These are the top tools we use to build and maintain our precious tech, and they’re on sale for Black Friday 2025

All the gear, and lots of ideas?

You need to start somewhere, and this precision kit has pretty much every tool that you could need to maintain a PC, all in a handy case.

You get a precision screwdriver with 142 different bits (slot, Phillips, Pozidrive, Petalobe, Tork, Stand-off driver, Gamebit (for Nintendo consoles), Torx / Torx security, and many others. You also get spudgers and pry tools, tweezers, a brush, and a magnetizer/demagnetizer for your screwdriver bits.

In my office/workshop, I have a general set of screwdrivers for general tasks, and a set of Wera screwdrivers for servicing 3D printers and taking things apart. Sometimes I put things back together with all their screws, but often one screw is left over.

A good general-purpose precision screwdriver set is a necessity. This 164-in-1 set has all the bits that you need to repair electronics and keep your electronics ticking over. The driver handle is solid, with a rotating end that lets your hand apply pressure to the screw without lifting off.

The kit comes in a very desirable case that neatly fits into your desk drawers / kit bag.

Everyone should own this great electric screwdriver!

At least three Tom’s Hardware editors own this 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 NEX 01 Pro 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.

There are two versions of the kit. The simpler kit has a ring holder to support the driver and a selection of bits. Or you can get the boxed version, which has even more bits and a rigid plastic case. I chose the latter, because it was oddly cheaper and it had lots more bits.

I also own this Hoto precision electric screwdriver kit, and it is amazing. I’ve used it to open laptops, build Raspberry Pi cases, repair a broken power bank, and perform many other jobs. It comes in a lovely case and provides 25 different bits (Phillips, Torx, Slot, Hex, etc.) and charges via USB Type-C.

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

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.

The first of these flashlights, the Olight IMINI2, I personally own. It is simple to use, just remove it from the magnetic base and it turns on, put it back and it turns off. The magnetic base can also be used to stick the flashlight to a PC case/metal object for hands-free illumination. Charging is simply done by inserting the base into a USB Type A port. There are no controls; it’s just on or off by removing it from the base.

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.

Earlier this year I cleaned out my desktop PC and my own dust blower did a great job, but there were times when the amassed collection of dead skin cells and 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.

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. I first encountered thermal pads on an old AMD 1GHz CPU, yes, I am old! But I digress. I thought it was sticky residue from packing, so I scraped it off and put the cooler on my AMD CPU, played Colin McRae Rally and then the CPU overheated and took out most of my system. £200 (in 1999, £384 adjusted for 2025 inflation) later, I had my system working, and I learnt an important lesson.

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!