Gamercide's 2013 Last Minute Holiday Gift Buying Guide - PC Edition

Keyboards:

A mechanical keyboard is always a nice addition for the PC gamer. One of the higher rated ones is the Razer Black Widow Ultimate: Amazon $112

Here is another option: http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/ . They sell a full arrangement of mechanical keyboard that are customizable. Plus they have detailed information on the different switches. No macro support, but they are all around great keyboards.

Mice:

I have to recommend the R.A.T. 7 (wired): Amazon $98 or the R.A.T. 9 (wireless): Amazon $134 . They have been around for a while and look like a transformer, but with all the options you can fit the mouse to almost any hand. Very comfortable once you find the right arrangement for your hand. Plus they have fully programmable buttons, dpi adjustment, and different modes all at your finger tips.

Monitors:

I have been wishing for either one of these fine monitors:

BenQ XL2420TE: Amazon $280

ASUS VG248QE: Amazon $267

Both are 24 inch monitors supporting 1080P and up to 144hz refresh rate. It seems that which is left up to preference. The BenQ has been noted to have less flickering at different brightness levels, but the ASUS will be the first monitor to be compatible with NVIDIA G-sync when it releases.

Graphics Cards:

Under $300

Radeon R9 270x: Amazon $218-$250

or

Nvidia 760: Amazon $240-$300

I would recommend the Nvidia card, but the Radeon performs close to the same and can be found for a bit cheaper.

Above $400

Radeon R9: Newegg $550

or

Nvidia 780: Newegg $500

The Radeon card performs about 10% faster than the the Nvidia card, but currently the Nvidia 780 can be had for $50 cheaper and includes Batman Arkham Origins, Splinter Cell Blacklist, and Assassin's Creed Black Flag when purchased during the holidays.

Headset:

Personally, I can only recommend one.

Sennheiser PC360: Amazon $167

They will work with the PC, and also a PS4 if you have an adapter to hook into the controller ( fairly cheap ) . Not sure about the Xbox One. The sound quality is excellent, and it has a well built mic for chat. Plus they are incredibly comfortable for long play sessions.

Hard Drives:

Samsung 840 EVO SSD 120GB to 1TB: Amazon $100 to $525

Samsung 840 Pro SSD 128GB to 512GB: Amazon $125 to $420

An SSD is almost a must have for any serious gamer these days. The problem has been price per gigabyte, but those prices have come back to something more reasonable. If all you care about is speed and performance, or you're just looking for a new boot drive without the extra space I would recommend the 840 Pro series. They are pricier, but one of the fastest SSDs on the market. Keep in mind, the 128GB model is slightly slower than the larger models.

If you are looking for an SSD to increase your speeds and also need the extra space then I recommend the 840 EVO series. They aren't as fast as many SSDs out there, but they are still considerably faster than a standard Hard Drive and sport a lot better price/per gigabyte. As suggested with the Pro series, you should think about grabbing at least the 250GB model. Either way though, the EVO is a great addition to any PC for a reasonable price.