Media The Retro Gaming Discussion Thread!

[Jameson Rook]

Whoa! Impressive.

Thanks Jason. I still can't believed it worked!

 

[Cryoguns]

I found a perfectly working Backwards Compatible PS3, which was beat up to hell and missing the memory card door at a flea market for $90 but it worked flawlessly, albeit a bit loud.

The first order of business was to replace Sony's notoriously abysmal thermal paste and I was greeted by the cracking paste that never ceases to horrify me when I see how bad they are in person. You can even see in the photo below that the paste was leaking outside the processor which could have easily short out the unit.

Another issue was the cable ribbon clamp that connects the drive broke because the plastic became brittle, so I had to improvise. Took me about 9 hours to take the thing apart, cleaning and reassembling it but now I can enjoy PS2 games upscaled in HD on a PS3!

I recently picked up a BC PS3 fat and took it apart to clean the dust out. Is there a recommended tutorial for replacing the thermal paste? I probably ought to do that as well with all the work I put into getting the dust out

 

[Jameson Rook]

I recently picked up a BC PS3 fat and took it apart to clean the dust out. Is there a recommended tutorial for replacing the thermal paste? I probably ought to do that as well with all the work I put into getting the dust out

Congrats on the BC PS3, they're a real gem!

I used this video below, but I differ from the video because I think it's better to just drop a pea sized paste on the middle of chip rather than trying to spread it around. Be mindful of the paste you're using because some requires curing time, I used Artic MX-4 because that doesn't require any time to cure.

It’s not hard but time consuming, My best advice is to be careful with the zero insertion force (ZIF) connector that locks the ribbon cables, since they’re old and might be brittle & keep in mind not to separate the fan unit from the chips once you've replace the paste because they're supposed to gel together. If that happens, some people say it's safer to just reapply the paste again.

Oh, do snap some pics of the original paste for the lols.

 

[WellCQCaboutthat]

How do you get good thermal paste coverage for maximum heat dissipation if you only put a pea-sized amount in the middle? What if it doesn't reach all the way across the gpus when it squashes between it and the heat sink? I recommend an even layer across it so every bit that contacts is covered. The less you put the quicker it dries out as well because it gets hotter. If it heats up enough the solder on the pins starts to liquify and the pins lift off the board, that's how you get the ylod. Just my two cents on this topic.

 

[DeadLeaves]

I've built a fair few pc's and the stock cpu coolers that have the factory applied paste evenly over the surface don't cover very well when I've seen them removed.

Pea sized blob of paste is the way to go for good coverage in my experience. Also the way the heat sink is attached helps too, directly place it on top of the cpu and don't pull it up or move it around too much after contact and secure it asap.

 

[Cryoguns]

Congrats on the BC PS3, they're a real gem!

I used this video below, but I differ from the video because I think it's better to just drop a pea sized paste on the middle of chip rather than trying to spread it around. Be mindful of the paste you're using because some requires curing time, I used Artic MX-4 because that doesn't require any time to cure.

It’s not hard but time consuming, My best advice is to be careful with the zero insertion force (ZIF) connector that locks the ribbon cables, since they’re old and might be brittle & keep in mind not to separate the fan unit from the chips once you've replace the paste because they're supposed to gel together. If that happens, some people say it's safer to just reapply the paste again.

Oh, do snap some pics of the original paste for the lols.

Thanks! I went ahead and ordered some paste this morning. Might as well knock out a couple of other consoles while I am at it

So far I like the BC PS3. I haven't fired up games on it yet, but that's mostly because I upgraded it to a 1.5 Tb internal drive and have been working on filling that up with cartoons and TV shows along with re-downloading PSN games. I want to get the new paste on there before I start putting it through its paces

 

[Jameson Rook]

Thanks! I went ahead and ordered some paste this morning. Might as well knock out a couple of other consoles while I am at it

So far I like the BC PS3. I haven't fired up games on it yet, but that's mostly because I upgraded it to a 1.5 Tb internal drive and have been working on filling that up with cartoons and TV shows along with re-downloading PSN games. I want to get the new paste on there before I start putting it through its paces

Good to know, just be careful taking the thing apart and don't rush things. Here's a few more tips to enjoy your new PS3: For the BC feature, you wanna turn ON the Smoothing feature while playing PS2 games, but turn it OFF for PS1 games. The feature makes PS2 games look much cleaner while PS1 games look a lot like they're on vaseline.

Another tip is to always set your console to output Limited RGB even if your TV supports full, and always let the console cool off at the XMB menu for at least 10 minutes after playing a game rather than shutting it off immediately.

 

[Solidus]

Have you guys seen the increase in retro game prices over the past few years? Apparently, the value for sealed games have been artificially driven by up investors who aren't collectors, and have no business in the hobby. WATA games in conjunction with Heritage auctions are the biggest culprits for this. It absolutely makes no sense in any world (or parallel universe) that a sealed copy of Super Mario 64 should sell for 1.56 million dollars.

This is a long YouTube video but worth the watch.



There's also this article

BREAKING NEWS: National Video Game Scandal Deepens As Purchaser of Historic Super Mario Bros. Game Is Revealed to Have Represented Himself As Co-Founder of Company That Graded It and Set Its Value

It's all recent news, and it'd be good to keep an eye on this especially if you're a MISB game collector.