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A Liquid-cooled Wii in a Custom Aluminum Case

by - source: Tom's Hardware US

We’ve seen a lot of awesome console mods in our day but this one probably takes the cake for most ‘most over-the-top mod.’ It's liquid cooled Nintendo Wii! Why? We're not sure, either.

Housed in a custom built case fashioned out of CNC-milled aluminum, this isn’t the same Wii you’ve got stuffed inside your entertainment center. Two years in the making, Bit-tech forum member Angel OD (also known as Martin Nielsen) finally finished the wall-mounted, liquid-cooled "Wii UNlimited Edition" this past Saturday and posted an abundance of pictures for his fellow forum members to drool over.



The case-mod features side-panels etched with the traditional Wii logo (probably so people can tell what the heck it is because it doesn’t look anything like a Wii), two 22cm cooling reservoirs, a digital thermometer up top and exposed mechanics. 



Nielson didn’t mention the cost of this project and we’re kind of afraid to ask. Let’s just leave it at ‘more than the Wii itself,’ shall we?

Check out all the pictures of the finished product here and his original thread (more pictures of the process) here.

(via Engadget)

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Assmar 04/07/2011 12:11 PM
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I just came here to laugh at the pointlessness of this, but that's kind of sexy. wouldn't liquid cooling be put to better use in a PS3 or 360?

Marco925 04/07/2011 12:13 PM
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while it is nice, i've never heard of anyone overclocking their wii, and they've never really been known to overheat either, it's probably more suited for the Xbox 360 or PS3.

Though it is nice and i can appreciate it.

utengineer 04/07/2011 12:14 PM
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assmar :
I just came here to laugh at the pointlessness of this, but that's kind of sexy. wouldn't liquid cooling be put to better use in a PS3 or 360?



Already been done(xbox and ps3)....this is the first custom Wii case I have seen...with water too. Probably the best console mod I have seen in a while.

wowohwow 04/07/2011 12:17 PM
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Why would you need to water cool a Wii?

chaoski 04/07/2011 12:19 PM
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Even if you did overclock it...Wii has 6-7 year old hardware.

Same goes for Xbox/PS2....you are talking 5 year old hardware.

Pointless

theshonen8899 04/07/2011 12:21 PM
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Looks really awesome. Shame he didn't put that effort into a real PC and just use Dolphin to emulate Wii games in beautiful 1080p.

Assmar 04/07/2011 12:23 PM
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theshonen8899 :
Looks really awesome. Shame he didn't put that effort into a real PC and just use Dolphin to emulate Wii games in beautiful 1080p.


GASP! That's illegal! Do wii disks run backward like Gamecube disks? Is it possible to run wii disks on the emulator?

BulkZerker 04/07/2011 12:41 PM
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Neat fab work on the Wii. I can appriciate the work the guy did there. Way more than the dime a dozen watercooled pcs with their guts slapped into a case made for watercooling. Wonder if it runs even 6* over ambient.

surfer1337dude 04/07/2011 12:48 PM
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assmar :
GASP! That's illegal! Do wii disks run backward like Gamecube disks? Is it possible to run wii disks on the emulator?


That they do, but if you can find one of the handful of dvd drives that are compatible (the drive has to be able to run backwards while reading) with some of the wii ripping software then you can copy the files to the pc and then use dolphin. But as you said it is illegal :(

iam2thecrowe 04/07/2011 12:53 PM
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i fail to see the point unless you doing some low level component based overclocking to make mario run smoother?

cburke82 04/07/2011 1:37 AM
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Crazy Idea here lol Console guys should make a great emulator for PC's of there current console that we can buy for say $150 ish maybe $100. Install to the PC and buy there game disks. Before ppl start saying why, I know the games would be lower than current PC games but there are of coarse exclusives ( Halo, Metal Gear) So they could make money selling the emulators and then the games. They would still sell consoles because not everybody likes gaming on a PC or has one that would run the games well. So they sell a combination of consoles/emulators and most likley more games? I know there would be pirate issues but there allready are and im guessing that it cant be to incredibly hard to make an emulator if your are the company that has full access to the software on the console itself.

dco 04/07/2011 2:02 AM
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From the perspectives of those pictures it looks like the encloseure is about 7 foot tall :)

neblix 04/07/2011 2:03 AM
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I'm laughing at all the guys complaining about this being pointless.

