If you’re of the handheld PC persuasion and have thought "Psh, I don’t need one of the best Steam Deck docks", then I know what you mean – I’ve had a Deck since launch and didn’t bother with any kind of proper docking station for months afterwards. I'll tell you, though, this was a mistake. Even if they’re not essential for the Steam Deck’s intended portable exploits, in the same way that a good microSD card or carrying case is, docks make it drastically easier to poke around Desktop Mode – and by extension, to unlock all of the device’s coolest secrets.
]]>You could say that the best Steam Deck case is the one you get for free, and to be sure, I have no qualms with Valve’s bundled carrier. Especially not the one you get with the 1TB Steam Deck OLED, which adds a neat mini-case in the form of a removable liner. Still! As you’ll see here, you do have a choice of worthwhile upgrade options, ranging from conventional hard cases with extra accessory storage to clever protective sleeves that combine impact resistance with improved handheld grip. The best way to avoid Steam Deck damage is to not drop it in the first place, as Sun Tzu probably said.
]]>You’ve got the Steam Deck – now it’s time for some Steam Deck accessories. The best Steam Deck accessories, no less. This guide doesn’t cover microSD cards, partly because they’re too essential to be mere accessories, but otherwise there’s everything you need here to fully trick out your handheld: port-packed docking stations, carrying case upgrades, scratch-resistant screen protectors and grippy thumbstick covers.
Whether you went in early on the original Steam Deck or picked up the newer Steam Deck OLED model, accessories are a handy (and often quite cheap) means of both personalising your kit and making the handheld life just easier for you in general. Docking stations, for instance, make it completely painless to navigate Desktop Mode with a mouse and keyboard, opening up a route to adding non-Steam game launchers. And even a new case – seemingly unnecessary, considering all Steam Decks come with one – could cut down on bag bulk or, conversely, add room for earbuds and power banks.
]]>Whether you early-adopted in 2022 or have only just picked up the new limited edition white model, every flavour of Steam Deck is improved by one of the best microSD cards. PC games ain’t getting any smaller, and by fattening up your total storage space, you’re helping the handheld fulfil its potential as a go-anywhere carrier of your Steam library. Maybe even a few non-Steam games, to boot.
]]>A lot of the best gaming microphones are either designed for streaming, or marketed to streamers. And yet, they can be a worthy addition to your peripheral collection even if you’ve never, ever said “What’s up, guys” into a webcam. A dedicated desktop mic can be called upon for casual Discord chats just as surely as it can for barking push-to-talk instructions at multiplayer randos, should you be so inclined, and if you’ve chosen wisely you’ll always sound clear and intelligible.
]]>Playing games at high refresh rates is one of the best things about being a PC gamer, but unless your monitor has some kind of variable refresh rate technology built in, you can often encounter unwanted stutter and screen-tearing. That's why we've compiled this list of the best G-Sync gaming monitors to help you find a great screen that eliminates those pesky defects. We've included a range of screen sizes and refresh rates here, from entry-level 1080p G-Sync screens to 4K G-Sync Ultimate ones. Whatever you're looking for, we've got you covered.
]]>Curved gaming monitors have become increasingly popular in recent years, with their wraparound displays offering a more immersive gaming experience compared to traditional flat screen monitors. To help you find the best curved gaming monitor for you and your budget, we've put together this list of our top recommendations. We cover all manner of screen sizes in this list, from small 24in screens right up to 49in super ultrawide ones, and all of them come with high refresh rates for super smooth gaming. Whatever type of curved gaming monitor you're looking for, we've got you covered.
]]>Wireless gaming mice are a great way to cut the clutter on your gaming desk, so to help you get the best wireless gaming mouse for your money, we've put together this list of our top recommendations. Wireless gaming mice can often be quite a bit more expensive than wired gaming mice, but we cover all budgets here, with our cheapest pick going for just £50 / $50. We've also got some top picks for those after the best ultralight wireless gaming mouse, as well as those after something a bit chunkier. Whatever you're looking for, we've got a wireless gaming mouse pick for you.
]]>Buying a new gaming monitor can add quite a bit of extra cost onto a new PC build, but the good news is that there are plenty of great gaming screens out there for less than £300 / $300. In our round-up of the best budget gaming monitors you can buy today, we show you that it's perfectly possible to get a great display with all the modern conveniences you'd expect from a top notch gaming monitor, including high refresh rates and even a 4K resolution in some cases, without breaking the bank. Whether you're upgrading an old screen or buying one for the first time, here are our top gaming monitor picks for those on a budget.
]]>Upgrading to one of the best 4K gaming monitors could appear, in a year marked by furiously demanding games like Starfield and Alan Wake 2, to carry a degree of risk. 2160p play has always needed a beefy graphics card to push all those pixels, but is it worth making the switch when new releases might only run well on an absolute behemoth of a bleeding-edge PC?
