Hooking Gamecube up to PC

[Dopekitten]

So I'm looking to hook up my old Gamecube to my PC for nostagia's sake. I have a connector for the audio, but I don't know how to connect the composite cable (just the yellow one) to my monitor/computer.

Obviously it needs to be converted from TV signals to PC whatever. Do I need a TV card?
If I do, what's the absolute cheapest one that will still work.

If I don't, what do I need?

Thanks!

 

[TemjinGold]

You don't need a TV card but you do need a monitor that takes composite. I'm not familiar with the Gamecube unit (never had one myself). Does it have anything besides composite?

 

[Ross Ridge]

You can use a TV card. Most have an S-Video input that you can connect your Gamecube up to. You'll need to get an S-Video cable for your Gamecube, a Wii S-Video cable will work. The picture will be much better with S-Video than Composite, so it's worth it.

The only problem with doing it this way is that it can increase the display lag significantly depending on what program you end up using to display it on your PC. I'd recommend getting an internal PCI or PCI Express card, USB solutions will have additional lag.

 

[Dopekitten]

Oh ok.

Any reccomendations for a TV card (a PCI/PCI-E obviously)

Preferably the cheapest possible, but still good that it won't break/have lots of input lag.

 

[Ross Ridge]

I used to have my Gamecube (and Playstation 2) connected to my ATI All-in-Wonder 9700. With the original software bundled with it there was no display lag that I could tell. The problem was the new versions of ATI added features and increased lag to the point where it was unacceptable. I could hack around it with registry hacks to get back to the original lagless behaviour, but it was a pain. The software kept undoing my hacks.

So I guess I wouldn't recommend an ATI based solution, but I have no idea if anyone else's software is better or worse.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Your best bet is to do what I did. I spent years trying to find a lag-less TV card. No such luck.

Buy a VGA box. Some even upscale to HD res, which looks decent enough.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817707114

 

[toyota]

I would just hook it to an old crt tv instead of fooling with anything else especially if it costs 50 bucks. thats what I did with my Gamecube because it looks like ass on a modern tv/monitor. also cant you just use an emulator and run the games that way?

 

[nonameo]

There is component for the GC, however it is not cheap. not all gamecubes support it and it requires a special adapter.

edit: from wikipedia:
Component video cable (for progressive scan (480p) support) which requires a GameCube with Digital Video Output. This cable was not only a cable, but actually a tiny video card as well, using the Macronix CMPV-DOL video chip (a digital to analog converter). This was needed in order to convert the YCbCr digital video coming from the console to the YPbPr analog format used by component video equipment. While CMPV-DOL's reconfigurability allows it to carry out unusual functions such as YCbCr to RGBHV conversion, the component video cable does not take advantage of the digital audio from the console’s digital port. This means that one must use an analog cable in the other port to get audio. These cables were later discontinued by Nintendo due to lack of interest; however, over time demand for these cables increased, yet they were no longer in production, causing cables to go for many times their original value on such auction sites as E-bay.

It looks like the cables go for 60+$$$ on ebay.

 

[CZroe]

The Adaptec Game Bridge is decently low-latency and very cheap. It seems to crash most video capture apps that try to access it, though it's own app seems to work. Sometimes bypassing the audio capture portion can fix that.

As for capturing via component, the best option I know of is to get a PC LCD with component input and a HAVA component capture device. They advertise component game capture abilities as a secondary function. Primarily, it combines with a HD cable box to act like a Media Center (MCE) network tuner, though it isn't really high-def like they claim (accepts and passes-through an HD signal but stores, streams, or encodes in SD/Enhanced-Def).

I had a GC w/ Component Cable stolen in 2003. I replaced it and got one of the last available component cables, which I still have. These days it makes more sense to just get a Wii and use Wii component cables, though there is a difference (I have pics).

 

[frozentundra123456]

this is not an answer, but another question on the same line. I have a Yuan TV tuner with a s-video input and a component to s-video adapter.

However, when I plug the input into the computer, I dont know how to get it to display on the monitor. Do I set the "TV" to a certain channel or get it to recognise the video input in some other way??

 

[Dorkenstein]

I bought a vga box to use my gamecube via component on my CRT monitor. Not worth it. Now I'm trying to find a decent tube tv.

 

[CZroe]

I bought a vga box to use my gamecube via component on my CRT monitor. Not worth it. Now I'm trying to find a decent tube tv.

For the best, find a used Sony WEGA Hi-Scan with the Super Fine Pitch (SFP) tube, like KV-??XBR910, ..XBR960 or ..XS955. The XBR970 lost the SFP tube when Sony got out of the CRT business, but it's still one of the best CRT televisions in the business.

I got a KV-30XBR910 and it gets more compliments than my KDL-52XBR2 Bravia or my 65" Olevia LCD. People don't even notice that it's only 30"! It has the best integrated sound in ever built into a retail set and had the best-rated picture quality of any display in the entire industry (probably still stands). It's so big and heavy at 30", I'm almost glad I didn't go for the 34" model.