Retro PC Gaming and Why People Are Building Windows 98 Rigs

A friend of mine recently paid more for a 25-year-old graphics card than for the mid-range GPU in his main gaming PC. The old card was a 3dfx Voodoo 2, the kind of thing that once sat in a cardboard box at a market stall for the price of a meal. He is not alone. Retro PC gaming has turned beige towers, CRT monitors and Sound Blaster cards into hunted collectibles, and a small but busy culture has grown up around building late-1990s machines from scratch.

From the outside it looks like nostalgia with a soldering iron. From the inside, it is something more specific: a desire to play old games exactly as they were, to understand hardware that could still be understood by one person, and to share that with others. Here is what draws people in, what it actually costs, and where I think the hobby gets oversold.

Why Retro PC Gaming Took Off Again

Three things came together. First, the people who were teenagers in 1998 now have disposable income and a spare corner of a room. Second, video platforms made it easy to watch someone build a period-correct machine, which turned a lonely hobby into a shared one. Third, original hardware began disappearing. Every year, more of those old towers end up in landfill, so the survivors gain value and attention.

There is also a quiet reaction to modern PC gaming. Today, a game patches itself, a launcher runs in the background and a driver update arrives every few weeks. A Windows 98 machine does nothing until you tell it to. For some players, that stillness is the point.

What a Typical Windows 98 Build Looks Like

Most builders aim for a machine that runs games from roughly 1996 to 2001. A common recipe looks like this:

That storage row is worth noting. Almost everyone keeps the old look but quietly replaces the hard drive with flash storage, because 25-year-old drives fail without warning.

What It Actually Costs in 2026

The price range is enormous, and it depends on how "correct" you want to be.

• Budget build: a complete office tower from a local listing, with a cheap period graphics card added. Often achievable for well under 150.
• Enthusiast build: chosen motherboard, matched sound and graphics cards, a good CRT. Expect several hundred.
• Collector build: boxed 3dfx cards, rare sound cards, a pristine original case. This can easily pass the cost of a new mid-range gaming PC.

Shipping is the hidden expense. A 19-inch CRT can weigh over 20 kg, and couriers charge accordingly. Many builders buy locally for that reason alone.

The Games That Keep the Machines Busy

Ask a retro builder what their machine is for and you hear the same few titles. Half-Life and Quake II for early 3D shooters. Need for Speed and Tomb Raider builds tuned for 3dfx Glide, which looked noticeably smoother on Voodoo cards than in software mode. Age of Empires II and Starcraft for LAN nights. Deus Ex and System Shock 2 for long single-player weekends.

A smaller group chases games that genuinely struggle on modern systems: titles with copy protection that newer Windows versions refuse to run, or early 3D games written for a single long-dead graphics chip. Those few stubborn cases are where period hardware earns its shelf space.

The Community Side of the Hobby

Retro PC builders have rebuilt some of the culture that faded with dial-up. There are forums where someone will help you identify a jumper setting on a motherboard with no manual. There are swap meets and repair cafes where old capacitors get replaced for free. And there are retro LAN events, where people carry beige towers into a hall to play Quake III or Unreal Tournament over a cable network, which echoes the spirit described in our piece on why LAN parties still matter.

Much of the knowledge is shared freely: driver archives, compatibility lists, guides to recapping a failing motherboard. It overlaps heavily with the people who keep old PC games alive through modding, and many are the same individuals wearing different hats.

You Probably Do Not Need Original Hardware

Here is where I part company with some of the hobby's loudest voices. You will often hear that the only authentic way to play old PC games is on period hardware. For most players, that is not true.

Emulators such as DOSBox and its forks handle the vast majority of DOS games extremely well, including sound card emulation. Many late-90s Windows games run on modern systems with a community patch or a wrapper that translates old graphics calls. Digital stores sell plenty of classics already configured to run. For the price of a single rare card, you could buy dozens of old games and play them on the PC you already own.

Original hardware makes sense if you love the building itself, need exact timing for a few stubborn titles, or care deeply about CRT image quality. It does not make sense as an entry fee for simply enjoying the games.

Practical Tips Before Your First Build

1. Decide on an era first. A DOS machine and a Windows 98 3D machine want different parts.
2. Check the capacitors. Bulging or leaking capacitors on old motherboards are common; budget for repair or a replacement board.
3. Test the power supply separately, or replace it. Old units can fail and take other parts with them.
4. Keep a flash card image of your working install, so a corrupted setup takes ten minutes to restore rather than an evening.
5. Remove the clock battery on boards that use soldered barrel batteries, because leaking acid eats circuit traces.

FAQ

Is retro PC gaming expensive to start?

It does not have to be. Emulation is free, and a used office tower with one added graphics card can run many late-90s games for a modest outlay.

Can I connect an old PC to a modern monitor?

Yes, through VGA if the monitor has it, or with a VGA to HDMI converter. Expect some blur and occasional issues with low resolutions.

Is it safe to put an old PC on the internet?

Not really. Windows 98 has received no security updates for decades. Keep it offline, or only on an isolated local network for LAN play.

Where to Begin

Start by playing a few favourites through emulation for a month. If you still want the real thing afterwards, pick one era, buy a complete local tower, swap in flash storage and add parts one at a time. For more on how players shape PC gaming beyond the specs, read through our culture section.