Yes, in fact, it can be. You know what else looks good at a pin-sharp 4K? The thousands of other games you can play on PC besides the aforementioned GPU-melters. And even where those are concerned, there are more tricks and tools for getting them under control than there were when 4K monitors first became a viable gaming option. Upscalers like DLSS and FSR 2 are the most widely available, and newer versions – namely DLSS 3 and FSR 3 – can boost framerates further still. Far from this being a bad time to upgrade to 2160p, then, you could say it’s never been easier to get good performance at such a high resolution.
]]>Even the best gaming SSDs aren’t immune to those nebulous "economic forces" – which, if my electricity bills are any indication, include the force of being punched in the eye socket by a guffawing C-suite berk. Which is to say, solid state drives are still a bit expensive at the mo, though they have dipped a tiny bit since the summer, which could be a glad tiding for anyone looking to upgrade their PC storage.
In some ways, waiting might be worse: today’s games are not only increasingly massive, but have started demanding SSD storage specifically, leaving mechanical hard drives to deal with dreadfully lengthy load times. If, indeed, the game runs properly at all. At least you’ve come to the right place, as we’ve long been wielding the infinite power of benchmarks and stopwatches to curate a guide to the finest SSDs around.
]]>It’s easy to think of the best gaming monitors as an extravagance – surely everything your games need for a smooth ride is within the PC itself, and any old screen will do the trick? Not so. It’s true that even the most opulently-specced monitor won’t technically make your games run faster, but they can make them look better, whether it’s by unlocking slicker framerates with a high refresh rate, letting colours bloom brigher, or eliminating ugly tearing effects with FreeSync and G-Sync. A proper gaming monitor, then, is a more than worthy addition to your desk, and these here are the best ones we’ve tested.
]]>Everyone say hello to the newest member of the best gaming keyboards club, Logitech’s g Pro X TKL. It’s one that’s rekindled my specific love for tenkeyless ‘boards, that welcoming, temperate middle ground between compactness and the actually-having-real-function-keys quality of fullsize models.
Still, regardless of the form factor, I will maintain to my hopefully distant death that a well-crafted gaming keyboard will always serve its owner better than the plasticky office peripherals that many of us start out with. As is often the case with the best gaming mice, it might not even come down to games-specific features; it’s just that more specialised hardware usually puts more effort into tactility, ergonomics, and customisation. All universal qualities that you’ll find in abundance below, in our guide to the absolute best gaming keyboards we’ve tested.
]]>I always enjoy testing out new contenders for this best gaming mouse guide. Plenty of mice turn out to be common street rats, to be sure, but every now and then something comes along that works so well it feels like an extension of my own hand. Without the implicit body horror, obviously.
Just like equipping yourself with one of the best gaming keyboards, finding the perfect peripheral for your other mitt is well worth doing. After all, what piece of hardware could make your life more comfortable than one you operate by touch? To help with the search, we present the very best gaming mice we’ve tested ourselves. The wired and the wireless, the cheap and the luxury, the lightweight and the button-rammed; if you push it around to control PC games, you’ll find the finest examples of it right here.
]]>Picking out the best gaming headsets is easy because a lot of microphone-and-headphone combos are, frankly, duff. Why, I don’t know – with the best gaming mice and keyboards, there’s sometimes the impression that PC peripherals are so relentlessly refined and factory-tested it becomes more difficult to make a bad one, but I’ve worn way too many headsets with tinny audio or cranium-crushingly tight earcups. This might conjure up a metaphor involving the separation of wheat from its natural protective casing, but really, the amount of grim hardware here actually serves to make the good headsets stand out more.
]]>New year, new best graphics card contenders. Understandably, all eyes are currently on Nvidia’s RTX 50 series, which spans the mid-range RTX 5070 all the way up to the RTX 5090 and its apparently-not-a-joke $1999 price tag. They’ll be launching from January 30th onwards, but in the meantime, let’s not forget the much more budget-friendly Intel Arc B580, which has what it takes to knock the RTX 4060 off its 1080p perch.
]]>Even with a convenient guide to best gaming CPUs, picking out a new processor will invariably require some thought. Maybe even some chinstroking. Besides the need to pair your desired chip with a compatible motherboard and RAM, modern CPUs have tangled themselves up in a dense snarl of mathematical naming conventions and increasingly bewildering variations of core and thread counts. A situation that’s unlikely to be helped by Intel’s Core rebrand.
This guide aims to take the brow-furrowing out of buying a central processor, by narrowing things down to a select handful of only the best CPUs that’s we’ve tested in games. Because while there are sexier PC upgrades, keeping this particular part up to date is worth doing: even if it’s not a 24-core gigabrain, a good CPU can and will boost gaming performance, especially when it can unlock the full power of your graphics card.
]]>Virtual reality hardware seems to be making a comeback in 2023, so don’t be surprised if this guide to the best VR headsets looks different by the end of the year. Besides the versatile-but-pricey Vive XR Elite, the Meta Quest 3 is fast approaching its September release date, and despite a hike on the Quest 2 will still provide a more affordable alternative. There’s also the Apple Vision Pro, but, uhhh... no.
A big yes, on the other hand, to the headsets below. These stalwart sets of eyepieces and wave-around controllers are, for now, your best bets for playing VR games like Half-Life: Alyx and Beat Saber. Give them a hand, and the upper half of a face.
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