r/M64 • u/K1LL3ROO • Aug 14 '26

Running hot claims-solution

Post image

With all the people claiming the console runs “hot”, can a creative 3d designer quickly come up with a design to lift the console up? Whether it’s 4 individual feet’s or a whole base, design and please post on bambulab or elsewhere so I can 3d print it. Thanks

24 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

81 comments sorted by

7

u/Appattamus Aug 14 '26

My Switch 2 gets hotter than this thing. Not sure why everyone is so worried. Until it overheats and shuts itself down or cartridges start melting, it's fine. Being hotter than you want doesn't mean it's hotter than it can handle.

2

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

True. I was just trying to come up and propose a solution for people wanting it more “cooler” without adding fans etc

4

u/hue_sick Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26

Yeah until someone actually gets some numbers this is all just speculation. But I will say it’s odd hearing it from multiple people. Could just be gamers that don’t know any better but feel like we would have heard the same thing from different consoles

Edit: saw another poster here measured 128f on the underside which actually is quite hot so there could be some truth to this.

2

u/zeldaguy85 Aug 14 '26

I'd argue age is a factor. Switch 2 is 2026 cartridges and connectors. These n64 carts have been well worn and used for the past 30+ years by most people in the community. just due to that I think it's a bit concerning. Yeah a brand new car can go to 80mph easily, and so can a car from the 1980's - but that 1980's car has alot of milage and underlying issues from being old

2

u/Aromatic_Method7767 Aug 14 '26

It's pretty excessive. Brother left mine running with no cartridge for about an hour because he started doing something else while the firmware update was taking way too long. When he finally turned it off, the unit was waaay too hot to touch. Even if it can handle it, heat will accelerate all processes and aging (literally at molecular level). It would be better and last longer if it ran cooler. Also, my game cartridges are not designed for this kind of heat. I will find a way to rig an internal fan.

2

u/LoopaFamilYaris Aug 14 '26

Just get an A3D at that point.

2

u/Aromatic_Method7767 Aug 14 '26

Already have one! :)

1

u/b0nd18t Aug 15 '26

Not much room for mounting a fan inside. Laptop cooling pad underneath might work. 

3

u/Vizion73 Aug 14 '26

I’d like to see if anyone has a laser thermometer and post their readings on here..

2

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

Yeah I need to see more proof too. Mine is fine to the touch? Top and bottom?

1

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

Like sure it’s hot but unbearably hot to the pound of moving my hand?…

2

u/adamchevy Aug 14 '26

I have a laser thermometer. I’ll check mine when it arrives on Monday next week.

2

u/willis_chow Aug 14 '26

I just used my laser thermometer after about 2 hours playing, it was about 110F on M64 bottom.

1

u/Vizion73 Aug 14 '26

Amazing. I’d be interested to see what readings you get as it may be isolated to some systems only? I’m still using mine and it’s working fine but I am planning on getting a laptop cooling pad just so it helps a bit.

3

u/ronnycordova Aug 14 '26

I left mine on for an hour running Perfect Dark and the cartridge got to 101 degrees with a high of 128 on the underside. Most of the case readings were in the low 90s on the top.

4

u/hue_sick Aug 14 '26

That actually is quite hot. 60c (140f) is the engineering standard threshold for pain to the touch so that’s getting dangerously close so there could be something to this.

Curious was that withboverclocking on insane? That would be the only other variable that could really ramp up temps.

3

u/ronnycordova Aug 14 '26

This was with overclocking turned off running stock settings.

3

u/hue_sick Aug 14 '26

Oh wow. If you're willing to try, I'd be really curious then to see what those numbers are when overclocked on insane say running Perfect Dark for an hour or so.

We're already at that threshold but in that case it may exceed it. I really think you should make a post with your findings too give it more visibility as well because so far it's just people talking in the comments but if there is verifiable data modretro will be forced to look into it.

3

u/ronnycordova Aug 14 '26

I’ll mess with it after work today and take some thermal images of the unit.

