Hoto screwdrivers have become a key component in the Tom's Hardware staff toolkit in recent years, and this particular model has been one of my favorites. I've used it for DIY projects during my house reno, but it's also been useful for PC repairs and other odd jobs. The battery life means I've only had to charge it a couple of times in nearly a year of heavy usage. If that sounds good to you, you'll want to grab the 40% discount on this 25-bit Hoto electric screwdriver kit, now priced at just $29.98 for a limited time only.
This kit is an upgraded version of the model I own; it's the same driver, but with extra bits and a better case, so it's a little bit more robust for users. The 40% discount brings it back to a price that we've seen a few times in recent months, but the kit does spike up and down, so you'll want to grab it while it's on offer.
25-piece Electronic Screwdriver Set: was $49.99 now $29.98 This Hoto magnetic electronic screwdriver is powered by a 1,500 mAh battery, allowing you to drive over 1,000 screws on a single USB-C charge. It weighs 250g, features three different torque settings, and includes 25 ultra-hard screw bits, rated for 60HRC hardness on the Rockwell scale.View Deal
You're getting the familiar 3.6V electric driver here, with a 1,500 mAh battery that Hoto claims allows you to drive over 1,000 screws without the need to charge it. That does match my own experience, as I've only needed to charge it a couple of times since I picked it up late last year. I use it extensively, pretty much every weekend, too. To charge it, you'll need to use the supplied USB-C cable, and it takes about two and a half hours to fully charge.
This is a fully adjustable driver, so it can handle a few different scenarios, with three different torque settings to choose from. It has an LED light at the top to help you see when you're driving in dark spaces like PC cases, and it'll stop immediately as soon as you release the button. It's magnetic, so keeping hold of tiny screws won't be a problem here.
You get an upgraded storage case with this Hoto model, which helps to both protect the driver and keep your bits organized, and it's a nice upgrade over the circular casing I received with the earlier NEX O1 Pro kit. You're getting 24 different screw bits here, along with an extended PH2 bit, giving you access to Phillips, Torx, flat, hexagon, and Pozidriv head bits, which are all rated for 60HRC on the Rockwell scale.
The $29.98 sale price on this 25-piece Hoto electric screwdriver set makes this a must-buy for hobbyists. If you need a starter set for a PC building kit, or just want a few handy tools for DIY-ing around the home, then this Hoto kit is a good place to start. It's versatile, lightweight, and a good option for when you just need a bit of extra power compared to manual driving.
A New York-based computer repair and custom gaming PC retail store is the latest victim of an alleged Amazon delivery scam. Sharing their experience in a Reddit post, one of the co-owners of PC Plug wrote that they ordered an AMD Ryzen 5 9600X a few days ago but received only the box, with the CPU missing. After immediately requesting a refund, they went on to purchase another CPU with next-day delivery. However, they once again received only the retail box, with no CPU inside.
The post also mentions that they record every product unboxing and maintain proper documentation specifically for such cases. Instead of ordering directly from Amazon or the manufacturer, one of the inventory managers accidentally purchased the CPU from “The Tech Group,” a third-party seller with decent ratings whose orders were fulfilled by Amazon. However, they claim those ratings could be fake.
The co-owner told Tom's Hardware that they order 90% of their hardware inventory through Amazon, which amounts to roughly $10,000 a month. “This is the first time we’ve received a product with no hardware in it, and it happened twice in the matter of three days.” They also shared that this may have happened around 10 times over the last five years, with packages arriving damaged or missing a few components.
They also claim to have security camera footage showing both Amazon packages being opened and found to contain only the CPU boxes. While they are not familiar with The Tech Group, they did notice a Reddit user claiming to have previously purchased from the seller without any issues. The store usually orders directly from Amazon or manufacturers on the platform, but the two Ryzen 5 9600X from the seller “slipped through the cracks.” Despite having a good track record with Amazon, the co-owner is now concerned that the attention surrounding the incident could potentially put their Amazon account at risk, as much of the business relies on Amazon Business Prime to purchase hardware inventory.
Such scams are quite common on Amazon, where buyers sometimes receive completely different, or in this case, no product at all. In a recent case, a Reddit user ordered a lightly used Ryzen 9 9900X3D from Amazon Warehouse but discovered that the box contained a much older Ryzen 9 3900X, a 2019 AM4 processor worth substantially less than the 2025 flagship originally ordered.
It is highly recommended to always purchase from reputable sellers and verify the seller’s ratings and reviews before placing an order, especially if you are planning to buy expensive computer hardware. Make sure you also record the unboxing, as video evidence can be useful if the package arrives damaged, tampered with, or missing an item.
In these days of expensive SSDs, high RAM prices, and gaming GPU stagnation, it’s not often that even we find a good reason to build a PC. So when Asus reached out asking if we’d be interested in building a system based around its extensive Edition 20 anniversary lineup, I instinctively said yes. Having seen most of the components at Computex 2026 earlier this summer, I knew I was going to be dealing with premium, high-end parts that would make for a striking, powerful PC.
What I didn’t expect was to receive five large packages, weighing over 150 pounds, and for the motherboard and cooler to come in their own ROG suitcase (yes, that’s a thing), or for the 3,000W PSU to sell for $899 all on its own. This was clearly going to be a unique PC building experience, but it’s certainly not for everyone. In fact, considering the high price of pretty much all of the parts here, this is a build for the select few. But that doesn’t mean the build process wasn’t interesting.
Let's just get this out of the way early on, though: Building any gaming PC right now is expensive. Building one with an RTX 5090 is prohibitively pricey. Building one with these specific parts will set you back roughly $15,000, including the matching peripherals and OLED monitor with a translucent back panel. Think of this as the PC build for Saudi princes, the Elon Musks of the world, or for those of you who, unlike me, were smart enough to use your GPU for Bitcoin mining starting sometime in 2010, and cashed out when the cryptocurrency was trading high.
So yes, this might just be about the most expensive PC you could build today – at least with consumer-focused parts and not maxing out the RAM and storage. But many of us are likely finding ways to deal with the PC hardware we have right now; let’s take a look at what piecing together a new build is like if money is no object and you want the cohesive design that comes from sourcing all (or at least most) of your components from one company.
We’ll go step-by-step through the rather unique build process of this Asus ROG Edition 20 build shortly. But first, here’s a look at the parts, their prices, and, in some cases, how much the components weigh. Because, gold accents or not, there’s a whole lot of heavy metal involved in this build.
Many of the components here are based on existing parts, with some new aesthetic accents and features, but the ROG G20 is a new open-frame chassis that supports large EATX motherboards and can be converted to stand vertically, horizontally as a testbed, and even diagonally for a striking leaning-back look.
It has a crossflow fan that mounts on the bottom to blow cool air onto the GPU, RGB light strips around the edges, and four fast USB ports (two 5Gbps Type-A and two 20 Gbps Type-C) that can be mounted near the bottom (default) or up top. It’s extremely solidly built, mostly from aluminum, and weighs 20.5 pounds. But some of the cosmetic covers, particularly around the edges, are plastic and magnetically attached. They have a tendency to move and become misaligned easily. In fact, one was stuck to a steel part, several inches from where it belonged when I first took the case out of the box.
It sells for between $650 and $730. If that sounds like a lot for a case, it is. But if you’re feeling sticker shock already, buckle up because we’re just getting started.
Asus offers a fewiterations of its Crosshair X870E E-ATX flagship board. This Crosshair X870E Edition 20 variant, apart from the gold accents of the Edition 20 lineup, supports up to nine M.2 SSDs (five on the board and four via two included add-in cards), and has more USB-C ports than any board I’ve seen outside of a trade show (six, plus two 20 Gbps front-panel connectors).
It also has large copper VRM heatsinks designed to specifically thermally mesh with the bundled Ryugin 260 Edition 20 AIO cooler. The cooler has a massive curved 6.7-inch AMOLED screen (actually two of the curved screens we’ve seen on some other AIOs, stacked on top of one another). The cooler also features a massive copper heatsink bigger than my hand. It’s arguably overkill for anything AMD has put out on AM5 to date. But of course, high-end motherboards and coolers are all about overkill. And when you’re paying $3,299.99 for a motherboard and cooler combo, some level of overkill should probably be expected.
