It is officially that time of year again where all the retailers start seriously discounting goods and providing sales and deals for the holidays, which means it is also that time of year where ComicBook.com recommends various odds and ends to our readers. In this specific instance, we’re looking to suggest PC gear and peripherals for those of you looking to buy something for the PC enthusiast in your life. To be clear: we’re not going to get into the nitty-gritty of, say, graphics cards or off-the-shelf PCs vs. home builds; this is meant more for those that already have a computer and want to find the best extras.
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We’ve also made sure that everything we’re recommending here is easily available online. There’s a good chance you can also pick them up at local brick-and-mortar locations, but if you’d rather just order from, say, Amazon, and have it delivered, the option is there for you. Given the currently ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, for example, avoiding physical stores seems like a good idea.
So, read on for a bunch of options when it comes to exciting the PC gamers in your life. The prices range up to a couple of hundred dollars, but nothing’s too exorbitant or rare, and every single item here is included because of how much I genuinely believe it’d be useful to others — and is useful to me. That’s really just a long-winded way of saying: I personally recommend everything included here, but, obviously, your mileage may vary.
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Note: This is not a sponsored post, but if you purchase one of the awesome products featured herein, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.
1. Logitech G502 Hero High Performance Gaming Mouse
The Logitech G502 gaming mouse absolutely earns its reputation and is a workhouse among gaming mice. There are nicer mice out there on the market, and there’s even a wireless version of the G502 that’s more expensive, but the Logitech G502 Hero High Performance Gaming Mouse is a relatively cheap option and might be all you’ll need for several years with its 11 programmable buttons and adjustable weights. As someone that spends a lot of time at his computer, my own Logitech G502 has seen several moves and desks already and has yet to fail me.
Where to Buy: Best Buy
Price: $39.99
2. Razer Ornata Chroma Keyboard
There are far fancier keyboards on the market, and that includes mechanical and non-mechanical keyboards both, but there’s really no direct equivalent to the Logitech G502 mouse when it comes to full-size keyboards, in my opinion. Yes, Logitech has plenty of keyboards to sell, but in my experience, none are quite as sturdy as the brand’s mouse. When it comes to keyboards, I still default to Razer, and the Razer Ornata Chroma would be my recommendation for anyone looking to spend a little money but not break the bank.
It comes with “mecha-membrane” technology that basically tries to combine both membrane and mechanical keyboards together largely successfully. It’s not as clicky as a standard mechanical keyboard, but it gets the job done. It also has mid-height keycaps, customizable lighting, and an extended wrist rest.
Where to Buy: Amazon
Price: $79.99
If you’re looking for a smaller, non-gamer keyboard, however, Logitech’s K380 Multi-Device BlueTooth keyboard is actually quite nice. It doesn’t pack the same punch, but it is extremely handy to have around the house if you want to type on, say, a tablet or phone among other things.
Where to Buy: Best Buy
Price: $29.99
3. PC Gamepad Controllers
When it comes to PC gaming, gamepads are rarely a necessity, but they can be handy to keep around. Really, the choice is between two different ones at this time: Xbox or PlayStation. You can get much more expensive, and fancier, fast, but the reality is that if you’re used to playing with a controller on a console, it might just be better to bring that over to your PC as well.
If you want to play wirelessly, you’ll need a Bluetooth adapter of some sort, and Xbox helpfully sells a controller bundled with a wireless adapter. The PlayStation 4 wireless adapted can be hard to find sometimes, but you can also use any adapter that supports Bluetooth 2 and above. Alternatively, you can just play with the controllers plugged in. The PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller still isn’t fully supported on PC, so we’d actually recommend sticking to the DualShock 4 for now, but you’re welcome to give it a shot as well.
Price: $59.99 and $59.99, respectively
4. Secretlab Gaming Chairs
Look, nobody is going to say that gaming chairs aren’t extremely ostentatious. By and large, this is a truism regardless of the seller. But, as someone that has a Secretlab chair provided by the company for review, I am happy to report that, while certainly ostentatious, they are perhaps worth the price. Of all the products we’ve included here, this will by far be the most expensive, but also, good computer chairs just… are very expensive, actually. You need something that can put up with a lot of abuse and not collapse or completely mess up your back, and Secretlab’s chairs fit the bill comfortably.
