[MOD] Dreamcast cooling mod.

Discussion in 'Sega Dreamcast Development and Research' started by 50CALBR, Apr 19, 2016.

  1. 50CALBR

    50CALBR Member

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    **This is just a copy-paste of my reddit post but thought you guys may like.**

    Not much to say about this one, found a laptop cooler fan which ran at 5v, perfect for the Dreamcast.

    http://imgur.com/a/lXloA

    I've been running the Dreamcast overclocked to 240mhz almost full time now to help with slow-down in specific games.

    I mapped out the location of the heatsinks and fan intake and cut the hole in the heatsink/shielding with a dremel. The fan sits perfectly between the heatsink and USB-GDROM PCB and vents out the rear grill. http://imgur.com/Esg0FGr

    Regarding heat the system now runs WAAAAY cooler. Before the mod and after only 30 mins of regular use the system would get quite hot on the PSU side. With the added fan the system is now barely luke-warm after an hour or so of overclocked gaming.

    The system is slightly louder now but still barely noticeable, if you have the tools, skills and parts to perform this mod I'd highly recommend it.

    Here is a link to the exact fan and shroud used: http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/sis.html?...R&_itemId=291318133085&_trksid=p2047675.m4096

    I've also created a video for those interested:
     
    Turranius, Kappa, Anthony817 and 2 others like this.
  2. MrMario2011

    MrMario2011 Spirited Member

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    Nice job :D
     
  3. Anthony817

    Anthony817 Gutsy Member

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    Wow really clever solution. Btw, is that an audio out mod on there as well?
     
  4. 50CALBR

    50CALBR Member

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    Yeah, just a simple headphone jack. Not amped or anything.
     
    Anthony817 likes this.
  5. Turranius

    Turranius Site Supporter 2015

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    Awesome find. I searched ebay and amazon for "Dell Vostro 320 Inspiron One fan" and found a few options. Bought 2 from china
     
  6. 50CALBR

    50CALBR Member

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    Glad to be of help, your research on removing 12v from the PSU really helped me out.
     
  7. Turranius

    Turranius Site Supporter 2015

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    One question though.. Both fans seems to be blowing out. Would you not get even more flow of air if you reversed the standard fan so it blows into the machine?

    Granted, the Dreamcast has enough air holes so its probably better air gets sucked in from all over the place...
     
  8. 50CALBR

    50CALBR Member

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    I did try that initially, thinking the same thing but the system did seem to run warmer. I'm not using any tools to measure heat and only going by touch but running the case with negative pressure (both forcing out) seems to make it run cooler for some reason.

    Results may vary though.
     

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