Asus ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 Edition 20 graphics card
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How do you top the record-setting ROG Astral 5090? If you’re Asus’ design team, you add a second back-connector power option so it can pull up to 800 watts, a glass backplate, and a curved OLED screen all its own. Unfortunately, since the Crosshair Edition 20 motherboard isn’t a BTF model, we can’t test the card’s performance with extra power here.
The GPU’s curved screen also requires you to run a USB cable from the back of the GPU to the motherboard for power and data, which feels a little lame given the sky-high $5,999 asking price.
Most RTX 5090 builds don’t need anywhere near this much juice, but the dual-voltage ROG Thor Titanium III 3000W Edition 20 is a PSU monster designed to deliver up to 3000W of power, specifically for the above Astral 5090 Edition 20 GPU (or, I guess, any other PC with extreme power needs). At 190 x 150 x 86 mm, it’s large, but not massive, given its power rating. It’s fully modular (naturally, for this class). And it sports its own magnetic OLED display, which can be mounted on either side, or extended via a cable to somewhere more visible in your case.
At $899, this PSU is an option you can easily skip if you aren’t looking to push the most power possible through Asus’ singular Edition 20 RTX 5090. Without a 230V power outlet, you’re going to be limited to 1600W from the Thor, anyway. You can get a good 1300W ATX 3.1 power supply for less than half this price, which would be more than enough to run an RTX 5090 system. But then, of course, you would have one less screen.
You can grab the above components separately or, if you want to save about $80, you could buy the board, cooler, case, GPU, and PSU together in a bundle from Best Buy for the small sum of $10,849.
We covered the Azoth Extreme 75% Edition 20 pretty extensively ahead of Computex. It’s a reimagining of the carbon fiber-adorned ROG Azoth Extreme we looked at in 2024, with a mix of transparent and partially transparent keycaps. It’s $100 more expensive than the launch price of the previous Azoth, pegging this keyboard at $599. There’s also a gold metal jog wheel, gold accents along the back, magnetic gold feet (in two sizes), and even gold screws holding the whole thing together. And, naturally, the RGB backlighting under the switches defaults to a gold color out of the box.
We also checked out the ROG Harpe II Extreme Edition 20 mouse ahead of Computex earlier this year. It packs a 65K sensor, a gold scroll wheel and side buttons, and a transparent chassis with RGB that illuminates the ROG 20th Anniversary logo. There isn’t much to complain about in terms of specs, although many will balk at the $259 price. Having used it extensively for a couple of weeks, it feels and performs well. My main concern is what the transparent plastic will look like after years of regular gaming.
Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27AQWP-W Edition 20 gaming monitor
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We tested the non-Edition 20 version of this OLED earlier this year and gave it a perfect score. It can do 540 Hz refresh at its native 2560 x 1440 resolution, or a wild 720 Hz at 720p. It was also bright and color accurate. The Edition 20 variant looks to have generally the same specs, and costs about $100 more for the addition of some gold plating, stealth-black futuristic looks, and an undoubtedly striking transparent rear chassis panel that matches the look of the above Harpe II Extreme Edition 20 mouse.
Its tandem OLED panel is rated to 1,500 nits of peak brightness, and a button below the screen lets you easily switch between the panel’s 540 Hz and 720 Hz modes. It’s a nice gaming screen, to be sure, and Asus hasn’t tacked on as much Edition 20 tax here as elsewhere, but high-refresh panels tend to kick out a lot of heat, and I have to wonder how soon the pretty back panel will start to change from clear to yellow, or just cloudy.
Along with the above parts, we were also sent a speedy Fury Renegade PCIe 5 SSD from Kingston, as well as 32GB of DDR5 for testing the system. We added our own 9950X CPU.
I was hoping to get my hands on some of the Asus-branded RAM we also saw at Computex, but I was told by a rep that the Asus RAM is solely destined for the Chinese market. Perhaps it’s made by CXMT.
Building an Asus ROG Edition 20 PC: The good, the bad, and the AMOLED
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Asus offers up a 17-step system build guide for putting together a PC with its Edition 20 parts, complete with a nearly 19-minute YouTube video, which it points buyers to via a QR code stuck on the upper-right corner of the motherboard.
For the most part, the two key things I needed for installation were lots of space (the build process alternated between my workbench and my coffee table) and my trusty Hoto screwdriver. But as we’ll see later on, there was one instance where I needed a long screwdriver to get screws into some recessed holes inside the case.
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I haven’t followed instructions much when building a PC for decades now, but I did here, in part because I was pretty pressed for time, but also because some of these components, like the case, motherboard, and cooler, have pretty specific features and assembly steps. And I also didn’t want to be sorting through five or more different manuals every time I ran into a roadblock.
To Asus’ credit, the video is pretty thorough and clear. Only a couple of times (as I’ll detail below) did I have to jump back several seconds to catch something I missed or, on one occasion, something Asus missed in its assembly guide.
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Starting with the motherboard, you’ll first need to remove several covers, the two largest of which (on the right in the image above) are magnetically attached, and basically there in case you want to display the board as “art” on its own at some point. The large windowed frame over the socket and RAM area, and the layered section covering the PCIe slots can’t be in place if you’re actually using the board – at least presuming you are using this board with a GPU or anything else in the slots.
There are also two M.2 heatsinks covering the five drive slots native to the board. Both have latches and come away easily.
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The primary heatsink is quite large, with a gold-metal base and heatpipe that is visible from the top, around the black aluminum of the rest of the sink. There are thermal pads on the top and bottom of all the drive areas, and Asus includes small rubber stoppers for single-sided drives, which go in between the bottom heatinks, to prevent PCB flexing. I naturally checked after installing the sink to make sure the thermal pad made contact with the Kingston drive. Like we saw in previous motherboard testing of a few other Asus boards, the pad definitely makes contact with the SSD, but the compression looks a little light. Still, as long as the drive is connected to the pad, the cooler should be able to do its job. I’m only installing one M.2 drive, so next were the fairly typical steps of installing the CPU and RAM.
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Note that I initially installed a Ryzen 5 7600X here, because it’s the chip I had on hand while taking photos. But I eventually grabbed a Ryzen 9 9950X from the office to install in the system, as it’s a much more appropriate CPU for this otherwise top-end build.
Asus’ guide actually doesn’t tell you to install the RAM until much later, but I installed it after the CPU, because PC building muscle memory told me it was the right time to do it. I didn’t run into any issues, so you could install the RAM here or later on. Just, of course, make sure you put the RAM into the correct slots if, like me, you’re only installing two sticks.
Case, cooler, and power supply
With the SSD, RAM, and CPU in place, I snapped the plate cooler back on, and it was time to start dealing with the GR20 chassis. This is when I really started to realize just how heavy most of these parts are, although I did have to haul all the boxes up two flights of stairs a few days before this. The case weighs just over 20 pounds on its own, and when you start adding the board (10.8 pounds) and the GPU (7.4 pounds), the system gets very heavy, very fast.
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You have to lay the case down in order to install the motherboard, which, since the case is an open frame, I needed to remove some parts from the rear first. A large cable cover pops off with a switch, then I needed to remove a few screws to take off the PSU and radiator brackets. With those parts off, I could put the case on its side (with the base hanging off the edge of my coffee table). I moved the case to the table because it’s lower and therefore a lot easier to install the motherboard.
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Once aligned to the standoffs, the motherboard drops onto the case (rather dramatically, thanks to its weight) and it’s time to screw it down.
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I often skip a few motherboard screws when building PCs. But with the weight of this board and the expensive, heavy GPU that was going to hang off of it, I made sure to install and carefully tighten all nine screws here. Asus’ guide also points out the importance of this, but I didn’t need the warning. In all, motherboard installation was pretty simple, in part because the case is open, so I wasn’t reaching inside a big box to install several screws.
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Next, it’s time to stand the case back up and break out the AIO. The cooling block is so heavy with copper that the process feels substantial in a way that most AIO installations don’t. Of course, the sheer cost of the board and cooler probably has something to do with that feeling as well. At least Asus includes the nicest cooling accessory box I’ve ever seen. It has the ROG 20 logo on the top, so you can always remember this very expensive important moment.
