Notes

Shelving the new PC Build

Shelving the new PC Build

My rant at AI data centers for sending RAM, GPU, and storage prices soaring.

Pre-ordering the Nintendo Switch 2

How to add animated backgrounds to Google Meet

How I added an animated 'this is fine' background to Google Meet

Untagged filter in Readwise Reader

Creating a new filter view to find untagged items.

Mastodon Author Tags

Adding Mastodon author tags to my Hugo website

Secert Annual Spotify Trick

How to save £45 a year by paying for a 12 month subscription of Spotify
Automating My /Now Page

Automating My /Now Page

My post about automating my now page hit the front page of Hacker News!

Automating Now

The /now page is now automated!

Remove files from Git history

A quick how to guide on how to remove data from a repository's history

RSS Feeds

Paving the way to an open web using RSS feeds

An eSim database!

Compare eSims data plans with ease

A solar powered website

I found this awesome website last month and

Apple Watch Double Tap

How to get the double tap guesture without having to shell out for a new Apple Watch

Arc's secert reader mode

How to enable Arc's secert reading mode

Use an adblocker

Block those annoying scammers.

Shelving the new PC Build

Planted January 19, 2026

Shelving the new PC Build

This year, I was looking forward to upgrading my gaming PC, but hardware costs have been skyrocketing in the last few months. The RAM industry has essentially been bought out by AI data centres. There was even a sad/funny story about how Samsung (Semiconductor) refused to sell RAM to Samsung (Electronics) because of RAM prices.

Part of me wanted to push ahead, thinking this was going to be a temporary spike in one component category, but then I saw news that Nvidia GPUs were likely also going to suffer for a supply shortage as, which in turn will lead to more expensive graphics cards. On top of that, to add insult to injury, hard drive prices are also starting to tick upwards now, all driven by the constant and growing needs of the AI industry.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve used AI in my day-to-day life, and for coding, at least have found it very helpful. I don’t find a lot of use in a lot of the other types of generative AI right now. Seeing prices tick up like this across the hardware industry to feed an AI industry that provides mixed results is not something I’m happy with.

Given these sharp price increases and the fact that I already have a pretty good PC build (Nvidia 3080 FE, 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a 2TB M2 SSD). I’m likely only going to be making a modest upgrade in RAM this year instead of looking to build an entirely new PC.

The supply chain shock has made me thankful to have bought a mini PC for my homelab just before these price increases. I managed to get a Beelink with a 13th Gen Intel Alder Lake-N150, 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD for £228 towards the end of October last year. Looking back at the same listing now, I can see that the price is now closer to £300 for the same machine - An increase of 31.6%!

I’m not sure when or even if prices will drop, but in the meantime, I have a lot of other meaningful projects to work on in the meantime. For gaming, I still have both my current gaming PC and a Nintendo Switch 2, but I’ll likely be looking to get either a Steam Deck or a Steam Machine later this year instead of building a new PC.