For full immersion in your gaming, whether you are playing Fortnite, a first person shooter, or getting your gamble on in a casino site, having a good setup will make all the difference.
There are so many things to consider that will make or break your experience, and with a little bit of knowledge you can build the perfect system that will give you the level of immersion that you are looking for.
Of course, this is much easier if you have an unlimited budget, but even with money constraints you can still create a gaming setup that will get you kudos in the streaming community and make sure that you can keep up with even the most intensive games.
So, What Do You Need?
The setup that you choose needs to suit you and your needs. Are you a casual gamer or someone that plays hardcore for hours on end? Do you stream your games? Are you going to be using the PC setup for more than just gaming, such as for content creation or working from home?
You will know exactly what you want from your system, and below is a brief list of what you need to consider:
- PC Hardware: CPU, GPU, Motherboard, RAM, Storage, Cooler, Case, Monitor
- PC Peripherals: Mouse, Keyboard, Controller, Headset, Speakers, Mousepad
- Streaming Extras: Video camera, Lighting
- Furniture: Desk, Chair
What PC Hardware and Peripherals Should I Choose?
Below is a simple list of the hardware you need to invest in, and the ‘money is no object’ choice as well as the best budget option.
CPU
The CPU is the heart of your set up, and you need something that is powerful enough to keep up with the latest technology.
- Top Choice: Intel Core i9 13900k – this is the fastest consumer processer ever produced, so it will be able to keep up with whatever you throw at it thanks to the 24 cores and a top clock speed of 6KHz.
- Budget Choice: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 – While this only has six cores, the top clock speed of 4.2GHz is more than enough for practically every type of gaming and it is considerably cheaper.
GPU
The graphics card is the tech that renders the visuals – so if you want crystal clear gaming, you need to get a good graphics card.
- Top Choice: ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4090 – Air-cooled for performance, with a custom design and build – this is built for the top-level technology like ray tracing.
- Budget Choice: AMD Radeon RX6600XT – Although this is not quite the same level as the ASUS option, this gives excellent performance at 1080p which means it is more than enough for modern gaming including ray tracing.
RAM
RAM is the memory that is most important for fast speeds and removing lag.
- Top Choice: 64GN Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR5: Stunning aesthetics including controllable LED lights, plus an anodized aluminum heat spreader – and a huge amount of performance, too.
- Budget Choice: Corsair Vengeance LPX – while this is slightly older tech (DDR4 instead of DDR5), it still features excellent performance for the heaviest games, while sporting a minimalist design.
Storage
The more storage the better, and you’ll want SSD for your set up.
- Top Choice: 4TB Sabrent Rocket NVMe SSD – Superfast with high performance, with a great design (and a hefty price tag).
- Budget Choice: HP FX900 SSD – While it might be only 1TB, this is a simple, effective, and power efficient storage solution.
Cooling
All this tech gets hot, so you’ll need to ensure that your performance doesn’t choke because it overheats – with a cooler.
- Top Choice: Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 Flux – this is the quietest liquid cooler on the market and can cool up to 200W – plus it has ARGB lighting, so it looks awesome, too.
- Budget Choice: DeepCool Gammax GT – Although it only has a single fan, this can cool up to 140W, is quiet, and is really simple to install.
Monitor
The right monitor can make all the difference when it comes to the details, and if you want to be fully immersed you need to be able to see everything.
- Top Choice: Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 – This 49” monitor has a high refresh rate of 240Hz, and the super ultrawide monitor also has mini-LEDs for backlighting.
- Budget Choice: AOC G2490vx – Although this is less than half the size at only 24”, the 144Hz refresh rate is enough for less than 1ms of delay – perfect for lag-free gaming. It has a sleek design with super thin bezels, so it looks good too.
Keyboard
- Top Choice: SteelSeries Apex Pro
- Budget Choice: Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
Mouse
- Top Choice: Logitech GPro X SUPERLIGHT
- Budget Choice: Logitech G305 LIGHTSPEED
Headset
- Top Choice: SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless
- Budget Choice: SteelSeries Arctis 1
Speakers
- Top Choice: Logitech Lightsync G560
- Budget Choice: Creative Pebble Plus 2.1 USB