First, you need to attach the radiator bracket to the radiator, and Asus’ guide nicely points out that you need to do so with the mounting tabs facing left. This saved me from doing it wrong and having to fix it later. Then, I mounted the bracket and the radiator to the back of the case via four slide-in tabs and two screws, put the case back down on its side, and took the protective plastic covering off the very large and heavy water block.
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There are a few things to note there. First, there’s Asus’ ROG branding in its paste application. I am not sure this quite qualifies as one of our preferred methods of how to install thermal paste, but it is at least fairly evenly arranged. The blue strips are pre-installed thermal pads that help ensure good thermal transfer from the VRM sinks on the board.
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Also note the pogo pins at the bottom of this photo. That is the power and data connection that, corresponding to pads on the board, means you don’t have to plug in any cables for the pump or the screen (the latter of which comes in a separate box and will go on later).
Next, you need to remove the motherboard’s mounting brackets, and the cooler’s pre-installed posts will drop right into the screw holes (carefully, mind you; this thing is hefty). You then need to install four regular screws to install the cooler, and three more proprietary screws around two of the sides to make sure the VRM cooling mates well with the large copper of the cooling plate.
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This is, by far, the most secure connection I’ve seen on a consumer cooler. But with all the metal and money involved, that’s a good thing.
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Next, surprisingly, the guide told me I needed to disassemble the upper-right corner of the case, so I stood the system back up. This step is a little involved, as you need to remove a couple of plastic covers that hide access to four screws that need to be removed. Then you need to unplug an RGB cable for the lights embedded in the frame. This lets you pass the AIO tubes through from the back, where the radiator is, to the front motherboard area. Later on, you can tuck the tubes nicely into the space above the motherboard, so they’re a little less visible, although the space does feel a bit cramped.
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A note on these corners, as it’s one area where the design doesn’t feel or look as premium as I would like (especially given the price). There are pretty large plastic screw cap covers, which magnetically attach just by snapping onto the corner screws. They’re designed to blend into the design of the aluminum frame.
But since these covers are only held on by a small magnet, they have a tendency to move around, and often don’t line up correctly on their own. In fact, when I first took the GR20 case out of its box, one of these covers was stuck to another part of the case, several inches from where it belonged. It’s not entirely clear if this happened during shipping or just in the act of removing the case from its carton.
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But I often found myself having to nudge them back in place, in part because their corner placement puts them exactly where you instinctively want to grab the case/system to slide it around. And speaking of sliding: the bottom of the chassis has small rubber feet that had a tendency to come off during the build process. They pop into holes in the metal, so reinstalling them wasn’t a problem. But they feel like a bit of an afterthought. Again, given the cost, I would like to see far more substantial rubber feet that don’t easily come off. Because the case and system weigh so much, if the feet come off it’s pretty easy to accidentally gouge your desk or table during the build process as you’re moving things around.
These are both fairly minor quality complaints, but given this is the most expensive system I’ve assembled or tested, at least since the days of quad-SLI, it doesn’t feel great to see parts that clearly cost pennies marring what is otherwise a premium system experience.
Swinging the system around on the bench – which I learned to do by walking it on its corners due to the rubber feet and the system’s heft – it’s time to install the power supply and radiator fans. First, the Thor PSU screws into the cage that was previously removed with four screws on the power plug end of the supply.
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Then the cage and PSU slot back into tabs on the side of the case and attach via a screw. Don’t forget, as I did here, to move the PSU screen to the side of the PSU facing out. Otherwise, you’ll need to remove the PSU or radiator cage again later. Because the opposite side of the PSU and the radiator cage sit close enough together that you can’t remove the screen after installation.
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With the PSU in place, it’s time to install the radiator fans. This is made quite easy by the fact that the three spinners come as a single fused unit and, if you follow along via the installation video, Asus points out that the Asus logos on the fan hubs should be facing out.
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Screw them in via the long screws in the pretty cooling accessory box, and connect them via the single proprietary cable and right-angle connector that extends a few inches out from the top of the radiator.
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If the plug doesn’t insert easily, turn it around so it angles out. I spent a half minute or so attempting to plug the cable in backward before I figured this out.
Now it’s time to install all the modular PSU cables, and the video guide here just kind of vaguely tells you to thread them all from the hole near the top of the PSU side to the bottom. I did this, somewhat against my better judgement, knowing full well that the supplemental PSU cables were going to need to plug in up top, and I had to fish them out and re-thread them to the top later.
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I was a bit confused at first at these plastic, somewhat chintzy-looking gold ROG blocks stacked above most of the plugs. Turns out, they’re pre-installed cable combs, and spacing them out along the cables can make things look a lot better. Don’t waste them near the PSU side of your cable runs, though, because now it’s time to reinstall the cable shroud that covers up this mess.
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With the PSU, radiator and fans, and cable cover installed, this is one of the cleanest-looking ‘backsides’ of a system I’ve seen in a while. Considering this is also an open-frame case, that’s pretty impressive. Again, as long as you don’t think about price.
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Walking the system back around on my bench, it was time to remove the cable shroud here as well. There’s a single screw on the bottom, and then you need to push the shroud up to release its top tabs. This was surprisingly difficult, and I was worried about pushing too hard, because this is one of the other pieces of the case that’s plastic. But it eventually popped off.
At this point, it’s a good time to remove a couple of screws and move the front panel ports up to the top section if you want. Since I can’t imagine anyone putting this system on the floor, I left it in its default orientation, with the ports near the bottom.
Now it’s time to connect all (or nearly all) of the PSU and other cables. This is fairly straightforward if you’ve built a PC more than a couple times before. The one snag that I ran into was that the video didn’t make it very clear where to plug in the fused front-panel connector, and where I thought it should go, in the lower-right corner of the motherboard, looked to be in the way of putting the plastic cable shroud back on.
I eventually downloaded the manual, saw that I was right, and just had to be extra careful when reinstalling the shroud, running the bottom connection over it rather than down past where the connector lives. The black-and-gold cables look pretty nice, with their cable combs positioned. But most will be hidden when you reinstall the cable shroud on the right side.
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Blower fan and GPU
It’s almost time to install the GPU, but first we need to feed it some active airflow. The GR20 ships with a blower fan, again in its own box, that slots into a large horizontal hole near the bottom. Installation is pretty straightforward. You stick the fan in the hole on the bottom of the case, and insert two screws on each side.
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There are also thumb screws that you can loosen to move the fan forward and back a bit, but mostly the fan is just going to blow up across the bottom of the board and onto the ROG Astral 5090 – once it’s installed. First, though, you need to plug in the blower fan, which you can do on any number of fan headers around the board. But since the cable is long enough, I ran it behind the motherboard area and up to the CPU fan header.
Another wrinkle before we get to the GPU: You also have to install brackets for the motherboard’s port area and the GPU port area. The former feels like a decoration. Since the board is secured by several screws, it’s effectively a decorative frame for connectivity. But the GPU port bracket supports half of the very heavy GPU.
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These aluminum brackets poke into small holes on the frame of the case, and this is the one area where I feel like the video installation guide seriously misses the mark. It tells you to attach these brackets from the back with a screwdriver, but it doesn’t say which screws to use, or even show screws being inserted. And because the screw holes are recessed, they are very hard to see, and were deep enough that I had to break out the long screwdriver that I usually use for installing large air coolers.
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Once I did that and used the same screws from the bag in the previous step (installing the blower fan), getting both of the brackets installed was fairly easy again, easy after I wasted 5-10 minutes figuring out what I was supposed to do here. Again, since the GPU bracket is going to support the port side of your GPU, make sure that the bracket's two screws are tightly torqued.
On the opposite edge of the case (shown on the right side of the image above), you’ll also need to attach a GPU support bracket. This one you’ll want to leave somewhat loose at first, since you’ll have to adjust it once the GPU is installed.
And now, finally, it’s time to install the ROG Astral RTX 5090 Edition 20 GPU. You’ll probably want to (again, gently) lay the system down for this. It, as should be obvious, goes into the x16 slot just below the topmost M.2 heatsink. But because the sink is large and the GPU itself is very large, getting it slotted in requires some extra finesse.
But once the card is fully seated in its slot, you secure it first with the typical bracket screws on the port end, and then with three additional screws on the GPU support bracket side, with holes that you’ll need to adjust so they line up with the holes on the card. If you happen to be using a different card, hopefully this bracket adjusts enough so that it can be placed under the card to support it. Once it’s in place where you need it and the card is secured from both sides, you’ll want to tighten the screw that holds the bracket at the back, so it securely supports your graphics card.
