Your PC deserves the sweet kiss of a magnetic screwdriver

I recently made the mistake of moving across the country during a pandemic. This rookie move inevitably led me to spend the next month and a half building bookshelves, standing desks, kitchen islands, garage storage, and endless furniture, all of which hunger for various damned screws.

I regret embarking on this journey without the help of a magnetic screwdriver. I feel sort of like Frodo who ran off to Mordor without trusty Sting. Let my failure benefit you, dear reader: get a magnetic screwdriver if you regularly open your PC.

We've all experienced the third least-enjoyable thing about building a PC: dropping screws into your case, only to have them roll behind the motherboard or some other metallic crevice. There they remain, marooned, until you nudge them back into the light—but only for a moment, because ugh, you dropped the screw again.

Consider these Amazon Prime Day drivers, both of which are discounted 20% off for Prime members:

KER ratcheting magnetic screwdriver and 10-bit set $16.30 $9.13 at Amazon
Upgrade your screwing with this 7.4-inch, bendable driver. Screws cling to each of its tips, and with the alloy steel tips stored in the handle of the screw you won't lose them, either. This sucker tightens and, as a special bonus, also loosens screws, so there's no need to buy two.View Deal

SATA 6-piece stubby ratcheting screwdriver $11 $8.79 at Amazon
A smaller driver might be a little harder to turn, but it can more easily fit into the tight space of a PC case. Like the KER driver, this one also includes the in-body storage for magnetic bits. It's discounted less than the KER driver.View Deal

Another piece of advice: building your PC with a power drill is never a good idea. Over-tightening certain screws, especially anything on the motherboard, can not only make them harder to remove when you need to do maintenance or replace something, a screw that's driven too hard can crack or damage fragile PC components. You're better off doing it manually.