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olePigeon · Dec 2, 2004, 11:41 AM

I was looking at some websites that make custom PCBs. You can get a "complex" double-sided integrated custom PCB for only $20 for 2.

Wonder if it'd be possible to unsolder all the chips from a Cube, make a PCB nearly identical except move everything to one side a bit and add a free PCI slot (assuming the Cube still has a PCI controller), then resolder all the chips.

Probably wouldn't work, but I thought it was a neat idea. Wouldn't be horribly expensive either unless you killed your Cube on accident when soldering. Mod the case a bit, and you now have that coveted extra PCI slot everyone wanted in the Cube.

hayesk · Dec 2, 2004, 11:48 AM

Originally posted by olePigeon:
I was looking at some websites that make custom PCBs. You can get a "complex" double-sided integrated custom PCB for only $20 for 2.

Wonder if it'd be possible to unsolder all the chips from a Cube, make a PCB nearly identical except move everything to one side a bit and add a free PCI slot (assuming the Cube still has a PCI controller), then resolder all the chips.

Probably wouldn't work, but I thought it was a neat idea. Wouldn't be horribly expensive either unless you killed your Cube on accident when soldering. Mod the case a bit, and you now have that coveted extra PCI slot everyone wanted in the Cube.

Are you an electronics engineer? If not, then, no, it would not be possible.

And what would a PCI slot be good for in a GameCube - what would support it?

The Godfather · Dec 2, 2004, 01:29 PM

Originally posted by olePigeon:
I was looking at some websites that make custom PCBs. You can get a "complex" double-sided integrated custom PCB for only $20 for 2.

Wonder if it'd be possible to unsolder all the chips from a Cube, make a PCB nearly identical except move everything to one side a bit and add a free PCI slot (assuming the Cube still has a PCI controller), then resolder all the chips.

Probably wouldn't work, but I thought it was a neat idea. Wouldn't be horribly expensive either unless you killed your Cube on accident when soldering. Mod the case a bit, and you now have that coveted extra PCI slot everyone wanted in the Cube.

That would be entirely possible for sure, but probably impossible to do.

BTW, I think that the cube (Gamecube or Cube G4) use multilayer (7) PCB, just like other motherboards.

olePigeon · Dec 2, 2004, 02:07 PM

This would be for a G4 Cube, not a Nintendo. I'm not an electronics major either, I was just more of thinking outloud. Didn't know they were 7 layers. Anyway.

hayesk · Dec 2, 2004, 02:48 PM

Originally posted by olePigeon:
This would be for a G4 Cube, not a Nintendo. I'm not an electronics major either, I was just more of thinking outloud. Didn't know they were 7 layers. Anyway.

heh heh, oops! I just finished reading the GameCube thread when I wrote that. But anyway, yeah, it'd be really hard to do. You'd have better luck with the existing motherboard, a ribbon cable, and a breakout box.

Zimphire · Dec 2, 2004, 02:50 PM

Man... if you were making a simple circuit that is one thing.

Those boards not only have double sided, but more than one layer of leads.

I've etch my own circuit boards myself many times.

But Such electronics require not only double sided boards, but layered as well.

So no, you'd not want to do it.

Not only that, you'd ruin most of the parts in the de-soldering process.