Time Warp Back to the 1990s With Maingear’s Retro98 PC


All the ’90s are back — from Walkmans and postgrunge rock cassettes. Gaming PC maker Maingear is riding the trend, selling a 1990s-inspired PC, the Retro98. The company says that it even has a working Turbo button, although instead of changing the frequency of the CPU, it increases the cooling to the highest settings.

The turbo button was a popular addition to 1980s and 1990s computers that toggled their speed, allowing them to run older, slower games.

Despite its retro exterior, the new PC boasts cutting-edge specs, including Nvidia GeForce RTX 50×0 graphics cards, 1TB or 2TB NvMe SSD drives and Windows 11. The catch is that the company is only making 32 units starting at $2,499.

The company makes four different models, with the model number indicating the Nvidia graphics card:

  • $2,499 Retro98 5070 (Intel Core Ultra 7 265K)
  • $3,499 Retro98 5080 (AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D)
  • $4,999 Retro98 5090 (AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D)
  • $9,799 Retro98α (AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D)

It could be argued that the overclock-adjacent Turbo button and the frankly awful beige color is what inspired the first wave of overclockers and modders. I’m one of those people who can’t understand why PCs aren’t available in other colors.


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Although limited quantities seem to make these machines sell out quickly, on Friday, when I contacted Maingear, a spokesperson said they were still available.

Note that if you want to make one of these for yourself, then the beige-tastic Silverstone FLP02 case is available separately for $299.

Despite threats from handhelds and gaming laptopsdesktop gaming is still alive and well. Last month, I even made my son a gaming desktop using a very good one Cooler Master Qube 500. With its green, pink and orange color scheme, that system is anything but BUT beige.





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