GCN Gamecube Modchip Survey

[5uck3rpunch]

Hey Gang,

I'm thinking about getting a modchip for my Gamecube to play backed up games. Anyone here mod their Gamecube? If so, what chip do you like? Did you install it yourself or did you use an online install service & if so, who was it? Were they good or bad?

Thanx in advance for the info team!

 

[zone97]

I have the amos Qoob chip pro, works great has lots of features. Easy to install. Support is gone however. At the time I ordered my chip there was to be a major upgrade coming in the next few weeks, which turned into months that turned into a year.. ect... Never happened may never happen. But what is available is solid.

 

[legendofphil]

I have a viper extreme chip, not had any problems with it. I didn't install it as I don't have any soldering experience, but a friend did and he said it was fairly easy to install. There was recently an upgraded BIOS released for it, but it wasn't an official release.

It would depend on what you want out of it to what chip you get.

 

[5uck3rpunch]

I just want to be able to play 'backed up' games w/o swapping mini CD's & long load times.

 

[legendofphil]

You might want to look into the cheaper mods like Xeno GC.

 

[bryehn]

xenoGC is a bitch to solder apparently.

the Qoob Pro seems to be the best, but I still stick with the Max Drive Pro swap method.

It's not for the lazy I guess, because you do have to swap discs...once.
But I have a choice of BIOS, can back up my saves to my PC, and even run NES/SNES/GENESIS/TG16 ROMs right from a memory card.

 

[5uck3rpunch]

Max Drive Pro does seem pretty cool but is it dependable? Do all your backups work fine with it? Does it damage the Gamecube by opening it after booting the Max Drive Pro CD & switching to a game CD?

 

[legendofphil]

With the max drive pro (SDLoad) method you might need to tweak your laser to be able to read DVDs properly. But you might also need to do this with a mod chip.

Its basically like changing discs on a multi disc game such as RE4.

 

[5uck3rpunch]

With the max drive pro (SDLoad) method you might need to tweak your laser to be able to read DVDs properly. But you might also need to do this with a mod chip.

Its basically like changing discs on a multi disc game such as RE4.

How are you able to tweak the laser? Is it in the software that comes with the Max Drive Pro?

 

[legendofphil]

No, you open up the cube and on the underside of the laser unit you use a multimeter to find out the current reading and change it using a screwdriver.

http://modthatcube.pxn-os.com/content/pot.htm - guide to doing so.

 

[5uck3rpunch]

Ahh...I was just reading that site & didn't get to that yet. I may give the Max Drive Pro a shot before an actual modchip & if I like it I will save a lot of time & money. Thanks for all of the help. MUCH appreciated!

 

[Elrinth]

I still think the PSO boot was pretty okay

streaming the games from my comp

that's what I did for years

 

[5uck3rpunch]

I still think the PSO boot was pretty okay

streaming the games from my comp

that's what I did for years

Did they ever lag or stutter?

 

[HugeCock]

Again I have the QoobSX plays all the games I want. Finding the right media to media burner combination was the only bitch though.

 

[retrohead]

I use GCOM 2.2 (2.3 had some problems) on my drive 06 GC booting with PSO and it works perfectly. By far the best loader as you never get a DRE (Disc Read Error). Should you encounter a bad section on the disc, the worst that will happen is the music will stutter whereas GCOS / Anaconda / ninja.dol all cause DRE's.

Streaming games from PC will always cause lag and stutter and does so on music and movies. Some games work perfectly but in general this method is best avoided.

Booting from AR is probably your best bet, and again if you use GCOM, you should find that it will read a hell of a lot more discs than the other loaders.

 

[bryehn]

i haven't touched my laser and all of my backups (over 50) work. I've thrown 6-8 types of mini DVD-R at it with great success.

Every Cube is different though. Mine's from last October, the Pokemon XD edition. I think it's an 08 drive.

GCOM 2.4 boots every single game I have, even multi-game discs.

 

[2die4]

i have a Qoob Pro installed in my white GC. Took about 25 mins or less to install and works great. I haven't adjusted the laser/pot on it and I mainly use Verbatim or Traxdata mini DVD-R burned at 4x. If I use the cheaper brand mini DVD-R I have to burn them at 2x, if I burn them at 4x they will not work.

 

[5uck3rpunch]

What mini CD's do you find work well with the Max Drive Pro?

 

[legendofphil]

Ritek G04 dye is the best DVD dye to get IMO.
But its whatever works well for you.

 

[outphase]

I have a XenoGC in my cube and it does what I want it to do... sucked to solder though.