You sit at your computer day after day, typing the same monotonous keystrokes in an almost autonomous fashion. However, what if your computer was more than just a tool? With the best steampunk PC builds on the internet, it becomes the embodiment of your ingenuity and a symbol of limitless possibilities.
While Victorian-era workstations live largely within the realm of fantasy, some passionate inventors have brought some to life. From minimalistic inventiveness to complex masterworks, and even designs from artificial intelligence, it’s clear that steampunk PCs are not the future, but the present.
1. An Inspring Minimalistic Build
Dalianos has one of the most impressive steampunk PC builds on the internet, and they created it in such a simple way. Beautiful brass pipes on a wood base make for a clean finish that leaves us dreaming of an industrial-futuristic reality. Would you work through the night using this computer?
2. An Open Air Design
Originally an ornate, leather box, then Leo Dell envisioned a vintage workhorse. This open-air computer features copper heatsinks built right onto the lid. It also embodies inventive creativity that you’d imagine in a gaslight fantasy.
3. A Victorian Workstation
If a mad scientist of the 19th century had a computer, it might look like this. A German artist designed this working PC and masterfully incorporates gear, sprigs, and sprockets into the function. Additionally, it comes with all the bells and whistles you’d expect in a modern computer, including lights and a camera.
4. An Elaborate Creation
Why does Victorian fashion have to live as a dream? You can create a wonderfully imaginative workspace using brass trim, as David did with his home office. He even built a typewriter-style keyboard and matching number pad. Kudos to the mad scientist that brought this idea to life.
5. Is That a Book Shelf?
When you think of steampunk, you immediately go to gears and brass and clockwork. However, This PC creation embodies the surrounding artwork of Victorian design. Its most outstanding feature? That’s definitely the stack of books that one might find within an inventor’s library.
6. This PC Feels Industrial
Almost as if it came straight out of a factory machine, you’d like to see this computer print its processes as it makes them. The creator matches the aesthetic across the workstation with brass trim on their monitor and keyboard. However, my favorite aspect of the design might be the mouse. Is that gauge monitoring clicks?
7. A Steampunk Masterpiece
Aetherman’s steampunk PC build may have more intricacies than any other creation on the internet. Full of levers, pressure hoses, and Edison lights, you could expect all the clanking, banging, and hissing of your retrofuturistic dreams. Now we just need space on the desk to write with our quill.
8. This Retrofuturistic Laptop
Why do we need to limit dystopian inventions to computers? This fantastical laptop includes beautiful, Victorian trim, custom wooden keys, and a cover that inspires adventure. Undeniably, this is the perfect tool for any evil scientist on the go.
9. A Dystopian Monitor
We love seeing steampunk PC builds that incorporate futuristic elements. Alongside the quintessential brass pipes, this workstation also features steel keys with a grated vent. However, let’s hope it provides enough airflow to keep those gauges from knocking.
10. A Mechanical Marvel
If you combined a metal forge with a desktop, it might look exactly like this. Stunning gold water-cooling almost takes the spotlight from the custom brass frame. Additionally, it incorporates the latest in PC technology that results in an incredible, working device.
11. A Cog-Powered Machine
What started as an ornate, wooden box became the clockwork computer that any 19th century inventor would have at their desk. We love that the creator included real antique barometers and trivets, making it feel straight out of history.
12. A Computer that Runs on Tesla Coils
If ever there was a computer that epitomized a mad scientist’s laboratory, it’s this one. It uses vintage glass equipment to facilitate its water-cooling, plus you love to see classic Tesla globes representing power exchange. Even the monitor feels like it came from Fallout 4.
13. This Inventive Aesthetic
Surprisingly, a computer doesn’t have to run on cogs to come from a steampunk fantasy. This custom PC tower includes all the aesthetics that you’d expect in a good retrofuturistic creation. From brass pipes to industrial smokestacks and even a port window, we love the work of the inventor who brought this idea to life.
14. A Brass Innovation
Why stop at steampunk PC builds when you could make an entire desk? An homage to a grandiose cathedral organ, this workstation features pipes ever-rising to the heavens. Praise to the means of production.
15. The Industrial Inner-Workings
Any great gaslight fantasy demonstrates the fantastical creations of an alternative reality, but how do they work? This masterwork PC takes its build to the next level, using the tiniest cogs like clockwork to inspire any retro-dystopian.
16. Victorian Meets the Future with This Build
It’s one thing to represent vintage technology doing modern tasks. It’s another to show those same methods working cohesively with future tech. I imagine a sleek robot integrated with steamwork infrastructure. This is definitely hardcore.
17. If AI Could Build a Steampunk PC
The idea of a Victorian future inspires a rich and creative subculture. In this age of artificial intelligence, we unlock tools to bring our wildest imaginations to life. While these computers aren’t real devices, they demonstrate down to the minutest detail what they could look like.
18. The Computer of an Alternative Reality
One of the coolest AI steampunk PC builds showcases what some could imagine as an industrial-futuristic laboratory. Large windows, whimsical springs and gears, and gauges measuring every facet of the machine come together in an otherworldly computer.
19. A Tool of Pure Genius
As a legacy of Edison’s brilliance, this AI-generated machine uses the archetypal lightbulb as a central theme. Recognizing the potential in the user’s intentions, gears and cogs prepare for unprecedented creativity and production.
20. This PC Is a Mechanical Treasure
AI takes steampunk PC design in a novel direction, undeniably representing the imposing nature of Victorian-era machines. To properly use this computer, the user may have to understand the various levers and buttons spread across the bulky tower. All that work sends information to a surprisingly small monitor.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Nejron Photo/Shutterstock.com.