I hit the power button and held my breath. Fans spun up, and that's when I finally exhaled. The screen flickered to life showing what looked like a Win98 desktop—except it was actually Windows 10 running underneath. That whole moment, right there, sums up the whole project: a completely modern PC tucked inside a self-designed, late-1970s-style retro horizontal case, paired with a homemade CRT-look display that actually sells the illusion.
Why Not Another RGB Showcase
A few years back, when those glass-box "aquarium" cases started taking over—RGB strips everywhere, beveled edges, hexagonal panels, all that aluminum extrusion stacked on top of each other—I knew pretty quick they weren't for me.
What I actually wanted was almost the complete opposite: something ordinary, horizontal, desktop-style. A case that doesn't scream for attention. Nothing like that existed on the market, so I just designed one myself and built it in a late-1970s style—beige, boxy, vented, with a badge up front. It looks like something someone pulled off a desk in 1979, right down to the rubber duck sitting on the monitor.
Fitting Modern Hardware Into a 1970s Shell
Retro looks, current-gen guts underneath. The case fits a Micro-ATX motherboard, a tower air cooler up to 16cm, graphics cards up to 32cm, and a standard ATX power supply. Pretty straightforward so far.
The front panel's got two 5.25-inch optical drive bays and a basic 3.5-inch mechanical hard drive bay. Seven fan positions total—six intake, one exhaust. The real catch: if your GPU runs longer than 28cm, you're giving up a fan spot. Mine is exactly that, and even with just two intake fans running, gaming at a 29°C room temp, the graphics card never went above 80°C. Honest note though: I didn't rigorously test the cooling layout. Mostly worked from existing reference designs instead of hard numbers.
There's no front USB or audio panel either, but a 5.25-inch bay-to-audio adapter fixes that, and it happens to match the common black drive faceplates people use now. Everything else—keyboard, mouse, cables—routes out the back, keeping the front completely clean. Makes the whole thing feel even more like late-space-age gear from the 1970s or early '80s. One thing I might change: I'm thinking of deepening the case slightly next time around, just to give the power and GPU cables more breathing room.
The Big-Butt Monitor and the Hard Parts
The monitor is basically its own whole project—a "big-butt" CRT replica I designed, built around a 2K IPS panel with a curved, convex lens screen. Pair it with a CRT simulator and the effect actually works. Windows 10 renders like it's 1998, terminal sessions and all. There's also extra space behind the screen to tuck in a mini PC; could even hold a small NAS if you wanted.
Manufacturing-wise, results were mixed. The SLA 3D-printed resin parts held up fine—three months of daily use, zero issues. The sheet metal and paint job though? That's harder to say politely. Some factories promised samples and just phoned it in. Next time I'll need to find a workshop that actually cares about the work.
Editor's Notes & Summary
Three months in and this thing runs every single day: a modern Micro-ATX build that looks like a microcomputer from 1979, with a few tweaks still in the works—deeper case, better sheet-metal partner, that kind of thing. If you're burnt out on glass cases and RGB lighting, there's actually another way forward: build something that looks like forty years never happened.
10 comments
This case looks great — that SilverStone 01 was way too sloppy.
The retro treatment is so thorough they even added the blur.
Can this run Linux?
This is really a protest against how expensive computer hardware has become.
Are you buying a 5.25-inch full-height floppy drive?
What a gorgeous shell.
All it’s missing is a piece of eye-protection glass.
Of course it can — it’s just a case; the hardware inside is whatever you choose.
It really captures the classical beauty of the last century.
While the parts are still available, might as well fit both the A and B floppy drives.