What do you do with a broken gaming console that’s almost 18 years old? If you are a YouTuber you can turn it into a powerful mini gaming computer More powerful than Steam Deck. This custom-made Nintendo Wii mini gaming computer uses the shell of an old console, replacing the Wii’s outdated components with a pre-built mini computer.
Due to its smaller size, the Wii is ideal for converting into a small PC. It’s also powered by the innards of the Minisforum UM773 Lite, which remains the best mini gaming PC you can buy right now. However, it can be safely said that this AMD As YouTuber Tech By Matt explains, powered gaming gear isn’t the easiest to assemble.
in his videoTech By Matt demonstrates the entire build process from start to finish. His build repurposed the original power button, used a custom backplate to fit the Wii’s existing chassis, and featured a custom GameCube controller port that replaced the original Wii controller port for use with the Minisforum PC.
First, let’s look at the Minisforum specs themselves. This mini gaming PC is built entirely from AMD and features an 8-core Ryzen 7 7735HS APU and integrated Radeon 680M graphics. There’s 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and Tech By Matt’s 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD that replaces Minisforum’s default 512GB model.
The AMD Radeon 680M isn’t the best of its kind, but it’s certainly powerful enough for a build like this. The integrated RDNA 2-based GPU has 12 compute units, which is definitely ahead of the likes of the Steam Deck, which has a custom APU and also integrates an AMD RDNA 2-based GPU, but only has 8 compute units.
The Minisforum UM773 Lite’s size is a big factor in the product’s success, with its internals mounted on a small motherboard that takes up only (what appears to be) two-thirds of the Wii’s case. The case required some modifications, cutting out some sections to make room for the Minisforum’s I/O, adding fan grilles and third-party GameCube ports, and using custom 3D-printed parts to help mount the motherboard to the existing plastic.
Tech By Matt’s build video shows off the capabilities of a custom Wii PC using emulated game consoles, which ironically include the Wii and GameCube, as well as the Nintendo Switch. He also showed off the PC’s performance in PC games like Valorant. At low 1080p resolution, a custom Wii PC was able to play Valorant at a stable 221 fps, with a 1% low frame rate of 134 fps. In Rainbow Six Siege, using the built-in benchmark tool at 1080p at medium settings, the Wii PC recorded a frame rate of 121fps, with a minimum frame rate of 93fps, a 1% low frame rate.
Other games, such as Fortnite, fared slightly worse. At 1080p, using Pro settings with Performance Mode enabled, the Wii PC averaged 98fps, but the low was just 16fps, which was only 1%. Ultimately, that’s true for the machine itself – it’s capable of playing most modern games at 1080p, but don’t expect to use ultra-high settings.
Tech By Matt is honest about the successes and challenges of this build, but in my opinion, it’s a complete success. His effort is sympathetic to the original Wii while giving it new life. Best of all, his videos are detailed enough that you’ll have a blueprint to follow if you ever want to try building your own custom Nintendo Wii gaming computer.
Don’t want to try it yourself? You can purchase the Minisforum UM773 Lite (without Wii case) from Amazon for just $399 using this link here. If that doesn’t appeal to you, you can always check out our guide to the best handheld gaming computers to find a more modern, portable gaming rig for your favorite games.