Now, of course, you can attach the 12-pin power connector that was previously threaded out the bottom center of the case into the graphics card. As always, make damn sure it’s fully inserted. But hey, at least with this build, you can see the connector when the system is running, in case it starts smoking or melting.
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At this point, you can also attach the glass backplate cover if you so choose. It effectively just sits on a hole in the backside of the GPU, held in place by some magnets. It looks nice, but I wish it would drop down slightly to be more flush with the top edge of the card.
Time to deploy the AMOLED
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With the primary components in place, it’s time to install the curved screens, in the penultimate addition to this build. Both effectively just snap in place. The larger cooler screen requires that you line up a U-shaped groove under the liquid cooling tubes, insert the screen mechanism into a couple of tabs, and then press down gently until the pogo pins make contact with the pads on the cooler.
Note that Asus markets this screen as swiveling, but it really only moves two or three degrees forward or back. That might be enough to reduce some glare, but you’ll generally want to have the screen angled toward you if you want to easily see what’s on it. It’s also not really a single screen, but clearly a pair of curved screens stacked on top of each other.
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The GPU screen is far easier to install, snapping right into the end of the card in the area where you can see the metal connection pads. But it has its own wrinkle. For this screen to work at all, you need to connect an included USB cable from the Type-C port on the card to a Type-A port on your motherboard. This is easy enough to do, and the motherboard has 8 Type-A ports, along with two more on the front of the case, so I doubt you’ll miss one port. But for a GPU with a screen that costs $6,000, it feels kinda lame to have to run a USB cable to get the screen to work.
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
Lastly, and I would argue most optionally, Asus also includes a large magnetic ROG logo that you can attach to the steel front of the otherwise plastic cable shroud on the front. It is pretty detailed and matches the gold accents of the rest of the system. But personally, I think it looks tacky here in a way that (somehow) the rest of the design doesn’t. If you really want to show off your devotion to the Republic of Gamers, this big magnet might look better on your refrigerator or somewhere else than on a $15,000 gaming PC that’s already adorned with screens that, by default, display the ROG logo on the regular.
Personally, I’m going to stick this large ROG magnet on the side of the beer fridge that lives under my test bench, next to my magnetic Corsair external SSD and my Orkney Skull Splitter ale sticker. If any of my non-gamer friends ask what it means, I’ll tell them it represents the Republic of Guzzlers. Really though, I just like a nice lunch beer – I swear.
I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to benchmark this monster PC or get a long-term sense of what it’s like to use it as a gaming and productivity rig. I may add to this section in the coming days as I spend more time with the system, but after about a day of using it after it was built, installing an OS, drivers, and playing a few PC games, I did get some strong initial impressions.
First off, for a high-end rig in an open case, with the beefiest GPU I’ve ever personally used, this machine is surprisingly quiet. I didn’t do anything more strenuous than play Borderlands 4, and admittedly my air conditioner was droning away from a nearby window. But the cooler and blower fans remained quiet. And the four fans on the GPU were noticeable when I was standing in front of the PC, but remained at both a level and a pitch that I would expect from a mainstream gaming rig inside a traditional case, not a top-end monster rig with all its cooling inches from my ears. At some point, I’ll have to listen to the system again when it’s cool enough to live without my air conditioner.
On the topic of heat, though: this 5090 sure kicks out a lot of it when gaming. And to some degree that’s no surprise. My personal system with a 4090 sits below my desk, and when I’m gaming at high settings on my 4K OLED TV, the PC feels like a small space heater blowing on my legs. However, things were on another level when using the Asus PC on my bench. The blower fan was pushing air up from the bottom, and the GPU fans were busy dispersing the heat from rendering the menu screen of Borderlands 4. The taller-than-desk-height of my bench was also probably a factor. But all that heat was literally blowing in my face, while my air conditioner worked to cool me from one side, a few feet away.
After about 10 minutes, I needed a break from the hot air blowing on me. And while my setup isn’t typical unless maybe you tend to game at a standing desk, I think even in a typical gaming setup, you may want to put this machine a little further away from you than a typical gaming PC. It’s not that it generates more heat than other high-end rigs, but its open-frame nature and the bottom blower fan distribute that heat much differently than a more traditional case, where most of the heat is exhausted out the back or the top, away from you.
Here, most of the heat seems to come forward, directly off the motherboard. And if your desk is cramped, I don’t think that would lend itself to a comfortable gaming experience – at least during the warmer months. I’d suggest planning to position the system 3-4 feet from your monitor and your face. If that means you have to upgrade your desk, you should. The system also weighs nearly 60 pounds, so you might want to anyway – and if you spent this many thousands of dollars on a gaming rig, you can almost certainly also afford a new slab of furniture for it to sit on.
Also, I find it curious that Asus’ ROG 20th anniversary GPU supports two power connectors (a typical 12VHPWR and a back-connector power option, and yet the motherboard the company expressly pairs it with isn’t a back-connector board that lets you take advantage of the extra wattage the GPU can take and that the 3000W PSU can dish out.
Perhaps a couple of factors were involved in the pairing. U.S. households aren’t typically wired for the voltage required to pull significantly more than 1600W. And maybe the average well-off PC builder willing to spend over $10,000 on a GPU, motherboard, cooler, and power supply might not always be astute enough to play around with a GPU capable of drawing up to 800W all on its own. I could see the whole ROG 20th Anniversary line becoming a financial burden pretty fast if the company had to deal with a significant number of RMAs and customer complaints on what must be low-volume hardware that costs several thousand dollars. Those who really want to experiment with shoving 800W into an RTX 5090 can buy the GPU separately, along with one of Asus’ compatible BTF motherboards.
A cost-no-object, screen-packed powerhouse
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
Circling back to cost, there’s just no getting around the fact that this system is ridiculously expensive. Putting aside the peripherals, the RAM, the SSD, and the CPU, the core ROG 20 components here costOver $10,000. Even at today’s inflated prices, you can get a more typical RTX 5090, a capable 1300W power supply, a premium X870E motherboard, a good 360mm AIO cooler, and one of the best PC cases for well less than $6,000. Cut a couple of corners and wait for a deal here and there and you could get nearly the same level of performance for not much more than $5,000 – half the price of Asus’ ROG Edition 20 parts.
Of course, those components won’t have multiple curved AMOLED screens, several pounds of copper to cool your CPU and VRMs, or a unique open-frame case like the GS20. And Asus’ ROG line has always put performance, materials, and premium design over affordability. It’s not like anyone who has been paying attention to the brand for two decades was expecting it to celebrate its anniversary by putting out cheap parts. High-end ROG components have always demanded a premium, and now that nearly everything in this space costs more, the premium has increased as well – at least for this iteration of its product line.
Also, as much as I’m not typically the type to build a PC with parts from mostly the same company, it was refreshing to actually be able to control every bit of RGB lighting with a single piece of software. I just wish Armory Crate didn’t need to download and update what seemed like 12 different modules and require multiple reboots before it could recognize and adjust the lighting on all the components in this build.
This particular kit is an upgraded version of the one we've seen Hoto sell over recent months, with more driver bits and a more robust case for users. The 40% discount isn't quite a record low, but it's on the lower end of the scale, and it's still a good price for the kit you're getting here. This is a good upgrade for a PC builder or hobbyist, as well as for any DIY tasks at home.
This Hoto magnetic electronic screwdriver is powered by a 1,500 mAh battery, allowing you to drive over 1,000 screws on a single USB-C charge. It weighs 250g, features three different torque settings, and includes 25 ultra-hard screw bits, rated for 60HRC hardness on the Rockwell scale.View Deal
The 3.6V driver is the same model that several Tom's Hardware staffers own, and it comes with a 1,500 mAh battery that should reportedly allow you to drive over 1,000 screws without a charge. From my own use, that feels about right, as I've been using it almost every weekend since January and I've only needed to charge it once. USB-C charging is easy using the supplied cable, and it takes about two and a half hours to fully charge.
The driver is fully adjustable, with three torque settings, along with a sensor that stops driving as soon as you release control. It has a circular LED light at the top to help you see what you're driving, which is useful in those dark spaces, especially inside a PC case. The driver is magnetic, too, so you should find it easier to keep hold of any tiny screws.
