Jan 2016 Best Gaming Keyboard Mice and Monitors

January 2016 Best Gaming PC Keyboards Mice and Monitors

Gaming PC  Keyboard, Mice and Monitor Suggestions for January 2016

Welcome to the introductory Gaming PC Peripherals article for the year 2016. The following includes recommendations for a few levels of gaming pc setups, of which are included in the three categories of Higher End, Mid-Range and Basic PC peripherals. These categories are roughly created around the monthly gaming pc build, such as this months January 2016 Gaming PC Builds of the Month. As such, you can still take a peak at each level of recommendations and see what fits best for you as the recommendations are not a one size fits all – everyone may have a more personal preference when it comes to choosing the right mouse or keyboard for example (things such as color, key weight, number of extra buttons giving specific functionality.

For the peripherals you see listed below, they are arranged into categories that best reflect three separate general budget categories and are geared towards pc gamers, so keep that in mind.  If you have any questions or comments or even other peripheral recommendations, then please feel free to leave a comment.

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Jan 2016 Best Gaming Keyboard Mice and Monitors

Higher End Gaming PC Peripherals – January 2016

The “higher end” peripherals are meant to showcase some of the more popular higher end / gaming specific peripheral hardware that one might consider to have the top of the line gaming peripherals or more of the “best” overall type of peripheral hardware – keeping in mind, these are not the most expensive gaming hardware peripherals one can buy, but a collection of the higher quality / more popular hardware for gamers in a few different categories. If you play specific types of games (MMO’S vs high FPS) then you might want to look into specific gaming hardware geared for those game types, either way the list below should still be relevant.

For several months, the included higher end keyboard is the Corsair Vengeance Gaming K70 Mechcanical Keyboard. This keyboard is designed for performance gaming for those fast response times with 100% Cherry MX red mechanical key switches, a black anodized brushed aluminum chassis, deep red leds, 100% anti-ghosting and more (learn / read more at corsair.com). I have grown very fond of the Cherry MX Red mechanical switches as they provide a smooth ‘clickyness’ that both satisfies and isn’t too overbearing.

The mouse included as the “best overall” is the  Logitech G502 Proteus Core, making this a very good choice for a varying range of gamers –  a very comfortable all around gaming mouse with 11 large programmable buttons and easily one of the best mice out there, and is a great mouse for playing any time of PC game. [learn more at gaming.logitech.com]. This is the mouse I’m currently using myself, and I must say I love it.

There are a couple of monitors  included below. The first monitor is the Acer XB270HU bprz, which is for those who want to game at 2K resolutions while gaming (2560X1440) with 144Hz at 27 inches and also with G-Sync – making this the perfect monitor for the $1500 2K gaming pc build of the month – January 2016.  If you want to read the full details on this particular monitor please visit acer.com.

The second monitor is the Acer XB280HK bprz, a 4K monitor with G-Sync and at 28 inches. This monitor is for those that want to crank that resolution up to a full Ultra HD 4K – keeping in mind though that in order to max games out with a smooth 60fps, may be difficult to achieve unless you go SLI or Crossfire with your graphics cards (although a GTX 980Ti is definitely capable of 4K gaming, generally with some settings scaled back). Learn more about this Acer monitor as acer.com.

Hardware Link Price Image
Keyboard Corsair Gaming K70 RGB LED Mechanical Gaming Keyboard – Cherry MX Red (CH-9000068-NA) (Also comes with Cherry MX Brown or Blue switches should you prefer) $166.94
Mouse (Best all around gaming mouse) Logitech G502 Proteus Core Tunable Gaming Mouse with Fully Customizable Surface, Weight and Balance Tuning (910-004074) $65.90
Monitor (2560×1440 / 2K @144Hz) OR (3840×2160 / 4K) Acer XB270HU bprz 27-inch WQHD NVIDIA G-SYNC (2560 x 1440) Widescreen Monitor (2K Gaming at 144Hz& G-Sync – For NVIDIA Graphics Card Users (Example: GTX 980 Ti Used in 2K Build Jan 2016)


 

Acer XB280HK bprz 28-inch Display Ultra HD 4K2K NVIDIA G-SYNC (3840 x 2160) Widescreen Monitor (4K Gaming at 60Hz & G-Sync – For NVIDIA Graphics Card Users)

$699.99 (Acer XB270HU bprz)


 

$699.99 (Acer XB280HK bprz

 

 


Mid-Range PC Peripherals – January 2016

The mid-range category is perfect for those that want to still have great gaming peripherals, but not necessarily the most expensive. The Mid Range peripherals are most likely geared more towards gamers that want a little more then the basic gaming necessities in order to have that slight edge while gaming in the specific games they may be interested in.

We have the Corsair Strafe Cherry MX Mechanical Keyboard. This is a great looking mechanical keyboard with cherry mx key switches (a very satisfying keyboard to game with and my preference), dynamic backlighting, endless programming with the ability to reassign any key or set up for extreme macros and more. Learn and read more at corsair.com.

This month I have included two mice in the mid range collection below (noting that they are around the cost if not more then the Proteus included in the higher end peripherals category above; this is because I’ve chosen the proteus as the best ‘overall’ and the following two mice as gamingh specific mice). The first mouse is the Corsair Vengeance M65 mouse would be ideal for FPS gamers, since it is built for precision and comfort. It has eight programmable buttons and one specifically for sniper mode – which simply slows down the dpi of the mouse in order to aim more precisely. Even though this mouse matches the cost of the high-end one above, it’s still a a great choice for a different type of gamer and you can also adjust the weight and dpi on the fly. To learn more about the Corsair Vengeance M65 please visit Cosair.com. The second mouse included is the Razer Naga Epic Chroma gaming mouse. This Razer Naga has a total of 19 MMO optimized programmable buttons for unlimited combos, chroma lighting that has 16.8 million customize able color options. Check out the full details at razerzone.com.

