Hey I just finished s-video and overclock modding my genesis, when I flick the switch on the back the processor runs at 10mhz and pretty much all the slowdown in any games is gone, so that games like lightening force fun at full speed all the time now! The s-video also looks fantastic as well. I originally found instructions on how to do the mod here: http://www-unix.ecs.umass.edu/~dhowland/mod/ and pretty much the only thing i did different is related to the overclock. I tapped the original clock from the bottom of the board and made it so that I am able to switch back to the original processor speed, so that I can still use my sega cd and 32x. Oh and I re-routed the stereo audio from the front headphone jack to the back where the rf selector switch used to be, that way i don't have the audio cord stretching from the front back to the sega cd. Enjoy the pics!
Since the genesis uses a separate sound processor the sound does not change at all. Unlike some other systems the games dont speed up and run faster than they are supposed to when overclocked. Same with the sound, it doesnt run faster. The only change when overclocked is the elimination of slowdown, such as in shmups when the screen is filled with bullets and the action slows to a crawl, or in the sonic games when you get hit while you are carrying a bunch of rings and sonic flies back in slow motion . EVERYTHING runs super smoothly, no dropped frames
Nope no excess heat, I kept the top off while I was playing musha and kept checking the heat sink, no difference that I could notice. Same with the top on and everything back together, no extra heat.
One thing that really annoys me about Mega Drives is the sound always runs slower than it's NTSC counterpart. Like the intro on Sonic REALLY bugs me because it's like 10% slower than it should be. Is there any way of making a PAL MD run the games and sound at the same speed as the NTSC Genesis? Would I need to convert it to 60hz?
Niode, that is actually a very easy mod to do. This guide is a dead simple walkthrough, my last genesis (may it rest in peace) had this mod done. Its just 3 big points on the top of the board that you have to solder to. If I ever get ahold of a super fantasy zone or mega man the wily wars ill have to put these switches back into mine. http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/md1switches.htm
Ah shit I forgot to mention that it's a MD2. The guide for the MD2 on that website isn't the easiest to follow. On the second page it says to cut a trace but doesn't explicitly mention which trace needs cutting...
I've been thinking about doing those mods for a while now. Since I'm pretty electrical engineering illiterate, a few questions: Did you go with the 9Mhz overclock or the 10? I'm not sure whether a 10Mhz overclock would require a different set of resistors, so I've been hesitant on starting the project until I know for sure. Also, was the switch for the overclock as basic as it sounds? Tap a wire to each clock and connect them to a switch? I wasn't even aware the overclocking would cause a problem for Sega CD or 32x. Glad I found that out before I modded the system, since I don't plan to touch it again after the mod is complete.