The screwdriver and bits come with an upgraded storage case to help protect and organize the set while you're not using it. This is a nice upgrade over the circular casing that came with the earlier NEX O1 Pro kit, which, while compact, was a little tricky to open from time to time. You also get 24 different screw bits, along with an extended PH2 bit, which should cover all of the bases, giving you Phillips, Torx, flat, hexagon, and Pozidriv head options, which are all rated for 60HRC on the Rockwell scale.
This $29.99 25-piece Hoto screwdriver set is a must-buy for PC builders and DIYers, and the 40% discount makes it a good price. I wouldn't be without mine, and I've found it to be a particularly versatile driver to reach for when I need a lightweight driver with a bit of extra power.
There's a great deal to be had right now on an essential starter toolkit for a PC builder or hobbyist. You can pick up this Strebito 144-in-1 screwdriver kit for $39.99 right now, which takes 20% off its usual price and gives you a set with both precision and electric screwdrivers, alongside 120 magnetic screw bits and 22 other maintenance tools for your hardware.
If you don't already own a screwdriver set like this Strebito kit, you're missing out. It unlocks everything you could need for PC repairs or maintenance, and it's pretty useful for DIY tasks and hobbyist building. You're getting a full set with two drivers, a lot of bits, as well as built-in LED lighting, and tools to help you clean, scrape, and adjust anything you're working on.
This 144-in-1 electric precision screwdriver set comes with 120 magnetic bits and 22 repair tools for various disassembly and maintenance tasks, along with a precision screwdriver and electric driver for your PC building and hobbyist repairs.View Deal
You're getting two drivers designed for different types of repair or build tasks with this kit. First, the included mini electric screwdriver comes with a 350 mAh battery, which should let you charge it in under an hour using a USB-C cable.
This driver delivers 200 RPM speeds and has adjustable torque settings between 0.15 and 0.5 Newton-meters. The size and power make it a good option for those fiddly small repairs, especially with smaller screws to deal with, and the built-in LED light will help you inside a dark PC case, too.
As an alternative, you've also got an additional precision screwdriver. This is a bigger beast with more power, with the ability to unlock up to 7 Newton-meters worth of torque to deliver more pressure when you're dealing with tricky screws. You've got 120 different bits in this set to use with both drivers, too, across all the major head styles, including flathead, Phillips, Torx, and Pozidrive.
This Strebito set also has a magnetizer/demagnetizer tool to help you grab hold of screws in a crunch, but also weaken them if you're worried about electromagnetic interference in your PC case. You also get a 5.7 x 3.3-inch magnetic project mat, which will help you to keep track of your bits while you're disassembling (or reassembling). Meanwhile, the 22 additional repair tools in this kit include a number of brushes, scrapers, a suction cup, and more. This set will be particularly helpful if you're repairing a laptop or smartphone, for instance.
The $39.99 sale price for this Strebito 144-in-1 precision screwdriver set is a good price to pay for a beginner who needs a good, all-rounder kit for their projects. This is a must-own option for PC builders, hobbyists, and budding DIYers, but it'd also make a great gift for somebody, too. You've also got a lifetime guarantee, courtesy of Strebito, to help you if you run into any problems.
We've seen a few battery-powered PCs around here — after all, what are laptops but small computers running on Lithium-ion cells? When it comes to fueling actual desktop systems, though, the story is always one of compromise, however, this field of cutting-edge shenanigans has hit a new milestone thanks to creator Uwoslab. He just built an interconnected power bank out of 192 AA cells, enough to run a modern AM4 system without jeopardizing its performance.
The build is rather straightforward and actually started with 400 AA batteries as the creator had bought four separate packs containing 100 cells each. His plan was to wire up 8 cells in parallel, then connect those little banks in series until he had 50 of them. Simple math tells us eight multiplied by fifty is 400, but ultimately, he only ended up wiring 192 batteries together, split across 3 large wooden boxes.
The boxes were used as anchor points to connect the batteries together and provide structural rigidity. They were laser-cut to fit the cells perfectly and were made out of wood. The creator put clips and contact pads at either ends of the apparatus to serve as the negative and positive terminals, respectively, with four cells going into each slot. He then duct-taped the whole thing together to make it even more secure.
UwoslabUwoslab
Each box held 64 batteries and Uwoslab built three of them, so that's how we get to the 192-count mentioned earlier. This same creator has actually tried to power a PC off of 9V zinc-carbon batteries before, but that experiment failed for the most part since the PC wouldn't stay on for more than a few seconds. His prior experience informed him to switch to Alkaline batteries instead that carry a higher voltage — 1.5V, to be exact.
Since PCs work on 12V, wiring together eight 1.5V cells gets you exactly 12V needed for stable operation, hopefully. Uwoslab was also using "high-drain" Pookell AA Alkaline batteries that trade capacity for higher voltage ratings. If you were to combine 400 of these bad boys in a perfect hypothetical, you'd generate about 160 watts of power for ten straight hours.
Unfortunately, AA batteries are not the most efficient and they drop in voltage over time as they're drained, which makes powering something as (relatively) sensitive as a modern x86 computer a lot more difficult. But it can still be done. The biggest mistake people make at this stage (as if this is a common occurrence) traditional wall-plug power supply attached to a 12V-to-220V inverter. Instead, he ran his parallel battery grid directly into a 12V DC-to-ATX adapter board plugged straight into the motherboard.
(Image credit: Uwoslab)
We don't know much about the PC itself apart from the fact that it's an AM4 system without a dedicated GPU, so it's a G-series chip. There's no storage device either; we're booting straight from a flash drive. And what are we booting into? Hanna Montana Linux. Yes, you're reading that correctly. The popular Linux distro from 2009 based on Disney's teen popstar was recently revived and given a modern makeover.
IT WORKED! Unlike the 9V attempt, this one ran the desktop for 30 minutes without running dead off of 200 AAs. Given the capacity at the end of the test it will likely run a couple more hours before the power drop becomes too much. we benchmarked with Hannah Montana Linux pic.twitter.com/vKBEkundybJuly 17, 2026
Not only does the battery-powered PC easily boot into Hanna Montana Linux on first try, but it even passed the built-in Linux CPU stress test (stress-ng) with flying colors. The CPU was pegged at 98% usage and dropped down to a stable 11.95V during the testing, while the battery bank was reading out at 13V initially. The experiment was a raging success, perhaps better than any Alkaline-powered PC that came before it.
I've owned this electric screwdriver for some time now, and it's become an essential part of the arsenal of tools that I use to renovate my home, while also becoming my go-to driver when I've needed to pop open my PC. It's also been a popular choice among the Tom's Hardware editorial team, with several of my colleagues owning and recommending one.
You're getting pieces of kit in this deal. First, the driver, which combines Hoto's NEX O1 Pro electric screwdriver in a set with 25 different bits. You also get Hoto's AutoCare handheld vacuum cleaner and air duster, which has the ability to both suck and blow, which you can put to good use by cleaning your car interior, blasting out the dust from your PC fans, or by eradicating the crumbs from the crevices in your keyboard.
The Hoto NEX O1 Pro 3.6V driver comes with a 1,500 mAh battery which, in practice, should let you drive over 1,000 screws on a full charge, according to Hoto. From personal experience, that seems about right: I've used the same driver almost every weekend since the start of this year and I've only needed to charge it once. It uses USB-C charging and comes with a supplied cable, so I'm able to use my existing phone charger to keep it topped up. A full charge takes only 150 minutes to complete, too.
This combo deal features the Hoto NEX O1 Pro, a magnetic precision screwdriver powered by a 1,500 mAh battery that will drive over 1,000 screws on a single USB-C charge. It also includes the Hoto AutoCare 4-in-1 air duster and vacuum cleaner with five accessories.View Deal
You're getting 25 steel screw bits as part of the driver kit. These are rated at 60HRC on the Rockwell scale, with 24 standard bits, along with an additional extended PH2 bit. They come in a variety of shapes, with options available for Phillips, Torx, flat, hexagon, and Pozidriv screw heads. The driver has three different torque options to choose from and has a built-in sensor that will stop driving immediately as soon as you release control. An LED light, built into the top of the driver, also helps you see in dark spaces, which I've found particularly useful. The driver is also magnetic to help you avoid dropping screws.
