If you were a part of the '90s PC gamer craze, whether as an adult or as a kid (like me), there's a very good chance you'll recognize this new custom PC throwback from Maingear.
The Maingear Retro98 is a limited-edition offering that takes me way back to wooden desks with rolltop covers, CRT monitors, mechanical keyboards, and loud 56K modems. It makes me think of Age of Empires, StarCraft, and Diablo. As Maingear explains, it's a PC "inspired by the rigs that sparked our obsession with gaming." Spot on.
The Retro98, of course, isn't packing a 3DFX accelerator. Starting at $2,499 on the Maingear website, you can get your hands on an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K CPU, NVIDIA RTX 5070 GPU, 32GB of Kingston FURY Beast DDR5-6000 RAM, and a 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. You can configure up to an AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU with an NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPU if you have the need and the funds.
Across the "standard" Retro98 models, the CPU is cooled by Maingear's EPIC 360mm AiO, and it's powered by an MSI G — up to 1250W — PSU. But there's also an "Alpha" overkill model with a Ryzen 9 9950X3D, RTX 5090, and custom Alphacool open GPU/CPU loop with dual radiators. It costs a whopping $9,799, reserving it for '90s nerds who made a lot more money than me.
Inside, you'll find ample space for airflow and expansions (the floppy drive stack is just for show), with the Alpha version sporting ketchup-and-mustard colored cabling and anti-kink coils on the tubing. It's all put together by hand, and I don't expect its build quality to be any different than the Maingear PCs I've personally tested and reviewed.
As with Maingear's previous throwback release, the Retro95, the Retro 98 is available only in a very limited release. The company is only making 32 of the standard units and 5 of the Alpha model, and it doesn't plan to do any reruns.
Whether you want to buy one of the limited PCs or just want to drool over some powerful nostalgia, you can check it out now at Maingear's website.
Maingear's limited-edition Retro98 gaming PC will only have 32 standard units and 5 Alpha units available. Once they're gone, they're really gone.
Does Maingear's Retro98 look familiar? What were your first experiences with PC gaming? Let me know in the comments section!
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