The mid range monitor for another month is the LG Electronics 24GM77 24 inch monitor. This monitor is really a fantastic gaming monitor for those gaming at 1920×1080 with super fast response times and 144hz refresh rates; highly recommended. This monitor is 24 inches,  has some of the best motion blur reduction and has Dynamic Action Sync, which reduces input lag by up to half.

Hardware Link Price Image
Keyboard Corsair STRAFE Cherry MX Red Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (CH-9000088-NA) $99.99
Mouse Corsair Vengeance M65 Performance FPS Gaming Mouse, Gunmetal Black (CH-9000022-NA) (FPS Player Recommended Mouse)


 

Razer Naga Epic Chroma Multi-Color Wireless MMO Gaming Mouse (MMO Player Recommended Mouse)

$88.74


 

$99.99

 


Monitor (1920×1080) @ 144Hz LG Electronics Gaming 24GM77 24-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor (144Hz and 24-inches) $295.99

Basic PC Peripherals – January 2016

The “basic” peripherals are meant to showcase some of the more popular peripherals that are generally more affordable, but still considered gaming specific hardware. Just because these are labelled “basic” doesn’t mean they aren’t quality peripherals for gaming, but realistically it’s all you really need to get into any gaming without all the bells and whistles.

For the keyboard this month I have switched my selection to the Coolermaster CM Storm QuickFire Rapid – personally I really like this keyboard, which features mechanical Cherry MX switches (your choice of Brown, Blue or Red MX Switches), windows key disabling in game, laser marked keycaps, anti ghosting and best of all, this keyboard is tenkeyless; which makes is a great basic gaming pc keyboard in my opinion as this gets rid of necessary keys such as the number pad minimizing the overall keyboard size (so unless you really need those extra keys, this could be a very viable gaming keyboard option). Learn more about this keyboard at coolermaster.com.

The Turtle Beach Grip 300 Gaming mouse you see below, is essentially a gaming mouse that probably has all most gamers will fully utlize, such as a comfortable design, two big thumb buttons and three DPI settings. To learn more search for the Turtle Beach gaming mouse over at turtlebeach.com.

The monitor you see below in the budget peripherals for January 2016 is the BenQ GL2460HM. A 24-inch with 1920×1080 resolution [Learn more at benq.com]. This monitor is  priced quite well considering its specifications as being a 1920×1080 resolution, 24 inch, 60hz monitor.

Hardware Link Price Image
Keyboard Coolermaster SGK-4000-GKCL1-US CM Storm QuickFire Rapid $69.99 Blue Cherry MX) $75.50 (Brown Cherry MX) or ($92.23 Red Cherry MX)
Mouse Turtle Beach Grip 300 Gaming Kit Including Optical Gaming Mouse and Medium Drift Mouse Pad for PC/Mac (TBS-4835-01) $34.95  
Monitor (1920×1080) BenQ GL2460HM 24-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor (24 inch 60Hz) $159.81

Operating System Options

If you don’t already have an operating system for your new gaming pc build, then you’re going to have to either invest in purchasing a standard OS such as Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10. Otherwise, there are some free alternatives that you could consider below as well. Keep in mind that you will need an optical drive should you decide to purchase the install DVDs, however you can also purchase Windows online or as a USB stick and install it that way – this would be the process for installing your OS without an optical drive.

The following are some operating systems you can consider installing upon putting your Gaming PC build together. The first three will cost you and are either Windows 7 or 8.1, or 10 – I have no opinions here so I’ll leave the purchase of these up to the discretion of yourself, but do keep in mind that either way you do have the option of upgrading to Windows 10 for now. I have also included two other operating systems that are both currently free. Ubuntu is a Linux based operating system. The last OS is SteamOS, which is also a Linux OS being developed by Valve Corporation and is being made to be used for a Steam Machine game console.

OS Link Price Image
Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 System Builder OEM DVD 64-Bit $94.95  
Windows 7 Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit, System Builder OEM DVD 1 Pack (New Packaging) $109.99  
Windows 10 Upgrade Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64 Bit System Builder OEM | PC Disc $98.47  
Ubuntu Ubuntu – Desktop Free Ubuntu Logo
SteamOS SteamOS Beta “Build your own Steam Machine” Free Steam Operating System OS

Comments 4

    1. Post
      Author

      Very interesting mouse Alex. I’ve honestly never even heard of it myself, although after reading some of the user reviews it seems you are not alone in thinking that it’s an amazing mouse. I’d feel comfortable recommending it considering the price is super affordable, thank you for the suggestion!

      1. No problem! I’m glad to help your site and viewers out! I’m delighted you gave me the credit on the February Peripherals guide! That means so much to me 🙂 I’ll be on the lookout for more good deals!

        Keep up the great work on your site Corey, it keeps getting better and better!

        1. Post
          Author

          Of course and thank you, I think it’s definitely worth mentioning hardware that others have found to be worthwhile purchasing that even I wouldn’t have even known about otherwise. It seemed like a worthwhile mention and the price seemed to stick too!

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