Alongside the driver kit is the Hoto AutoCare. This is a 4-in-1 device with two alternate ends, giving you the option to either suck the air or blow it. You have five different attachments to use, too, all with different sizes and purposes. For instance, you might want to use the grooming brush on your car seat or sofa, or you might prefer to use the tiny pointed nozzle to get underneath your keyboard keys.
Like the NEX O1 Pro, the AutoCare is USB-C powered. It weighs 0.78lbs and has a 1,900 mAh battery, which Hoto reckons lasts for ten minutes of continuous use. While there are plenty of use cases, PC owners will find it easy to use to keep their setup clean and clear of dust and debris. It's also good for those once-or-twice-a-year jobs, such as vacuum packing clothes away, or for inflating air beds.
The ultimate starter toolkit for a PC builder or hobbyist is now on sale at Amazon. This Strebito 144-in-1 kit is just $39.99 right now, knocking 20% off the usual price for a set that includes both precision and electric screwdrivers, as well as 22 different maintenance tools and 120 magnetic driver bits.
If you're looking to build or repair any kind of electronics, this Strebito kit will gives you everything you need, and at a fair price. A set that comes with two drivers, plenty of bits, built-in LED lighting, and a whole array of cleaning, scraping, and adjusting tools to help you with any job you're working on is a good set to have at your disposal.
This 144-in-1 electric precision screwdriver set comes with 120 magnetic bits and 22 repair tools for various disassembly and maintenance tasks, along with a precision screwdriver and electric driver for your PC building and hobbyist repairs.View Deal
The two drivers you're getting here suit different types of repair jobs. The mini electric screwdriver comes with a 350 mAh battery, which should charge within an hour over USB-C.
With a 200 RPM and adjustable torque between 0.15 and 0.5 Newton-meters, the electric driver is a good option for any fiddly repairs, and includes a built-in LED light to help you in those dark PC cases. Meanwhile, the precision screwdriver that also comes with this kit unlocks up to 7 Newton-meters of torque for seriously tricky screws that need a lot more pressure.
You don't need to worry about missing bits, either. There are 120 different bits in this set, covering major head styles, including flathead, Phillips, Torx, and Pozidrive. The kit comes with a magnetizer/demagnetizer tool to make it even easier for your drivers to grab hold of the screws, but it can also weaken them for those sensitive PC builds. The 5.7 x 3.3-inch magnetic project mat will help you to keep everything organized while you're building. A number of brushes, scrapers, a suction cup, and more round up the 22 additional repair tools included in this kit, which will prove useful if you're taking apart a laptop or smartphone, for instance.
The $39.99 price for this Strebito 144-in-1 precision screwdriver set makes it an unmissable option for yourself or as a gift for a PC builder, DIYer, or hobbyist in the making. Strebito offers a lifetime guarantee for this kit, so if you run into any issues, you'll be covered, too.
If you're not already familiar with Hoto, then you should be; they make excellent tools, a few of which are amazing for PC hobbyists and 3D printing aficionados. Perfect for many tasks, the Hoto cordless rotary toolkit is now only $29.95 in this Amazon deal, saving over $20 (40%) off the list price of $49.99. The tool comes with a staggering 35 different accessories for dealing with everything from drilling to sanding, cutting, and even polishing. There's an attachment for every occasion.
The Hoto cordless rotary tool uses a high-speed motor that has five speed modes that operate between 5,000 and 25,000 RPM. This helps with being able to use the tool for varying tasks and also gives you fine detail when working on your creations. You can use the rotary tool for sanding, polishing, cutting, and carving, a lot of the prerequisites for finishing off a 3D printed model to a high finish. The rotary tool is battery-operated, using USB-C for charging. Simply connect the charging dock to power via USB-C and then place the tool in the dock when you need to top up the power.
Hobbyists and makers will want to get their hands on this Hoto 35-in-1 cordless rotary tool kit. The rotary tool itself is fitted with a high-speed motor, offering five speed modes ranging from 5,000 to 25,000 RPM. You can use this for sanding, polishing, cutting, carving, as well as to finish off a 3D-printed model. It's battery-operated, using USB-C for charging, and has a full array of attachments for various roles.View Deal
Twist the end of the Hoto rotary tool to switch between five speed settings. You can use the tool as a drill to make small holes, or use one of the sanding attachments to smooth out the joins in your 3D printed projects. A shadowless LED light at the top of the tool illuminates your work, so that you don't miss any blemishes. There's even a protective dust shield that attaches to the tool, to keep mess to a minimum and also protect you against small bits of material flying towards your face or eyes.
With widespread disappointment regarding the availability and pricing of Valve’s Steam Machine, influencers and creators have been mixing up ‘alternatives’ of various shapes and sizes. However, we think the Terk Box v1.1 looks like the closest alternative yet in design and spirit. The work, as spotted by Hackaday, appears to be a collaboration between Jacob Terkelsen, an ex-Tom's Hardware contributor currently working for AMD, and a 3D printing and SFF PCs enthusiast who goes by the handle of 3DCatt.
Here she is, Terk Box v1. 1I'm working with the designer about future improvements, but for a first major revision and she's now "complete"We added more ventilation in the back so the RTX 5060 is no longer choked.HMU if you want me to build you one. pic.twitter.com/PAt0WaBXGXJune 24, 2026
If you are a 3D printer owner, you can grab the source files for the Terk Box v1.1 direct from Printables.com. There you will find a parts list, which details the various screws, riser cables, and numerous other parts you will need. The .STL source files are all there, too, of course, under a Creative Commons license.
Specific component brands don’t seem to be suggested by the makers, which is probably due to the set of standards embraced by the various PC parts makers. However, we do note in the user comments some people may have had a hard time fitting their GPU. 3DCatt says the max length that will fit is “about 180mm long.” That isn’t all, though, as the recommended PCIe riser cable wasn’t long enough for some, depending on the GPU model. AMD’s Terkelsen chipped in that the build was suitable for his RTX 5060 LP graphics card, but he requested more room for a front 140mm case fan, among a few other tweaks.
The current revision of the Terk Box measures 167 x 168 x 225mm. That may be close enough to the official machine (152 x 162 x 156mm) to justify the extra effort of doing this instead of finding an off-the-peg compact Mini ITX case. Some of the compromises with the Terk Box v1.1 appear to be the fussiness with GPU choice we mentioned above, and the less-than-ideal positioning of the CPU socket in relation to the PSU. However, both 3DCatt and Terkelsen have hinted at refinements on the way to v1.2.
Since they have already strayed from the cubic confines of Valve’s actual Steam Machine, I feel they shouldn’t feel too shackled to the design they currently have. I’ll be watching further developments with interest.
In summary, this is a design much closer in stature and spirit to the original Valve effort, but it is definitely a work in progress. With the various component constraints, the DIY price for this won’t be the most compelling, either. Readers who are 3D printing and PC DIY aficionados, and we must have a few of those, might be able to contribute to the project with suggestions, tweaks, and remixes.
Leading Japanese capsule toy maker Tarlin International has announced an official collaboration with “the four major manufacturers” of the PC components industry. The teased result means that gachapon fans will be able to get their hands on tiny models of ASRock, Gigabyte, MSI, and Intel parts (plus fans, PSUs, and cases), accurate enough “that you can assemble and play with.” In 2026, PC building has become so expensive that perhaps Tarlin’s latest wares will fill an emotional vacuum in the market.
In the image above, you can see Tarlin has inked some kind of official licensing deal with ASRock, Gigabyte, MSI, and Intel. There’s already been four series of networking equipment gachapon launched by Tarlin, for some context.
As far as we can see from the social media posting, the new Tarlin gachapon series includes three branded miniature motherboards: the ASRock Z890 Steel Legend WiFi, the Gigabyte Z890 Aorus Elite WiFi7 Plus, and the MSI MEG Z890 Ace. Premium stuff. Intel’s Core Ultra 7 270K Plus seems to be the only CPU choice. There are also case fans, a PSU, and a tower case for your minuscule components PC build.
Tarlin’s eccentric gachapon pedigree
Compared with gachapon rivals like Bandai and Takara Tomy, Tarlin has carved a niche, eccentric furrow in the industry. It has a reputation for turning everyday, mundane, or highly technical objects into accurate scale miniatures.
