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7/1/2025, 7:56:16 PM
>>11838190
Older ones didn't have proper voltage regulation, and many bootleg/cheap ones still don't. Whether it might damage your console is still argued, the original article was a bit dramatic about it, but it is a concern that shouldn't just be ignored.
A lot of older such electronics ran on 5 volts, around the mid-90s they started switching to a 3.3v standard that is still mostly the standard today. It's hard to get 5v stuff nowadays, especially if you are putting something current like a modern CPU, flashROM, or FPGA chip in a cart where 5V options very likely don't even exist for those components, so you have to put components that are designed to take 3.3volts on a cartridge where the system will be supplying them with 5 volts. Anything decently made will have voltage regulators to convert the voltage between 5/3.3 across the components.
Even the MiSTer is susceptible to this, the SNAC port is meant to let you plug in original accessories (generally controllers) in a port that is directly wired to the FPGA so natively connect the controllers to it. Problem is the FPGA runs at 3.3V, so a level shifter is recommended. This is not needed for the N64 and PS1 adapters (And I think GBA) since those systems ran at 3.3v, but is needed for pretty much everything else.
Older ones didn't have proper voltage regulation, and many bootleg/cheap ones still don't. Whether it might damage your console is still argued, the original article was a bit dramatic about it, but it is a concern that shouldn't just be ignored.
A lot of older such electronics ran on 5 volts, around the mid-90s they started switching to a 3.3v standard that is still mostly the standard today. It's hard to get 5v stuff nowadays, especially if you are putting something current like a modern CPU, flashROM, or FPGA chip in a cart where 5V options very likely don't even exist for those components, so you have to put components that are designed to take 3.3volts on a cartridge where the system will be supplying them with 5 volts. Anything decently made will have voltage regulators to convert the voltage between 5/3.3 across the components.
Even the MiSTer is susceptible to this, the SNAC port is meant to let you plug in original accessories (generally controllers) in a port that is directly wired to the FPGA so natively connect the controllers to it. Problem is the FPGA runs at 3.3V, so a level shifter is recommended. This is not needed for the N64 and PS1 adapters (And I think GBA) since those systems ran at 3.3v, but is needed for pretty much everything else.
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