No Josh this week, and it hurt. It certainly hurt the running time, at least. Enjoy this brief (and probably highly unsatisfying) year-end podcast! The perfect way to end a disappointing year!  Read as:  pricing on our PC hobby is increasing on everything thanks to AI datacenters so prepare to downsize or "last-gen" your latest build perhaps! 

Enjoy our attempt at a 2025 round-up as well, probably buy that Win10 ESU, and the Xbox is probably sinking...stories below!

Thanks again to our sponsor this week: Copilot Money!  Fantastic "single pane of glass" for all your finances and transactions that's actually enjoyable to use.  Get 26% off the web version for new customers!

Recorded December 17, 2025.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro
01:27 Patreon
02:16 No food segment?!
03:16 AM4 CPU prices spike
08:37 Storage is poised to become more expensive soon
09:35 Get ready for the return of laptops with only 8GB of RAM
12:49 The last month for a new RTX 3060, and RTX 50 series production cuts
15:17 A brief look back at 2025
26:30 Podcast sponsor - Copilot Money 
28:02 (In)Security Corner
33:42 Gaming Quick Hits
42:58 Picks of the Week
55:19 Outro

There are FOUR lights!
But besides that, we have AMD news on Redstone, their B650 chipset and so much DDR pricing and related news that you'll platz.  Oh, Kohler has got a toilet cam security issue (seriously) and your One Time Password use is so very passé.  Microsoft also plans to finally make Windows 11 better for gaming in 2026 - Steam and Bazzite reportedly not worried.

Thanks to Notion and their AI enfused Notion Agent for the sponsorship this week, help us out and check out their very cool offer at:
notion.com/pcper

Timestamps:

00:00 Preroll
00:04 Intro
00:25 Patreon
01:34 Food with Josh
03:15 Weekly DDR5 price check
04:44 Micron is making more than ever before on DRAM
06:51 A DDR4 / DDR5 combo board!
08:57 The DRAM problem - now vs. 2017
12:11 AMD Redstone is out
16:45 AMD extending life of B650
20:05 Heavy SSD writes due to AMD chipset driver?
22:55 Steam client back-ported to Windows 7, 8
24:50 NVIDIA allowed to export H200 to China now
26:25 Noctua beige and brown 3D printer filament
28:24 Windows update removes Start Menu and Explorer
31:36 Podcast sponsor - Notion
32:50 (In)Security Corner
45:18 Gaming Quick Hits
52:37 Picks of the Week
1:03:47 Outro

Yes, we talked about DDR5 pricing a lot, again.  But we also talked about a very special Intel 18A customer, one billion PCs screaming out in pain (it's a metaphor!), AMD CPU / GPU pricing trends, ASUS router vulnerabilities (again), alternatives to Windows for playing games which includes playing web based old console games.  It's a thing.  Also, we virtually pour one out for Crucial (Micron).

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
00:33 Patreon
01:03 Food with Josh
02:35 Micron shutting Crucial down
07:54 Pricing a budget AM5 build on PCPartPicker
11:47 Reports of Ryzen price increases (and then more DDR5 price talk)
16:10 A new, faster Ryzen X3D is coming
19:11 Intel to fab Apple silicon?
21:48 NVIDIA reportedly stops bundling RAM with GPUs
27:50 1 billion PCs still on Windows 10
33:57 Plex starts their free remote streaming crackdown
40:01 (In)Security Corner
48:35 Gaming Quick Hits
59:32 Check out our short video on the HyperX SoloCast 2
1:00:31 Picks of the Week
1:11:17 Outro

Cloudlflare asks Amazon to hold it's virtual "beer", HEVC and H.265 support being removed from CPUs ... sorta, Steam Machine priced like lobster and will Intel bLLC compete with AMD 3D-vCache?  But we mostly complain about DDR5 in this exciting episode!

00:00 Intro
00:30 Patreon
01:44 Food with Josh
04:10 We talk about the DDR5 problem for the third week in a row
18:44 TSMC confirmed September power outage at Arizona fab
23:01 Dell and HP removing HEVC from some laptops
26:33 Unpowered SSDs slowly lose data
32:32 Is Intel bLLC really an X3D competitor?
34:13 (in)Security Corner
42:01 Gaming Quick Hits
46:18 Picks of the Week
1:06:12 Outro

What do you get after 844 episodes?  This one.  We've got hacked Android photoframes, DDR5 driving up prices on everything, Nvidia financials for the win, and even some Fallout mods.  Join in the fun!