Examples of other incredibly niche Tarlin-produced capsules include its Temporary Toilet Series, a realistic Articulated Crayfish, and its series of Cisco rackmount network gear toys. In this context, it's “serious spec” PC component capsule toys, which are made to such exacting precision that they can be assembled to make tiny tower PCs, aren’t so unusual.
In 2024, we spotted a Japanese capsule toy machine filled with Intel CPUs. One gacha chancer acquired an Intel Core i7-8700 CPU after inserting 500 Yen (around $3.25) and twisting the customary knob.
PC building during the RAMpocalypse and NANDpocalypse is challenging, to be sure, but you can still put together a great and relatively affordable box that will last during Prime Day thanks to abundant deals on core components. Yes, memory and SSDs are pricey, but we can dull some of the pain with deep discounts elsewhere.
For a $1000 budget, we've put together a great 1080p gaming PC with a 10-core Core i5-12600KF CPU and an RTX 5060 Ti 8GB graphics card for the best 1080p bang-for-the-buck you can find (and an RX 9060 XT 16GB alternative for $100 more if 8GB is a bridge too far).
Yes, the Core i5-12600KF is getting up there in years, and its P-cores lack the extra L2 of 13th and 14th Gen CPUs, but it boasts higher clocks and a higher TDP than non-K 13th and 14th-gen parts for better multi-threaded performance. For this low price, we'll deal.
Crucially, this PC still features 32GB of RAM for no-worries gaming with the latest titles and 1TB of storage for adequate room for files and games. Cheaper prebuilts might include just 16GB of RAM and a claustrophobia-inducing 512GB SSD. This is a PC that will last, and that matters in today's tight market.
The RTX 5060 Ti 8GB is selling for less than the slower RTX 5060 8GB right now, so you may as well take the free performance boost if you were only going with an 8GB card to begin with. The 5060 Ti gives you access to leading DLSS 4.5 upscaling across a huge swath of games, as well as MFG in titles that don't overrun its VRAM.
On top of the 5060 Ti 8GB's much higher baseline performance than the Steam Machine's GPU, DLSS 4.5 is a secret weapon for this build, thanks to its far superior image quality versus FSR on top of its AI-powered performance boost.
A quality Cooler Master case and 80 Plus Gold power supply make this a 1080p gaming build you (or a lucky kid or family member) can depend on for a long time to come.
$1,000 Prime Day gaming PC
Intel's Core i5-12600KF gives us 10 cores (6 P-cores + 4 E-cores) for multi-threaded work and offers peak single-core clocks of up to 4.9 GHz. Crucially, it lets us use DDR4 memory, too. View Deal
I've personally paired the Thermalright Assassin X 120 Refined SE cooler with an i5-12600KF, so I can attest that it keeps that CPU cool and quiet for under $20. View Deal
The Asus B760M-AYW is one of the few new LGA 1700 DDR4 boards you can get, and for this budget build, it offers everything we need and nothing we don't, including a Wi-Fi 6 radio. Get $10 off with promo code FTTF345. View Deal
32GB of RAM is one of our no-compromise positions for a PC that will last versus one that's just cheap. You can still get 32GB of DDR4 for relatively low prices, and this Silicon Power kit does the job. View Deal
NAND is in short supply right now, so prices are high, but this Silicon Power UD90 SSD still gives us Gen 4 speeds at a reasonable cost per gigabyte. Redeem Silicon Power's on-page promo code for this low price. View Deal
We would normally put a plain RTX 5060 in a $1000 build right now, but RTX 5060 Ti 8GB cards are 15% faster at 1080p and are selling for less than those slower cards. You need to apply the on-page promo code and redeem a mail-in rebate for the lowest price here. View Deal
If you want the added longevity of 16GB of memory, AMD's Radeon RX 9060 XT is the only attainable way to go. It offers similar performance to the 5060 Ti and that all-important 16GB of GDDR6 for about $100 more. View Deal
Cooler Master's MasterBox Q300L is a longtime microATX favorite for cheap builds thanks to its good airflow and fun styling. View Deal
ASRock's Pro Series 750W PSU is a great fit for this build, offering both eight-pin PCIe connectors and a 12V-2x6 cable for potential future upgrades. It's efficient, reliable, and cheap, and we can't ask for more. View Deal
All those parts should add up to about $1029.76. If you're seeing higher totals in your cart, make sure to apply every available promo code and redeem every mail-in rebate you see to get the lowest possible prices during these Prime Day sales. Happy building!
I've just been using a similar non-powered multi-bit tool set for a laptop screen replacement job today, and wished I had an electric version to save some time. Also, I had just one pry tool, so I am eyeing this comprehensive all-in-one selection with some envy.
Inside a 110° retractable flip-top workbench case, you get a whole host of tools and repair accessories. Central to the product is the electric screwdriver itself. This is a cordless unit with a 500mAh battery inside, which you recharge via USB-C. Its knurled aluminum frame includes a display to show stats like battery remaining and torque settings. TanSon reckons you can (un)screw 1,100 fastenings with a single charge. Other attractions of the compact driver include its quad-LED light array to make sure the work tip is visible. With its selection of 42 steel bits, this cordless 200 RPM marvel should help you cut precision tinkering work time way down.
Half price
This 71-in-1 cordless electric screwdriver toolkit should save you lots of time when tinkering with your gadgets. The driver recharges via USB-C and can tackle over a thousand (un)screwing tasks, as well as featuring an LCD screen and a useful quad-LED flashlight at the tip. In the kit, buyers get 42 steel bits to fit most electronic gadgets, as well as handy, if not essential, extras such as pry tools, tweezers, and more.View Deal
TanSon on AmazonTanSon on AmazonTanSon on Amazon
Augmenting the capable rechargeable driver and array of bits, there's a very handy selection of complementary tools in the carry case. The Amazon listing for the TanSon 71-in-1 cordless screwdriver toolkit confirms there are a magnifying glass, a suction cup, four plastic pry bars, a metal pry bar, a set of pointed tweezers, plus bent tweezers, a plastic scraper, a metal scraper, a shell opening pick, five spare picks, a magnetic pad, and an anti-static wrist strap in the pack, as well as the instruction manual.
The package arrives, and we are excitedly tearing into the boxes, putting the parts on the table, and we are ready to build! We reach into the toolkit and dig out the rusty old screwdriver we used to open a paint can back in 2014. We then spill standoffs and screws over the floor, ready for an unsuspecting foot at 2am!
But wait, it doesn't have to be like this! We've all done this, made the mistakes, and now we share my knowledge and that of the Tom's Hardware staff so you don't have to.
You need to start somewhere, and these kits have pretty much every tool that you could need to maintain a PC, all in a handy case. In my office/workshop, I have a general set of screwdrivers for general tasks, and a set of Hoto screwdrivers and bits for servicing my PC and any other parts I review.
HOTO's wireless screwdriver has three torque settings, charges over USB-C, and looks surprisingly good. This kit comes with a sturdy box and all the bits you will need to keep your PC running.View Deal
This HOTO SnapBloq 3.7V electric screwdriver includes 56 bits including Slotted, Phillips, Hexagon, Hexagon Security, Torx, Torx Security, Pentalobe, Standoff, Y-Shaped, Tri-Wing, Triangle, Square, U-Shaped, JIS, SIM Card Needle. It also has three torque settings, an integrated light, and charges via USB-C.View Deal
This 155-pirece kit has everything you need to get started with your first / next PC build. You get a precision screwdriver with 140 different bits (slot, Phillips, Pozidrive, Pentalobe, Torx, nut driver, Gamebit (for Nintendo consoles), Torx / Torx security, and many others. You also get spudgers and pry tools, and even a suction cup.View Deal
All the bits that you will ever need to keep your 3D printer, laptop, or PC running smoothly, and you get a great case to keep them all in.View Deal
All the bits that you need to take a PC apart, build IKEA furniture or fix that cabinet door that you promised to fix in 2018!
A great mix of precision 4mm bits for general electronics and small projects, and 1/4 inch bits for the larger jobs. You get drivers for both sizes and the same magnetic case as the Make, to prevent losing screws as you take things apart!View Deal
Whether you call them Hex or Allen wrenches, this part of our toolbox is often overlooked. Why? Because we get one in every set of flat-pack, DIY furniture that's why! You can get cheap sets of Hex wrenches, but they are ultimately made from a material softer than Play-Doh, or have the power to strip a head. You need a good set of Hex wrenches and this set from Wera is awesome.
