Skip to main content PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES Search PC Gamer View Profile Movies & TV Gaming Industry PC Gaming Show Newsletter Signup Community Guidelines Affiliate Links Meet the team About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine Subscription Why subscribe? Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£35.99Subscribe now Essential Hardware Dune: Awakening PC Gaming Show Recommended reading A modder has turned an Intel CPU heatspreader into a functional water block with the help of a CNC machine. And a bucket Gaming Laptops Ancient ThinkPad laptops, beloved by a certain kind of hardcore hardware fan, can be resurrected with a bespoke Meteor Lake mainboard, bringing the 2000s machine right up to date This retro sleeper build hides one of the top mini PCs inside and I wish I had the tools and patience to game like it's the '90s Making your own upgraded GameBoy PCB is almost as easy as making a grilled cheese sandwich Sneeze and this incredibly tiny postage-stamp-sized Atari computer recreation is a goner Graphics Cards This tech DIYer swapped their graphics card's cooling for a CPU cooler because why not? Also it actually works You might be surprised to learn that while robots and other machines are vital for making a top-end CPU air cooler, there's still a lot of it that's handmade A DIY mad scientist from Poland built his own CPU out of dozens of ancient memory chips Stevie Bonifield 19 July 2025 This is the DIY project to end all DIY projects. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Majsterkowanie i nie tylko (MINT) via YouTube) You might be reading this on a gaming PC you built yourself, but you probably can't say you built the processor from scratch with your own hands and a soldering iron. One DIY enthusiast did just that in a project that's an impressive look at how computers work, and how far they've come. First reported by Tom's Hardware, Polish computing YouTuber Majsterkowanie i nie tylko (MINT for short) posted a video on his channel earlier this month showing off a working homemade CPU built with retro parts inspired by 8-bit microprocessors from the early days of PCs. MINT even specifically mentions the Zilog Z80, which was one of the most popular processors of the late 1970s and even became an early laptop chip in the 1980s. Jak działają procesory? Zbudowałem własny procesor od podstaw! - YouTube The whole project took 3 months to complete and stemmed from MINT's interest in retro computers. As he explains in the video, which has been translated from Polish with the aid of AI: "It started with collecting a large amount of old memory chips. I started experimenting with them and quickly realized you can make some really cool things out of these seemingly useless really old things." Related Articles A modder has turned an Intel CPU heatspreader into a functional water block with the help of a CNC machine. And a bucket Ancient ThinkPad laptops, beloved by a certain kind of hardcore hardware fan, can be resurrected with a bespoke Meteor Lake mainboard, bringing the 2000s machine right up to date This retro sleeper build hides one of the top mini PCs inside and I wish I had the tools and patience to game like it's the '90s Initially, MINT was just using those outdated memory chips for simple tasks, like controlling a motor or light dimmer. But eventually he figured out that by combining several memory chips, he might be able to make a fully-functioning 8-bit CPU. Over the course of the half-hour long video, MINT lays out the lengthy process that went into accomplishing this. Not only did he build and solder the CPU himself, he even spent "hundreds of hours" writing the code for it. If you're interested in the finer details of how computers work, MINT's video is an interesting deep dive into all the components and how they interact with each other to execute commands. The end result is the "EPROMINT CPU." As a proof of concept, MINT hooked it up to a small VFD display and programmed it to play scenes from The Matrix. They obviously come through pixelated, but it works nonetheless. As MINT put it: "It doesn't require a team of people or a multi-million dollar budget to build, yet it's a fully functional processor, and simple enough I can explain how it works." The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. 2025 games: This year's upcoming releases Best PC games: Our all-time favorites Free PC games: Freebie fest Best FPS games: Finest gunplay Best RPGs: Grand adventures Best co-op games: Better together Stevie Bonifield Contributor Stevie Bonifield is a freelance tech journalist specializing in mobile tech, gaming gear, and accessories. Outside of writing, Stevie loves indie games, TTRPGs, and building way too many custom keyboards. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. A modder has turned an Intel CPU heatspreader into a functional water block with the help of a CNC machine. And a bucket Ancient ThinkPad laptops, beloved by a certain kind of hardcore hardware fan, can be resurrected with a bespoke Meteor Lake mainboard, bringing the 2000s machine right up to date This retro sleeper build hides one of the top mini PCs inside and I wish I had the tools and patience to game like it's the '90s Making your own upgraded GameBoy PCB is almost as easy as making a grilled cheese sandwich Sneeze and this incredibly tiny postage-stamp-sized Atari computer recreation is a goner This tech DIYer swapped their graphics card's cooling for a CPU cooler because why not? Also it actually works Latest in Hardware I've just crowned these Beyerdynamic headphones as the best audiophile closed-back cans, although it's a shame about the lack of microphone Sony WF-C710N review I have no idea what I'd use this gorgeous retro futuristic macropad for, but at $99 I'm thinking of slamming the buy button anyway I am now slightly obsessed with Uncle Bot, a Chinese robot in people clothes that's rapidly becoming a social media sensation Keep this to yourself, but a BIOS with a theoretical 2,001 W power limit exists for this absurdly overbuilt Galax RTX 5090 D Asus ROG Azoth X review Latest in News The Sims 4's rampant pregnancy bug was apparently caused by 'performance optimizations' and has now been fixed Fanatical's latest build your own bundle lets you grab 23 shooters for under $2 apiece Ubisoft confirms it is working on a new Ghost Recon game, and it sure looks like it'll be a live service affair I've been boppin' along to Final Fantasy 14's disco raid theme for months without realizing it's an anthem for existential burnout Remedy promises a 'major update' for FBC: Firebreak but not until late September, which doesn't seem great More than a year after its last update, this forgotten RTS from the makers of Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is being removed from Steam HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've put the best of this new generation head-to-head and we have a winner Best gaming chair in 2025: I've tested a ton of gaming chairs and these are the seats I'd suggest for any PC gamer Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads Sony WF-C710N review Asus ROG Azoth X review The Drifter review Flexispot OC3/BS3 review Shadow Labyrinth review PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. Contact Future's experts Terms and conditions Privacy policy Cookies policy Advertise with us Accessibility Statement Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Please login or signup to comment Please wait...