Oh, do check out our sponsor this week, it definitely helps the show!  Notion AI!
Don't just start your projects, bring it all together and get it *done*.  See what Notion Agent can do for you.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
00:59 Programming update (livestream next week but no pod)
02:27 Patreon
04:40 Food with Josh
06:44 NVIDIA financials
20:18 DDR5 prices are skyrocketing
25:00 Intel "ai" chief joins OpenAI
29:37 AMD to release the latest FSR on December 10
33:06 Microsoft makes Sysmon native to Windows
36:05 SilverStone's retro case family grows
37:48 The accessory market for Steam Machine has begun
38:13 Podcast sponsor Notion
39:30 (In)Security Corner
53:32 Gaming Quick Hits
1:02:48 Crucial Pro DDR5-6400 CL32 review
1:11:23 Picks of the Week
1:20:13 Outro

Only three of us were available this week, but the show must go on! Perhaps the energy is a bit subdued without Bront and that other guy, but you might just find something buried in the protracted ramblings that could interest you for a few fleeting seconds.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
01:41 Patreon
02:10 Food with Josh
05:45 Josh’s take on AMD Financial Analyst Day
13:49 A digression to actually talk about hardware (mostly?)
17:33 AMD Ryzen X3D outsells entire Intel CPU lineup
20:10 Softbank sells all NVIDIA stock
21:50 Server HDDs in short supply
26:23 Microsoft testing out haptic feedback with Win 11 beta
28:42 RTX 50 SUPER series possibly delayed until late 2026
30:03 Google ending support for 1st gen and 2nd gen Nest
31:00 (In)Security Corner
41:06 Gaming Quick Hits (featuring The Steam Machine)
48:14 Check out our Sapphire B850 motherboard review video
56:47  Picks of the Week
1:04:01 Outro

AMD makes the big money and gets sued at the same time.  RDNA 1 & 2 support shall continue ... mostly.  Windows gets fixes to the Update and Shutdown.  Tall chips and clean up tips, kill commands, LInux gaming and TP-Link might catch a total ban + so much more!

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
00:26 Patreon
03:49 Food with Josh
07:21 AMD earnings
15:34 AMD hit with patent lawsuit over 3D V-Cache
21:47 Radeon RDNA 1 and 2 maintenance mode story
25:36 World's tallest chip defies Moore's law?
30:55 Windows Update and shut down actually works now
33:06 Windows Update naming update
36:00 Handy tips on cleaning up Windows 11 25H2
39:37 NVIDIA denies report that RTX 5090 is discontinued
41:48 Podcast sponsor
43:14 (In)Security Corner
56:48 Gaming Quick Hits
1:11:00 Josh presents the Asetek Initium racing bundle
1:30:03 Picks of the Week
1:41:38 Outro

A creepy collection of stories that will give you nightmares - and that's just (in)Security corner!
We've got RAM prices, Nvidia Trillions, 16GB GPUs, Soundcards, and smart fridges!  (It's a spooktacular show)

Thanks to Notion and their new Agent for sponsoring the show today! 

Timestamps:

00:00 Preroll
00:05 Intro
00:58 Patreon
02:27 Food with Josh
04:36 NVIDIA is now a FIVE trillion dollar company
15:02 DGX Spark real-world performance
17:43 Turning Wi-Fi into dialup
20:30 Creative crowdsources the latest Sound Blaster
27:22 A shunt mod brings mobile RTX 4090 to RTX 5090 level
29:52 Clippy is back, sort of
31:59 Memory price hikes, SK hynix sold out through next year?
34:33 Samsung smart fridge update adds ads
39:06 Podcast sponsor Notion Agent
40:33 (In)Security Corner
50:09 Gaming Quick Hits
1:02:54 Picks of the Week
1:14:10 Outro

12VHPWR strikes again!  We don't know where Jim's body is, honestly.  AWS has a very bad day, a new AGESA, dual X3D monsters, Escape from Duckov and Windows 10 drives something besides e-waste!  All this and so much more!

00:00 Intro
01:03 Patreon
03:56 Ryzen 9000G spotted in new AGESA code
05:47 Ryzen 9950X3D^2
08:05 The AWS outage
13:53 Intel Foundry gets 18A order from Microsoft
17:17 Windows 11 October update breaks Recovery Environment
22:00 Microsoft does not like duplicate SIDs
24:25 Apple to offer improved contrast for Liquid Glass elements
27:00 Turns out Windows 10 EOL is good for PC makers
30:41 That time Cooler Master said to take a knife to your 12VHPWR connector
33:24 (In)Security Corner
43:27 Gaming Quick Hits
47:46 Picks of the Week
1:02:12 Outro

PC Demand is down, JEDEC specs are UP, Apple has got a new M5, and Intel Core Ulta 300 lineup is confirmed.  Windows 10 -> 11 issues, are satellite communications encrypted, PIxnapping rides again, and yet another Windows privilege escalation is happening.

Also on this episode:  five hosts entered, but how many returned? Tune in next week for the thrilling conclusion!!  

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
01:44 Patreon
03:37 Food with Josh
06:34 News segment begins with Intel Panther Lake info
12:32 JEDEC spec update (after lengthy intro)
14:07 Edifier has a speaker that looks like a PC
16:13 Forget Windows 11, 80386 memories, and Commodore’s new OS (games included!)
22:19 If you insist on using Win 11, buy a new PC?
26:36 Now be quiet! offers semi-passive PSUs
32:43 Apple M5
36:45 (In)Security Corner
55:47 Gaming Quick Hits
1:05:00 Picks of the Week
1:26:48 Outro