German made precision, strength, and a ball head to enable access to awkward screws. Grab this set now, and thank yourself later!
Wera makes quality tools, and these long arm, ball-headed hex keys provide all the key metric sizes from 1.5 to 10mm.View Deal
Everyone should own these great electric screwdrivers!
At least five Tom's Hardware editors own a Hoto screwdriver. I am one of them. It should be difficult to extol an electric screwdriver. After all, it is really just a motor that spins and screws / unscrews. But Hoto's new Pixel Drive is easy to glorify!
The main screwdriver chassis is chunky and features a rubberized finish to prevent it from slipping from your hands. The twist power ring offers three levels of torque, and the simple push-button forward/reverse is a joy to use. Throw in a bonus LED light ring, and you are ready to build and maintain PCs and have plenty of power to put up those shelves in the living room. All of the details are displayed on the LED display, so you know how much power you are putting down, and how much the screwdriver has left!
Save 33% on the Fanttik S1 Pro electric screwdriver. You get 16 S2 steel bits, 3 torque settings (from 1.5 to 4.2N.m). You get the screwdriver, storage case, buts, USB-C charging cable, and a manual. View Deal
The latest Hoto electric screwdriver is now several months old and it now has a healthy 19% off the MSRP. yView Deal
A simple, go-to screwdriver set for the office, workshop, and your go-bag. With all the bits you will need to fix a multitude of problems. And now it's on sale for 25% off MSRP.View Deal
Screw Kits
Don't screw up your next PC build!
Let's be honest. We've all scrabbled around for a spare stand-off or screw to secure a motherboard to a chassis. We've cannibalized other components to ensure that our main rig has everything it needs to keep the motherboard in place and the GPU firmly attached to the case. But what if we just spent less than $10 for 400 screws?
That's right, for less than $10, we can have 400 screws, stand-offs, and insulation rings to secure every part of our PC.
In the kit, there are:
Hard drive screws
Motherboard screws
Chassis fan screws
SSD screws
Insulation gaskets
High-strength chassis screws (think GPUs)
M2 screws
Flat Phillips screws
M3 Stand-offs
Chassis hand twist screws
With ten different types of screws, stand-offs, and gaskets, this kit has everything you need to secure your precious components inside your PC. And now you can get them on sale.View Deal
I bought myself a similar pack years ago since I deal with motherboards and system components on the daily, and it has proven its worth on more than a few occasions.
For less than $10, just throw it into your basket without thinking!
Flashlights
Save money on this 'illuminating' flashlight deal
A good flashlight is one of the most rewarding tools that we can own. It lights up the dark, helps us see obstacles and what we are working on, and could be used to signal planes, should you be trapped on the island from Lost.
Get a great deal on this small flashlight that could. This flashlight outputs up to 100,000 and lasts 5-15 hours (display to show charge %) and charges with USB-C. It has five modes (high-middle-low-strobe-SOS) comes with a carrying case, charger cable, and more.View Deal
With USB Type-C charging, six brightness modes, and a magnetic base, the Wuben E7 is a useful flashlight for makers and tinkerers who want extra light for their work, without compromising on quality.View Deal
Air dusters and cleaners
Clean the filth from your PC!
Air blowers/dusters are a popular choice for quickly blowing out fans and filters to remove any collected dust and fluff. They can also blow out the crumbs that linger under your keyboard. Air blowers are a great alternative to single-use compressed air cans.
The Wolfbox MegaFlow 100 (MF100) may sound like a 1990s Euro Rock tribute act, but it has 150,000 RPM of power to blow dust out of your PC at 45 meters per second!
This convenient blower is battery-powered and supports USB Type-C charging. The MF100 fully charges in 2.5 hours and provides up to 100 minutes of runtime on the first setting. The MF100 is small and compact, weighing only 0.66lb, so it can be easily stored when not in use. The MF100 is also supported by a 24-month guarantee and 24/7 customer service.
This compact air duster can move air at up to 45 m/s with its 150,000 RPM turbofan. A rechargeable battery gives up to 100 minutes of use time and supports USB Type-C charging. The MF100 includes five nozzles and two brush tools to help clean your PC equipment.View Deal
Not everyone wants to buy an $80 air duster. There are plenty that cost less that still move a lot of air and come with several attachments that are plenty useful for cleaning out your PC.
For only under $27, get your hands on this rechargeable 110,000 RPM electric air duster. You get three adjustable speed settings, and about 20-40 minutes of continuous cleaning power (displayed on the LED screen) from the 7500 MAh battery. It comes with five nozzles and four soft brushes for any task.View Deal
I clean out my desktop PC once or twice a year and my blower did a great job, but there were times when the amassed collection of dead skin cells, dog and cat hair, and other fluff was too much for my much weaker air duster. So I bought some cans of compressed air, and not the dollar store stuff either! I don't use them often, but they are handy when you need a little more power in a precise point.
Designed for electronics, these two 10-oz bottles of compressed air will blow the dust, dead skin, and last week's sandwich from your keyboard and help prevent the inside of your PC case from becoming a biohazard. Designed for electronics, these four, 10oz bottle of compressed air will blow the dust, dead skin and last week's sandwich from your keyboard and help prevent the inside of your PC case becoming a biohazard.View Deal
Sometimes compressed air or turbo-force USB-powered jet fans aren't enough, and so you must get your hands dirty. Cleaning any electronic components should be done with care. Components aren't as static sensitive as their predecessors but we should take care not to trash our kit.
These nylon anti-static brushes come in a range of sizes and shapes to clean dust from components and inside drive bays, and to keep caked-on dust from your fan blades. It also includes a keycap puller and tweezers to deep clean the harrowing scene that lurks under your keyboard.
Every type of brush is here to deep clean your PC, keyboard and whatever else needs cleaning in your rig.
The final cleaning product that you need for building and maintaining PCs is Isopropyl Alcohol, IPA. Yes, 99% is overkill; heck, it's medical grade for first aid use, but if you really want to eke it out, get some distilled water and water down your mix to 70%. I don’t because it works well as it is.
My top tip, though, is not to spray it when the components are hot. There is very little risk of fire, but it will evaporate rather quickly. That said, in the electronics hobbyist world, rapidly evaporating IPA is used to identify super-hot chips, typically those that have shorted.
Buying in bulk and decanting into dollar store spray bottles is the smart way to get all the IPA that you need.View Deal
Thermal pastes
Thermal paste etiquette — pea-sized blob, an X, or a smooth layer like peanut butter?
Let's all agree that, however you apply thermal paste, that is the right way, ok? Thermal paste / TIM or thermal pads bridge the hot side of a component to a heatsink or heatpipe, which wicks away heat, keeping the component cool.
Thermal material is essential to keep your system cool, and I asked the team what they use. Our Editor-in-Chief, Paul Alcorn, said that MX-6 is his go-to thermal paste. So I looked around and found this handy kit that contains 4G of thermal paste and six handy wipes. The wipes are essentially isopropyl alcohol on a cloth, and they are used to prepare the surface for the new paste. They will wipe off the old paste, dust, dead skin (ewww) and leave the surface ready for pasting!
One of our highest rated thermal pastes is on sale, and it comes with a handy spudger for application. Thermal Grizzly's Kryonaut Extreme outperformed many pastes pastes in our extensive benchmark suite, but it's real claim to fame is how it holds up under extreme temperatures (think sub-ambient cooling). View Deal
This kit contains 4G of Arctic MX-6 thermal paste and six MX Cleaner wipes to remove old thermal paste from components.View Deal
If you spot something better, or want to tell me I am wrong, hit the comments!
Someone on Reddit has stumbled upon former AMD CEO Rory Read's PC that might've been given to him as a parting gift. Read was AMD's CEO between 2011 and 2014. He helped AMD navigate the failure of Bulldozer while securing massive console contracts with Sony and Microsoft, and also began work on the Zen architecture that would eventually revive AMD.
While direct lightning strikes are difficult to defend against, proper grounding and protection for coaxial and network lines can help reduce the risk of costly hardware damage.
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