I wanted a retro PC that could do the full “greatest hits” tour of retro gaming: native DOS, Windows 98, and Windows XP. But without spending silly money, without hunting rare parts for months, and without ending up with something that’s allergic to modern conveniences like SATA.
What I found is right on that knife edge: new enough to absolutely crush late DOS and Win9x games, but old enough to still behave like a proper retro box.
Project Notes
| Status | Completed |
| Goal | Find a low cost PC and turn it into a multi-generation retro gaming machine. |
After some research, I picked up a cheap and old business machine — a Dell Optiplex 380 — for only $60 shipped.
With the right parts and a bit of tinkering, this Core 2 system became a true triple-era machine, effortlessly running native DOS, Windows 98, and Windows XP. Late DOS games screamed along at locked frame rates, Windows 98 titles fly on a period-correct Radeon, and the adventure doesn’t stop there — it even stretches far enough to run Crysis, just for fun.
This project wasn’t about rare hardware or expensive nostalgia. It’s about finding that perfect in-between generation — cheap, overlooked, and quietly capable — and turning it into a retro gaming PC that spans nearly two decades of PC gaming. I’ll call this a success.
You can find the full write up in this post and also in video form below.
Enjoy!
