Modern gaming PC cases have come a long way since the days of old. They're often full of lights, specifically designed for lots of fans and airflow, and are often looking pretty sleek. But they're not for everyone. Some crave the nostalgia of a simpler time with an aesthetic to match, and that's where this Commodore 64x modern PC Kickstarter by My Retro Computer fits in.
The Commodore 64x comes in a few variations, with the cheapest being a barebones offering going for an early bird price of $135 USD. Featuring just the case and keyboard portion of the Commodore 64x, this is the choice for those content to source parts for and build their own little retro PC.
Due to the shape and size of this C64 mimic, you'll need to stick to smaller boards like a mini-ITX or Raspberry Pi. It may also work well with Framework's modular laptop parts which has already proven itself in some fun DIY projects. They're expected to retail for a standard price of $169 after the Kickstarter.
For those wanting a complete build they don't have to mess with, there are two on offer in the Kickstarter. The Extreme is the cheaper of the options setting the early birds back $456 USD. It's a pretty modest machine with only a 4 core Intel Celeron J6412 and 4GB of DDR4 RAM.
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This puts the machine pretty squarely out of what most PC gamers are looking for, but as a nostalgia piece it would absolutely do the job. It's going to retail for $569 as standard, so it's clearly not the specs you're paying for here.
That theme continues with the Ultimate model. This is going for the early bird price of $1,099 and packs a Core i5 paired with an Nvidia GTX 1650 GPU. Plus this one has been upgraded to 8GB of DDR4 RAM over the 4GB of the Extreme model.
Similar gaming laptops can be found for far less, and if you've got the know-how it's likely you could build a much better machine to fit the barebones offering instead. Especially given when it hits retail it's set to sell for $1,425 USD. Still, for the collectors among us I guess it's an option.
An actual working Commodore 65 prototype was auctioned for thousands more so relatively speaking, maybe this is a bargain. Though in reality, no, it's not.
The case itself looks dope, though, and is the same across all the models. You can get it in a variety of colours including translucent RGB ones for that mix of retro and 2022 vibes. The keys are Cherry MX switches, and it has other options like an integrated docking station and nostalgic monitor.
We'd just be a little wary of those prebuilt models. If you're after a great prebuilt gaming PC, maybe check out some of our favourites.
