Internal Wii modding

[Guilt]

Hi, first time poster here! I am not too familiar with this forum, so if I'm posting in the wrong place / poor form, I won't be offended by my thread being moved somewhere else or edited.

Anyways, a friend of mine recommended this place to me for some info. I understand I'm coming to an experienced group of enthusiasts. I'm researching the Wii right now, because I've got a pcb I want to fit into it. For those of you familiar with the GcVideo project, Unseen recently got it working on a Wii and I'm trying to copy his efforts. I want mine to be a fully internal job if possible (since I travel with my Wii).

Here's the PCB I'm trying to stuff in there.

http://i.imgur.com/IDah4igl.jpg
The spicey Gamecube it's hooked up to will give a good size comparison. It's slightly larger than a GBA cart.

http://imgur.com/a/T25Y0
This is my idea about where it might fit in. In a perfect world this board will have its HDMI port poke out of a new hole in the back of the Wii. However, you'll notice that something is in my way -- THE HEATSINK.

Does anyone know if my idea here about cutting away some of the heatsink is safe? And if it is, what tools are best to do this with? Is there a better place I could stuff this thing? I'd also need to put a hole through the casing, what tool will make the cleanest cuts through ABS?
Another thing to consider, Unseen said that stuffing a board into the heatsink like this might probably make the console much noisier. Makes sense to me, but I'd like to know about how much. I have no idea how to figure that without actually doing the install though...

Any answers, pointers, anything is appreciated? Even if you just tell me to go to another forum! I'm not sure who else to ask!

[lev11]

The cutting the ABS part is easiest so I'll answer that, just mark-up position, drill small holes and patiently file with small file. There's files with square edges to get nice corners. Perhaps practice on some scrap plastic first.

Not sure from your pic what bit of heatsink you mean to cut away, or why this would make it louder? Maybe warmer if there's less heatsink or its airflow is being obscured. Do you have a wii taken apart and one of these boards to try and fit?

[bobrocks95]

If you're patient, Badassconsoles will be working on adapting his Gamecube board for the Wii after it's out. It'll be much smaller than the Pluto board and won't require any heatsink cutting. Whether or not you want to wait (it has been continuously delayed so far...) is up to you.

[Blair]

is there really any visual quality difference from using the hardware based HDMI-out board for the Wii/GameCube, as opposed to just using one of those component to HDMI converters?

Spoiler

as long as you have good quality component cables (I use the mono price ones for my Wii) the conversion process usually works pretty well.

[bobrocks95]

is there really any visual quality difference from using the hardware based HDMI-out board for the Wii/GameCube, as opposed to just using one of those component to HDMI converters?

Spoiler

as long as you have good quality component cables (I use the mono price ones for my Wii) the conversion process usually works pretty well.

-You gain digital audio, which isn't available any other way
-The process chain goes from Digital > Analog > Digital to just straight digital, minimizing loss of quality
-You avoid potential YCbCr conversion issues with converters (GCVideo outputs full-range RGB)

That doesn't mean I've seen a true comparison between a Wii with a Wii2HDMI and one with the GCVideo though of course (since nobody's installed one in a Wii yet). My guess is they'd look similar but you'd still see a noticeable improvement with a straight digital connection.

[Blair]

actually I think the Wii2HDMI dongle's are kind of garbage, I've tested them against the cheap porta component to HDMI boxes, and the porta wins out every time (especially with the audio conversion).

the only redeeming thing about the Wii2HDMI is that it can pass 240p signals over the HDMI port, but that's only useful to a small group of people.

[Guilt]

Not sure from your pic what bit of heatsink you mean to cut away, or why this would make it louder? Maybe warmer if there's less heatsink or its airflow is being obscured. Do you have a wii taken apart and one of these boards to try and fit?

In the pictures I tried to illustrate the space I want my board to occupy. So facing a vertically standing Wii from the heatsink's side (controller ports facing up) I wanna take out a little bit less than a quarter of the heatsink from the bottom right quarter, making the fans there half as tall. It might make the Wii louder once there will be a PCB in the airflow.

If you're patient, Badassconsoles will be working on adapting his Gamecube board for the Wii after it's out. It'll be much smaller than the Pluto board and won't require any heatsink cutting.

Nah, I'm doing this half because I enjoy the work. If it's not going to damage the performance of my Wii, I want to do the mod myself.

-You gain digital audio, which isn't available any other way
-The process chain goes from Digital > Analog > Digital to just straight digital, minimizing loss of quality
-You avoid potential YCbCr conversion issues with converters (GCVideo outputs full-range RGB)

That doesn't mean I've seen a true comparison between a Wii with a Wii2HDMI and one with the GCVideo though of course (since nobody's installed one in a Wii yet). My guess is they'd look similar but you'd still see a noticeable improvement with a straight digital connection.

That sums it up pretty well but I also am looking forward to the 480p. I have a HDMI only computer monitor that I really prefer to use on 480p games. Maybe I'll post some quality comparison pics. I'd be the first!

actually I think the Wii2HDMI dongle's are kind of garbage,

Couldn't agree more.

I guess no one has any ideas about how to cut the heatsink yet. Isn't this like, a primary requirement for making portables? Maybe there's a portable-making forum somewhere that would know this one off the top of their heads?