PAL PSU Into an NTSC Console (Dreamcast)

Many of the benefits of NTSC consoles can be somewhat negated by the need to use elaborate voltage inverters/step downs. In certain cases, there's a quick & easy way around that

Of the consoles who's PSU is internal, you can normally swap out the PSU if your lucky enough to have a broken/donor console at hand. Below shows whats involved to swap out a Dreamcast PSU as it's quite a commonly imported console.

Not every console is as easy, & some PSU's have different revisions etc so always be sure before you do this, that it's ok to do so.

It should be noted that both these consoles are PAL, I just decided to document this separately, while I'm working on them for something else. The premise is exactly the same on an import console

PAL & NTSC



Here you can see the PSU along the left hand side of both consoles



A closer look, there are two phillips screws holding it down (one is obscured), a two pin block connector towards the back, & a 6 pin connector which provides the power to the motherboard.



Here you can see the two phillips screws undone & ready to come out, also the two pin connector is now unclipped



This is the 6 pin connector. The psu just pushes down onto it, & spring tension holds it in place.



Gently pry upwards with something blunt. Do this when the screws have been removed so you won't flex the PSU



Once undone, the PSU lifts out & there you have it. Swap the donor in & reassemble in reverse



Not all consoles are like this, some have external psu's, some have very different internal ones. But the Dreamcast is one of the ones thats very easy to do, & you don't need the added expense of a stepdown