Hardware I want to try and give Nintendo 64 a fair chance at gaming.

Marc_LFD · 2026-08-23T11:30:42+0100

I personally have never been a big fan of the N64, but I've always been very interested in it so I was thinking about buying a Summer Cart 64 and load up games on it?

The N64 console I have is uunfortunately a PAL edition so does that make it worse for gaming as it was 50Hz back then? Are games going to be slower?

I'll try the Mako Pad 64 controller and the Tribute 64 controller, plus with rumble pak so it'll have vibration as it should have.

P.S. To connect it to a modern TV I just ordered a cheap HDMI adapter so I know the picture quality won't be very good, I guess I won't mind it too much as long as the games are fun.

Thanks.

icegod · 2026-08-23T11:45:29+0100

Games will run a bit slower, just under 20% slower. You can load NTSC roms on your summercart, and they should run fine, but they won't run full NTSC speed if I'm not mistaken.

Be sure to set your screen ration to 4:3, if your tv allows it. It will look a bit better if the screen is not stretched. If your tv still has an AV or Scart port, use those instead of a cheap converter. The internal upscaler of your tv is most likely better than a cheap converter.

Edit: Should you really want the full NTSC speed, get a cheap Japanese N64. They are the same as US N64's, and should accept the summercart too. Do keep in mind that NTSC and Pal N64's use a different AV cable

Marc_LFD · 2026-08-23T12:13:35+0100

icegod said:
Games will run a bit slower, just under 20% slower. You can load NTSC roms on your summercart, and they should run fine, but they won't run full NTSC speed if I'm not mistaken.

Be sure to set your screen ration to 4:3, if your tv allows it. It will look a bit better if the screen is not stretched. If your tv still has an AV or Scart port, use those instead of a cheap converter. The internal upscaler of your tv is most likely better than a cheap converter.

Edit: Should you really want the full NTSC speed, get a cheap Japanese N64. They are the same as US N64's, and should accept the summercart too. Do keep in mind that NTSC and Pal N64's use a different AV cable

Bummer, I'll look to buy a USA/JPN or RF modded, thanks.

skawo · 2026-08-23T12:26:28+0100

NTSC games running on a PAL console via a flashcart run at basically full speed. The console outputs the equivalent of PAL60 (like setting a PAL Gamecube to 60Hz mode). As long as your TV supports PAL60, it's fine.

That said, many cheap scalers/adapters do not support PAL60 properly.

icegod · 2026-08-23T12:29:55+0100

Offcourse, if you can spend a bit more, the Analogue 3D or M64 are better options for a modern tv. They also have overclocking options.

I myself got a few crt's, nothing can beat that experience.

lightwo · 2026-08-23T13:15:04+0100

icegod said:
Analogue 3D or M64

If you go that route, I'd recommend MiSTer FPGA over those two, since there's support for many other systems, and it's an open source project requiring no hacks to take advantage of loading any FPGA cores.

Marc_LFD · 2026-08-23T13:50:52+0100

icegod said:
Games will run a bit slower, just under 20% slower. You can load NTSC roms on your summercart, and they should run fine, but they won't run full NTSC speed if I'm not mistaken.

Be sure to set your screen ration to 4:3, if your tv allows it. It will look a bit better if the screen is not stretched. If your tv still has an AV or Scart port, use those instead of a cheap converter. The internal upscaler of your tv is most likely better than a cheap converter.

Edit: Should you really want the full NTSC speed, get a cheap Japanese N64. They are the same as US N64's, and should accept the summercart too. Do keep in mind that NTSC and Pal N64's use a different AV cable

skawo said:
NTSC games running on a PAL console via a flashcart run at basically full speed. The console outputs the equivalent of PAL60 (like setting a PAL Gamecube to 60Hz mode). As long as your TV supports PAL60, it's fine.

That said, many cheap scalers/adapters do not support PAL60 properly.

Huh, so which one is it? It plays slower or the same via a flashcart?

icegod said:
Offcourse, if you can spend a bit more, the Analogue 3D or M64 are better options for a modern tv. They also have overclocking options.

I myself got a few crt's, nothing can beat that experience.

I thought about those, but I'm not sure I'm that into N64. Maybe if my interest grows I'll then get one.

skawo · 2026-08-23T14:05:16+0100

Actual PAL games run 16% slower unless game logic is adjusted for PAL specifically.
NTSC games running on a PAL console run at essentially full speed.

The Real Jdbye · 2026-08-23T14:15:49+0100

skawo said:
NTSC games running on a PAL console via a flashcart run at basically full speed. The console outputs the equivalent of PAL60 (like setting a PAL Gamecube to 60Hz mode). As long as your TV supports PAL60, it's fine.

That said, many cheap scalers/adapters do not support PAL60 properly.

How does that work, since the CPU runs at a lower clock speed on PAL consoles. I don't think there's any ability to change the clock speed without hardware modding?

Hardware I want to try and give Nintendo 64 a fair chance at gaming.

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