Who Needs a Fancy New Computer Case When You’ve Got an Old 386 Laying Around?

For a PC gamer, building your own computer is practically a necessity, and the case you use is a matter of self-expression that says a lot about who you are. In this case, Tylinol is a person who loves retro electronics, and he wanted his computer case to reflect that aesthetic. Luckily, he already had an old MMG 386 that he had saved from the dump years ago.

Thanks to standardization and common conventions, you can build a modern PC pretty easily. Everything generally fits together without any modification, and all you usually need to do is order your parts and assemble them. But, not all of those conventions were around in the ’80s and ’90s during the 386’s heyday, so Tylinol had to get creative.

The first step was to get the old case cleaned up. It had been through a flood at one point, so the frame needed some rust removal and painting. Then the modern components were put inside, but there were two major compatibility challenges: the power switch and the CPU speed LCD readout. The original MMG 386 used a flip-style power switch, but modern motherboards want a momentary switch. That was fixed by simply using the reset button as the power switch, and using the power switch to turn on the fan.

The CPU speed LCD was a little bit more interesting—especially because it never actually measured anything on the 386. It just had hardwired numbers that gave the illusion that it did. So, Tylinol converted it into a CPU temperature readout, which was controlled with a Teensy 3.5. The result is a modern computer with all the charm of the beige days of PCs.