While there are a bunch of different options and collaborations available from Secretlab, we specifically recommend the Overwatch collaboration Secretlab TITAN with the D.Va SoftWeave fabric. If you’re going to get a chair that stands out, you might as well get one thatย reallyย stands out. And the pink fabric and D.Va patches available on this model absolutely do so. There a couple of bits to consider, like your own height and weight, but overall, the Secretlab chairs should work for a relatively wide variety of body types.
Where to Buy: Secretlab
Price: These range in price, but the specific D.Va chair mentioned above is currently $439
5. AKG K240 MKII Headphones
I’ve had a lot of headphones over the years, ranging from extremely cheap “oh no, I’m at the airport and forgot my earbuds” models to those ranging up to a couple of hundred dollars, and while your mileage may certainly vary, the pair I always come back to is the AKG K240 MKII headphones. These things are billed as standard studio equipment, and for good reason. They hold up extremely well, provide excellent sound quality, and won’t hurt too much if you, like me, spend far too long with them on your head. How much do I like these things? Well, I’ve purchased the same pair twice — a first for me — after I stepped on my first one like a big dummy.
Where to Buy: B&H
Price: $149.99
6. The Blue Yeti Microphone
When it comes to PC microphones, there’s basically a gold standard: the Blue Yeti family of mics. The basic Blue Yeti will accomplish everything you need with studio-quality sound, but the Yeti X is a little fancier with some lights and overall more options. If you want to get really particular, the recent Yeti X World of Warcraft Edition takes all of the benefits of the Yeti X and adds a coat of “World of Warcraft” paint on top — including the ability to use Warcraft voice modulation and audio samples from the popular video game. If someone already has a Yeti, the upgraded versions are the next thing up, but honestly, if you’ve got nothing on par with the Blue Yeti at all yet, the basic model will get the job done.
Where to Buy: Best Buy (Yeti) and Best Buy (Yeti X) and Best Buy (Yeti X World of Warcraft Edition)
Price: $129.99, $169.99, and $199.99
7. Xbox Game Pass for PC
There are a bunch of different ways to get video games on PC, but if you’re starting from nothing, or simply want to provide a huge smorgasbord of options, it’s hard to go wrong with Xbox Game Pass for PC. Given that it has “Xbox” in the name, don’t expect to see PlayStation exclusives on the service, but beyond that, it’s basically as good as it gets in a gaming subscription service for PC. Other options like, say, Google Stadia or Amazon Luna certainly exist, but in terms of breadth and width, Xbox Game Pass for PC is where it’s at. Also? If you get Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, that includes the console version of the service as well.
Where to Buy: Xbox
Price: $1 (this is a promotional price, and may not be available if they’ve had it before)
8. WD My Book (4TB)
There are… so many options when it comes to external hard drives/desktop storage. In my experience, the difference between a good and a bad one largely falls to how reliable it is, how much it can fit, and how obnoxious it is to keep plugged in. The WD My Book comes in several tiers of space, but the 4TB or maybe the 6TB versions should serve perfectly well for anyone that needs an external drive like this without a) breaking the banks or b) absolutely dominating desk space.
Where to Buy: Best Buy
Price: $99.99
9. Logitech C615 Fold-and-Go HD Webcam
When it comes to webcams, there’s a good chance you might have just relied on, say, the one built into a laptop in the past or maybe one picked up during a sale that’s maybe, kind of still working, but mostly not. Given the year that 2020 has been, however, now is as good a time as any to keep an eye out for an actually decent webcam, and the Logitech C615 is as good a bet as any. Like with just about everything else for PC, there are cheaper and more expensive options, but for something you just need to work well after being plugged in, the Logitech C615 is a solid device that’s worth the price.
Where to Buy: Best Buy
Price: $69.99
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