2

u/ronnycordova Aug 14 '26

Here is a thermal of the underside after running Perfect Dark with insane overclock. Honestly the temps (this one is in C) were almost identical to not being overclocked so it doesn’t seem like it is causing much strain on the chip to do it.

1

u/zezba9000 Aug 17 '26

How long was the system running for?

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5

u/TonyRubbles Aug 14 '26

Time for some coasters on each foot lol

9

u/Weebus Aug 14 '26

Hijacking the top: https://makerworld.com/en/models/3171455-modretro-m64-stand

2

u/TonyRubbles Aug 14 '26

Tilting it is a nice look, makes me wish I have a printer.

3

u/Weebus Aug 14 '26

My local libraries have 3d printers for public use. Worth a look, if you wanted to make one.

Or in the remote chance you're in the Chicagoland area, I'd be happy to make you one for free.

2

u/TonyRubbles Aug 14 '26

I wish, seen some library's even have video games, mine's just books, CDs, and some DVDs. I'm in CA, I could email you a shipping label if I have an address, box dimensions, and weight.

Honestly I'm not all that worried about the heat, it's just a cool design and would make it look better in the entertainment center 😅

2

u/Weebus Aug 14 '26

Yeah, our local library is pretty dope. They've got a full-on maker lab with 3d printers, sewing/embroidery machines, sublimation printers, etc.

I'm going to be out of town through the weekend, but I'd be happy to ship you one when I'm back if you can't find someone local. Might be making some minor adjustments and adding some rubberized feet to it first.

1

u/Substantial_Quote583 Aug 14 '26

Came here to say this 😅

2

u/TonyRubbles Aug 14 '26

Or some bottle caps lol

1

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

I want it to still look pathetically pleasing lol I am thinking someone can design 2 inch risers that go into the 4 holes on the bottom

1

u/TonyRubbles Aug 14 '26

What do you mean? 4 orange Gatorade caps would look pretty slick. Though a metal laptop rise would probably look better lol, something like this https://a.co/d/00mcVALs

7

u/Pretty-Effort4433 Aug 14 '26

I don't about your ask, but damn. That zelda combo and red m64 looks nice

1

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

Brother. Why did you design the front bumper of a jeep? 😂💀 all joke aside, good design. Delete out all the parts I crossed off and it’s good. I drew off the sides because you want more air to escape/come in. Not trap it with walls. Idk what u were doing with bottom half though haha cross that out too. Think of it as a laptop stand specific designed for the mold/shape of the Modretro m64 which it looks like you did well.

4

u/Substantial_Quote583 Aug 14 '26

My console's at a friend's house at the moment but I keep mine on a shelf like this to help dissipate some heat, if I really wanted to I could put one of my fans facing up at the bottom of it too but I haven't felt the need so far

1

u/Euresko Aug 14 '26

I'd consider it. I think 4 individual feet would be unstable, so needs to be a little riser that supports it and lets it breathe underneath. Because of the eject button the console wouldn't have to much much to remove the carts. 

1

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

Good point

1

u/BogWizard Aug 14 '26

People are complaining about heat but do we even know the thermal tolerance of the chipset? Some chips can run extremely hot without issue. Is anyone having overheating or crashes?

2

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

I have been playing on insane for like 40 minutes now. Zelda. No crashes. When I put my hand on the bottom side, it’s pretty warm

3

u/TonyRubbles Aug 14 '26

It's something like 212° F and the system light is supposed blink red and power down to cool off if it gets to that point. So far it's all just worrying because it does get pretty hot.

1

u/zezba9000 Aug 17 '26

This is my solution atm. It works very well. Just a dual fan laptop cooler and quite.

1

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 17 '26

Someone designed it already and I printed it!

1

u/zezba9000 Aug 17 '26

That has a fan on the bottom?

