Design
The CD64 sits underneath the N64 unit, making use of the EXTension port on the bottom of the console. Once connected and plugged in, a game cartridge is taken out of the N64 and one is placed into the slot on the face of the system, just underneath the N64 and just above the CD-ROM drive, to act as a kind of boot disk.
When the unit is turned on, via the N64 power button, a GUI is shown where you can choose to launch the game in the slot, or run the ROM file on the CD in the CD-ROM. The ROM file is loaded into the PC RAM found within the system.
The first version of the unit was solid black, like the N64 itself, and had only 128Mb of RAM. While upgradeable, the RAM was usually glued into place with a hot glue gun. The second version, known as the CD64+ (or 'Plus') was apparently more stable than the first and was transparent grey. This unit came with 256Mb installed, again glued in place, but still capable of being upgraded.
Earlier CD64 models were able to power themselves directly from the N64's expansion bus, but later models require an external power adaptor.
Read more about this topic: CD64 (Nintendo)
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