As 2025 has now come to a close, I’m reminded of the tech I acquired during that year, along with PC upgrades and mods I carried out. For me, it was both a challenging and exciting year in tech, so here’s how it turned out.
Computer Repairs
With laptop manufacturers continuing to con unwary buyers with measly amounts of memory (RAM) and many of my customers still struggling away with ancient HDD spinners and 4GB of RAM, most of these repairs have been upping the memory to at least 8GB and installing SSDs. This is usually very straightforward, unless the laptop design is such that the entire machine needs stripping down, including the removal of ribbon cables, which I do not enjoy playing with. I usually have at least a 90% success rate, but sometimes I have to throw in the towel, like in this example, where crap literally fell out of the laptop when I opened it up.
If the design had been easier to navigate around, I probably would have upgraded it, but I gave up and suggested to the customer that it probably wasn’t financially viable anyway.
Multi-Monitor PC
Back in November, I was asked to help a customer whose Windows installation had gone belly up, and what a surprise I got when I arrived at his flat.
Although I asked the customer what business he was in, his answer was vague, so I didn’t press him. His rig, however, was very impressive, custom-built with 128GB of RAM, a top-of-the-range Ryzen CPU, several NVMe drives, and a 5000 series RTX GPU.
In the end, it was a simple Windows reinstall, but I’m still none the wiser about the fellow’s activities.
NVMe Fail And Other Anomalies
This was a simple case of replacing the Netac NVMe and installing Windows, and it is the first time I’ve come across a failed NVMe; it seems that it won’t be the last.
This was also the first time I had come across a water cooler fail, so I removed it and fitted a stock AMD cooler. Very unusual!
My Total Rebuild
Back in October, I bought a Gigabyte RX 9070 XT GPU, and because it almost didn’t fit, I decided to strip the case down completely and thoroughly clean it.
This was not a planned operation, but at least I was able to properly fit the GPU with its steel support and end up with a very clean PC.
I also added braided extension power cables to my rig, which makes the whole setup that much neater.
New Gaming Chair
For the last few years, I’ve been using whatever has been available for sitting on, but a standard office chair doesn’t give the kind of back support I need. Besides, it was over 10 years old and wasn’t doing my back any good at all, so I grabbed this gaming chair at a discounted price. The lumbar support is excellent, as well as being able to adjust the chair back, because I like to sit upright. If, like me, you spend many hours seated at your PC, it’s worth spending some money on a decent chair because your back will thank you for it.
These are only a fraction of the challenges and fun I experienced in 2025, and I’m hoping that this year will offer more of the same because I like to keep busy.
2026
2026 is shaping up to be an interesting year, what with RAM prices going through the roof thanks to the all-pervasive AI. I had been considering upgrading my PC platform from AM4 to AM5, but since that would require a new motherboard, memory, and CPU, I bought a new smartwatch instead. The upgrade can wait because the PC does everything I require for the time being.
How was your 2025 year in tech?
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