Daily Peripheral Choices

I get asked a lot what hardware I use. Well PC hardware itself is subjective a lot to various factors but mostly cost. However I think a topic that is easier to talk about is peripherals, we all use them and the price points are often within everyone's budget at some level.

Keyboard : For my daily use I am using the Logitech G910. While many choose a keyboard like this for the RGB lighting or the various macro keys, I chose it for the key switches. I love mechanical switches but even browns with dampeners are loud during my stream. The Logitech G910 and 810 use their own designed Romer-G switches. They keys have the advantage of being a mechanical switch but with a very short travel and much quieter than other mechanicals I have used. I pay a bit more for this but to me that extra cost is worth it.

Mouse: I admit I have a problem, I like uniformity. That's why I try to get my RAM and SSDs, or case and PSU to be from the same company. I KNOW it makes no difference but there is a human compulsion to have things seem to match. For this reason I use a Logitech mouse, the G502. The mouse fits my hand well, is extremely well made and offers features I use like a sniper button and their wonderful free spinning scroll wheel. I have to admit however that for my testing rig I switched back to my old favorite, the G400S, it is just a great mouse and still one of my favorite along with the MS Sidewinder, of all time.

Microphone: Being a professional broadcaster for 20 years made me picky as all hell about microphones. However I am also frugal and a realist. I could have a good mixer with a high end studio mic but there is no need and the cost is just nuts. I have tried headset mics and still use one (HyperX Cloud) at LAN events but for at home, for my personal use and streaming, I wanted something better. After playing with a number of mics I settled on the Blue Yeti. This is simply put the best computer mic I have ever used. The amount of control and function it offers is amazing for the price. There are other great mics for less money, my wife is using the Snowball and I think it is awesome.

Headphones: Notice I did not say headsets, gaming headsets are not bad but they are far from truly good in most cases. I have found the HyperX Clouds and Sennheiser's Game Zero and Ones are outstanding. The Sennheisers are the best choice but expensive. I found the HyperX Clouds to be the best balance of value and quality.

However i have digressed and not spoken of my personal choice of headphones. I worked through a lot of different models before I realized what I had been missing with not using open back. If you game in a room alone or at least that is quiet and others will not be bothers by your game sounds, then open back headphones are nothing short of gaming changing. The huge sound environment they offer take the game's sounds to new levels. I tried a few different models and settles on the Sennheiser HD 518. I know these are budget and I have tried the 558 and 598 but my choice is the 518. The reason for this is when you compare the sound quality of the three headphones you will notice that all three have very similiar sound envelopes. A number of sites have tested this and found it to be true. The 518 tend to have a bit more low end than the others, something I like. The 558 tend to be a bit brighter with a touch more highs and the 598 have the most neutral sound of the three. Other than these minor changes to sound they are practically identical in sound quality. As for comfort, well you do get more padding as you pay more but even the HD 518 are very comfortable for long gaming sessions.

Mousing Surface: I have to admit to being torn here. For a long time I really preferred a harder surface and my favorite was the WoW!PAD. An ultra thin hard surface that was easy to get in an over-sized model. Easy to clean and maintain with a life of 4 to 5 years easy. However after using a Kingston HyperX Fury Pro XL, I am now fully converted to loving the Mouse Mat. These larger pads give a lot of surface are for the mouse and just really tickle my fancy for looks. There are a number of different ones out there, the Kingston is just the one I happen to have. I also have a smaller, still wide just a bit less depth, mouse mat that is generic, I use for LAN events.

Now I could go on and talk about other items like game controllers, cameras and more but the above items are things all gamers will likely have in one form or another.

Please, share your choices and reasons why with the community, show us your stuff and maybe show others a choice they never considered. Peripheral choice is often very personal and influenced by a number of different factors, by sharing we all gather new information to help us make better, informed choices for our future purchases.