PC Gaming Peripherals

Ed Boland

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Nov 17, 2012
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For PC gamers, there's no shortage of products on the market. From the most wild joystick and throttle setups for your favorite flight sim, or a racing wheel with shifter, and gas, brake, and clutch pedals on the floor for your "Need for Speed" type racing/driving games, to the standard Xbox controller, there's a controller for every type of game, and every type of playing style. They even make "gaming chairs" that vibrate and have built-in surround audio! Then there's the various headsets for in-game chat and communications, and of course the increasingly popular and newly evolving world of VR headsets...

There's a lot of fancy stuff out there, but I'd like to talk about the most important peripherals; the keyboard and mouse. These are the core peripherals for any gaming PC. Sure, a standard keyboard and mouse will work for the most part, but to get the most out of your game, one needs the precision and accuracy of a real Gaming keyboard/mouse setup.

A gaming keyboard is built for gamers, and with gaming in mind. An ideal example will most importantly have high quality, individual mechanical keys for a precise, tactical feel. It will also include extra programmable shortcut/macro keys, and most are backlit, some, having several different color options. Also, most gaming keyboards are wired. There's just too much room for latency in a wireless keyboard for gaming. Wired is the way to go!

The gaming mouse is something else that comes in a wide variety of styles. They make different ones for different types of games and playing styles. For MMO/MOBO games you might choose one that has a 6-12 button configuration, where for the classic FPS shooter, a standard 3 button mouse will get the job down and be more comfortable. The important part of the gaming mouse though, is the high precision movement (measured in DPI (Dots Per Inch)) and the polling rate. A high end unit will commonly have anywhere from an 8k to a 16k DPI and a 1000Mhz polling rate (which equates to a 1ms response time) A gaming mouse can be wired or wireless, but plan on paying a premium price for the latter!

So, after recently upgrading my gaming PC, I've found myself in the market for a new gaming keyboard and mouse. (I play a lot of FPS and 3PS type games). I've been looking at the Razer brand and I think I've got a good idea of what I want to get..

Thinking about this one for the keyboard:

Razer BlackWidow Ultimate - Mechanical Keyboard

And this for my mouse:

Razer DeathAdder Chroma - The World's Best Gaming Mouse

What do you use? What's on your wishlist for gaming peripherals? Share your thoughts, experience, and feedback on any related products. Any particular brands to avoid?

What is your weapon of choice?
 

Muessig

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Sep 30, 2012
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Personally I use a mouse (m65) and mechanical keyboard (K65 I think? with red cherry MX keys) from Corsair which I really enjoy using. My headphones are Beyerdynamic 880DT's and I use a modmic for when I'm gaming on them. I use the 600 ohm version of the DT880's with an O2 Amp and DAC. I recently got a Xbox One Wired controller for when I'm play GTA V and other such games where a controller is needed.

I'm not sure what else is next on my wishlist of peripherals.
 

Ed Boland

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Nov 17, 2012
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Personally I use a mouse (m65) and mechanical keyboard (K65 I think? with red cherry MX keys) from Corsair which I really enjoy using. My headphones are Beyerdynamic 880DT's and I use a modmic for when I'm gaming on them. I use the 600 ohm version of the DT880's with an O2 Amp and DAC. I recently got a Xbox One Wired controller for when I'm play GTA V and other such games where a controller is needed.

I'm not sure what else is next on my wishlist of peripherals.

Wow, I bet those headphones sound amazing!

I didn't know Corsair made keyboards... cool!

Yeah, I have a wired "Afterglow" Xbox 360 controller that I use for some PC games. Definitely not for the FPS games though...
 

DavidinCT

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I have the Razer DeathAdder myself (3500dpi), not the newer one with More COLORS ! but, the classic one(about 3 years old). I still use a Microsoft natural multimedia keyboard and after trying about 4-5 other keyboards for gaming, I still like this one the BEST.

I love the combo for gaming, that 3500dpi can make a big deal gaming..
 

Ed Boland

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Nov 17, 2012
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I have the Razer DeathAdder myself (3500dpi), not the newer one with More COLORS ! but, the classic one(about 3 years old). I still use a Microsoft natural multimedia keyboard and after trying about 4-5 other keyboards for gaming, I still like this one the BEST.

I love the combo for gaming, that 3500dpi can make a big deal gaming..
Nice! Microsoft does make quality keyboards and mice.

And thanks for the post! For some reason I didn't get a notification, and didn't see it until just now.
 

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