SNK Neo Geo CD: Full Recap, PSU, SD Loader & F-RAM Save Mod

Back in 2021 I accidentally stumbled on a cheap Neo Geo CD, having only played Neo Geo on an emulator, I decided to take a plunge, thinking this would likely be my only avenue to real hardware (time would prove me wrong). Naturally I had to recap it and PSU. #retrogaming #neogeo

I started with the AV/Power board. This console has a lot of wires, so I have a lot of pictures of it in my archive, it felt a bit intimidating at the time and I didn't want to screw anything up.

Next, I recapped the optical drive PCB, which would later see a NEO SD Loader take the load off of it. Though it did run a few burned games for a while before that. Fortunately, I got a good working drive.

Afterwards, I recapped the mainboard, no fuss. Further into the future it would get a modification though. For some reason, I started to get issues with being able to keep saves, even after replacing the battery, so I ended up doing an F-RAM mod, my very first one I believe.

To finish everything off, I recapped the original PSU, though I did have an aftermarket one for use in European mains. Naturally, I gave it a quick test with Metal Slug which is one of my favourite games for the system.

@furrtek's Neo Geo CD SD loader kicking ass! Thanks for designing this and thank you to @PhenomMod for making the kit. This makes the console even more awesome to me. #retrogames #NEOGEO #console

Neo Geo CD F-RAM upgrade worked a treat. Thanks @Lain32_ for sharing this info. Mine wasn't keeping the battery charged even with a new one. This fixed the issue and actually improved functionality. Great tip! 👍#RETROGAMING #SNK #NeoGeo