A fan of the post-apocalyptic RPG series Fallout recently shared a new PC he built with an atomic twist: the case was made out of the plastic mini-nuke replica that was included in the Fallout Anthology.
First spotted by PCGamer, The Fallout Collector, an individual known for sharing all things and memorabilia related to the RPG series, told IGN that the build is not incredibly powerful. It uses parts from a small form factor sixth-generation Intel NUC, which has been repurposed for a bomb-shaped rig that sports an i3 CPU and integrated Intel 520 graphics.
As you can see from the picture below, The Fallout Collector modified the insert of the mini-nuke to mount the motherboard. Those that own this collectible know the inside is used to store all the discs included in the Fallout Anthology. The Fallout Collector told us that he did not have any issues fitting parts into the build and that the total cost only setting him back about $200.
Although no formal benchmarks have been conducted, The Fallout Collector managed to get the original isometric games, plus Fallout 3, 4, and New Vegas to run. Fallout 3 and New Vegas had issues running, but the Collector believes the issues can be fixed with some tweaks. Fallout 4 is another story; while playable on the lowest settings, the Collector says that he does not think it breaks 20 frames per second while traversing indoors. He did note that some low-end mods for the game helped circumvent some issues, though.
A single cooling fan is mounted inside the rig, located above the motherboard, which The Fallout Collector tells us is powered by USB. It's not quite enough, though, as he mentions that he needs to add additional vents on the base of the nuke to help with the airflow. When asked if the rig ran hot, the Fallout Collector mentioned that the temperature for the PC was around 50°C for New Vegas, while Skyrim ran a little hotter at 80°C.
Of course, this is not the first time someone thought of the idea. Back in 2015, Linus Tech Tips also modified the plastic replica into a functional PC. Comparing the two PCs together, you can see two radically different approaches to modifying the mini-nuke into a functional PC, but there are some similarities. The most notable one being the sound effect button on the replica being retooled to power up the rig.
While the first build was a success, The Fallout Collector is looking to build a more powerful rig, noting that "for about two years," he's been slowly gathering parts.
Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.