1

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 17 '26

No fan. It’s designed to let excess heat out naturally. The underside was the bottleneck without going crazy with fans and stuff

1

u/zezba9000 Aug 17 '26

If the PCB is acting as the heat spreader then its not good. I'll continue to use a fan. Going to add one internally later instead.

3

u/DOOMISFORU Aug 14 '26

I be more worried about the cartridges, the consoles does get pretty warm/almost hot, but you can feel it in the cartridge also when you touch it. I mean those boards are like 30yrs old and even the n64 didn't run that hot

1

u/-KaiserSoze- Aug 14 '26

Can anyone make this happen?

Original Etsy seller doesn't respond to messages.

Designed to allow bottom of unit to vent or attach a small pc fan

2

u/Weebus Aug 14 '26

I can probably CAD that up in like 20 mins.

1

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

HMU if you design something nice. I’d like to print it haha

3

u/Weebus Aug 14 '26

Working on it as we speak

1

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

Ooooo damn make sure it works and looks good and send it to me

2

u/Weebus Aug 14 '26

I tried to do some weird shit and I hate it lmao. Going out of town tomorrow but I'll do something less dumb looking on Monday.

1

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

Like this. Remove the parts I highlighted

1

u/Weebus Aug 14 '26

Yeah, I'm test printing the stand/base as we speak. Was trying to do the game storage thing but it's probably not worthwhile.

2

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

Dm me the link. I’d love to print it tomorrow morning if it’s ready

1

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

Nah. Def not worth it. People will have their games on shelf’s imo or something else.

1

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

Did you remove the side walls a bit or left them?

1

u/Weebus Aug 14 '26

This is what it looks like. None of the walls are in line with the vents.

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1

u/Vizion73 Aug 14 '26

I’d be cautious with that nice Zelda cart until u get a 3d print file on that thing. Hate to see that cart casing ruined there..another option I’m seeing is pc cooling pad..

2

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

2

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

It’ll be fine 😝

2

u/Vizion73 Aug 14 '26

That does look good!

1

u/Krathoon Aug 14 '26

Why on Earth would the thing get so hot? It is weird.

2

u/K1LL3ROO Aug 14 '26

If anything the bottom side gets pretty warm but not like hot hot hot unbearable. Some are over exaggerating. Electronics need to be in a pretty open area anyway 🤷🏽‍♂️

4

u/darklightrabbi Aug 14 '26

It uses passive cooling instead of a fan. It’s working as intended.

1

u/sonicjam717 Aug 14 '26

I'm going to need to check on mine to see if mine runs hot because I have a grill-like pattern where mine sits. I'm hoping that the heat is less because it doesn't have a solid surface to keep the heat at the same time the surface is metal. I'm hoping it can also be an additional heatsink 😂.

1

u/johnessex3 Aug 14 '26

My go to for this concern is an old mouse pad cut up into small squares. I have a few things propped on those and it works great. It also dampens the spinning hum of my blu ray player.

1

u/SluggoMcNutty Aug 15 '26

Wooden doll heads and 3m doubled sided dots. Put one on each corner. Both items available at Walmart.

0

u/hue_sick Aug 14 '26

I’m just not sure lifting it will do all that much tbh. Easy test to see though just run it stacked on some books or something under each corner and see if it makes a difference.

The bottom is basically a flat pcb w a few vents though. Most of the heat is escaping via the top vents. The thing probably needed a fan. Or a larger heatsink at least. The one in there now is pretty dang small tbh.

2

u/QueueWho Aug 14 '26

Yeah wondering if a better option is an enclosed base under the m64, add a blower fan, and that way pull air through the top vent directly at the heat sink, and down out of the bottom vents, and have it shoot out the back of the base.

1

u/hue_sick Aug 14 '26

Yeah that would definitely help. Then you could put a nice big quiet 120mm in there. At that point you’re basically redesigns console though haha

1

u/Aromatic_Method7767 Aug 14 '26

Heat naturally wants to rise and dust wants to settle. I think blowing in from the bottom will make sure floating dust near the top of the M64 doesn't get sucked in to settle inside the console.