboard which powers the cooling.
There's no more active cooling on any DC than just the fan.  Newer units had a 3-wire fan, one wire being the speed sensor to indicate the fan was in fact still going.  The older models had a 2-wire fan, but no extra connectors for the cooling system.
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: atom on January 15, 2005, 06:39:14 PM
I have a Dreamcast coming in the mail. When I get it I will put all your cooling problems to shame ;)

Is anyone using a replacement shell? Maybe the airflow is better or worse in those.

Edit:

here is my current plan, but like I said i dont have the actual dreamcast yet, so I have yet to see how efficient the cooling is. I want to use a top of the line GPU cooler. (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=674629&CatId=498) If it can keep an overclocked NVIDIA card cool I imagine it should do well with the dreamcast. You cant get a much better conductor then copper, and its fanned off. The blue LED's are of course a plus too.  I might even dremel a vent into the case, depending on where the CPU is located.

EDIT AGAIN:
I just dont want to double post. I think before purchasing a fan like the above mentioned I will do my mod, stick the DC in the freezer and give it a nice cold boot. That way I can see what limits that CPU really can handle. Yes, I said "in the freezer".
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: atom on January 22, 2005, 11:26:22 AM
Holy crap dude, that chip is too small for me to deal with. I gave up before I did too much damage. The thing crashes a few seconds after boot, hopefully its just the heat plate not aligned correctly.

I am now very dissapointed. I bought my Dreamcast just for GoodSNES, and I wanted to overclock it as much as I could. I wont do this crap to my xbox, I dont want to risk being banned from live...

BAH! I feel like such a modding failure.
Title: Overclock your Dreamcast...
Post by: TJ_Kat on January 22, 2005, 01:16:39 PM
The ucm site mentions that you can overclock the graphics chip, but only for VGA. Well, my TV has VGA inputs, and my VGA cable should be ready to go shortly.

Any info on overclocking the graphics chip? What would the real benefits be? Is there a multiplier? What would be an optimal chip speed to aim for? And any of the other important things I may have forgotten.