OF COURSE it's pointless. It's a LIQUID COOLED WII.
The guy just wanted to have fun doing a cool case mod.

slothy89 04/07/2011 2:17 AM
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Wow... You people need to read the Work Log..

Angel did this purely "Because he could".

He acknowledged that the watercooling was more than a little OTT. But it was because it hasn't been done, and personally, I like it.

You may notice the Processor Waterblock is a little less than optimal *rolls-eyes*

w4t634wtgsg 04/07/2011 2:45 AM
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Completely pointless. However, its also the best console mod ive ever seen by far.

Marco925 04/07/2011 3:25 AM
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chaoski :
Even if you did overclock it...Wii has 6-7 year old hardware.Same goes for Xbox/PS2....you are talking 5 year old hardware.Pointless


you need to check up on your research, the PS2 Was released in 2000 and Xbox in 2001, (2002 in north america) that is way more than 5 years, the Wii certainly has more horsepower than those two consoles.

rohitbaran 04/07/2011 3:31 AM
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It does resemble a water filter.

LuckyDucky7 04/07/2011 3:44 AM
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"you need to check up on your research, the PS2 Was released in 2000 and Xbox in 2001, (2002 in north america) that is way more than 5 years, the Wii certainly has more horsepower than those two consoles. "

No, no it doesn't. Xbox, like the Wii, has a ~733 MHz processor, and graphics capablilties that about match what the Wii has, and in some cases exceed it.
The graphics chips themselves are clock-for-clock comparable.

Quality of graphics for similar games on the Xbox exceed those of the Wii.

nukemaster 04/07/2011 5:13 AM
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theshonen8899 :
Looks really awesome. Shame he didn't put that effort into a real PC and just use Dolphin to emulate Wii games in beautiful 1080p.


he does in fact have a PC mod as well. Its a PC in a mac case. And one of the better ones(uses all the factory ports.)

Aionism 04/07/2011 6:48 AM
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LuckyDucky7 :
"you need to check up on your research, the PS2 Was released in 2000 and Xbox in 2001, (2002 in north america) that is way more than 5 years, the Wii certainly has more horsepower than those two consoles. "No, no it doesn't. Xbox, like the Wii, has a ~733 MHz processor, and graphics capablilties that about match what the Wii has, and in some cases exceed it.The graphics chips themselves are clock-for-clock comparable.Quality of graphics for similar games on the Xbox exceed those of the Wii.


They're different types of processors. Anyone who goes to Tom's Hardware should know that there's much more to CPUs than clock speed.

chindoboi 04/07/2011 8:16 AM
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Does the wii fan even turn on??

sudeshc 04/07/2011 9:13 AM
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some one with alot of money and time...........

Drag0nR1der 04/07/2011 9:50 AM
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Quote :i fail to see the point unless you doing some low level component based overclocking to make mario run smoother?


Why can't someone do something just for the love of it? I expect he got great enjoyment from the project, and has got far more satisfaction from doing something rather than hanging around internet forums criticising others.

It's a beautifully rendered product, absolute top marksfor the mod!

distanted 04/07/2011 10:38 AM
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Yeah, 3 points for subject matter choice, a perfect 10 on design and assembly...Wish I had the money to hire this guy to redesign my man-cave.

kikireeki 04/07/2011 12:26 PM
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Reminds me of Bioshock

makaveli316 04/07/2011 1:41 PM
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Pointless, big time....

Camikazi 04/07/2011 3:16 PM
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makaveli316 :
Pointless, big time....


Kind of like your post yes? but you posted it anyway...

sarco 04/07/2011 3:40 PM
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Just to answer the question before it is asked: This still can not play Crysis.

hoofhearted 04/07/2011 3:52 PM
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Maybe he can do a liquid-cooled iPhone next.

zak_mckraken 04/07/2011 4:04 PM
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I have the same question as the editors and all of you : why?

Beside the fact that the Wii doesn't need water cooling, the mod is pretty cool. I'd like to see some kind of HTPC in it.

sidran32 04/07/2011 4:24 PM
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chaoski :
Even if you did overclock it...Wii has 6-7 year old hardware.Same goes for Xbox/PS2....you are talking 5 year old hardware.Pointless


That doesn't mean jack. I will be the first to say that the Wii probably doesn't need liquid cooling, and that this is complete overkill (if still pretty awesome). But, processors don't just start putting out less heat as they age. Sure, that architecture made with today's technology could be a lot cooler. But back then, those processors needed cooling just as much as your GeForce GTX 580 does, today.


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