When it comes time to upgrade any gaming set-up, peripherals are up there in terms of the order of things to make a change to. Whilst the physical PC hardware will make the biggest difference, fresh peripherals can make quite a big difference too. With that being said, not all peripherals are worth the upgrade, and some can be held off on, there’s also a lot of gimmicks within the peripheral market too that can see prices bumped up. This post will take a look at the peripheral market and find out the best gaming peripherals to upgrade.
Headsets and IEMs are a great place to start.
One thing that remains true across many games across a huge number of genres is sound, whether a giant RPG epic that can be made more immersive with great sound staging or something more competitive like the big esports titles where sound can make or break a performance, something fans who bet on esports titles at sites like this will be all too familiar with. Prices can range in a huge way for a good headset, or a good pair of in-ear monitors too, into the high hundreds of dollars even for what may consider entry level devices.
The waters do get muddied here though, some of the branded gear can be lower quality and higher priced for little more than the color and branding, similarly there are plenty of audio devices out there priced much lower than what they should be for the quality they provide. A tip for anyone looking to buy a new gaming headset, don’t look for gaming specifically but just look for the headphone or IEMs that offer the best sound profile within a budget, it’ll often be better than much of the overpriced gaming branded stuff.
Keyboards are being made more complicated than necessary.
The big trend in gaming keyboards over the past few years has been aimed at mechanical keyboards, and they’re definitely better than the standard membrane keyboard you’ll find in the office, finding one that’s the right size and with the right switches can make all the difference to not only your gaming experience but also just to everyday use as well.
With that being said, the space has become something of a hobbyist paradise, custom builds that include using lubricants on individual switches to get a perfect sound and feel. This also means that some of the prices can be quite ridiculous for a basic keyboard, and one that won’t do anything to improve performance. Much like the audio devices, find one that fits within a comfortable budget, with a little research, and don’t get bogged down by all of the additional noise in the keyboard space.
Stick to a basic mouse and be happier for it.
Gaming mice have become another over complicated space, special editions connected to some professional player that weigh in a few grams lighter than the closest competitor can reach into the hundreds of dollars, or more gimmicky features that bump the price up too. A good wireless mouse from a bigger manufacturer like Logitech will last forever with great customer support and basic software without worrying about all of the bells and whistles.
Some players will look deeper into the sensors, the weight of the mouse, and the software options that are attached to the devices too, but it often isn’t worth the headache to invest the time into figuring out what may give the least noticeable performance upgrade, but instead just empty the wallet for little more than buzz words.
There are plenty of other peripherals to look at with these just being the big main three, but great deals can be found without needing to get the latest or greatest, or without needing to worry about all of the extra fluff that comes with looking to grab one of these flavor of the month devices.
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