The ultimate gaming gift guide for deep pockets, wide wallets, and anyone who can actually afford an Nvidia RTX 3090 GPU
The windows are frosted, trees are up, and if you didn’t live in a veritable mansion, you might’ve been able to hear sleigh bells jingling. Fortunately, you don’t need to wait for Santa and are probably on his naughty list, anyway. No, you’re an honorary member of the two-comma club and can embrace the gift of self-giving like no other, so peruse our list of lavish PC gaming goodies and ignore the fact they’ll require a fat wallet and a few spare miracles.
From souped-up gaming supercars to blindingly large TVs and elaborate pieces of gamer furniture that no one asked for, there’s bound to be something you secretly want from our gift guide. Of course, most won’t fit under the tree, but let’s face facts: you won’t even need them gift wrapped.
We know these cutting-edge technologies are tempting, but before you go selling your crypto and taking out a second mortgage, know that there are far more sensibly priced options out there. We even cover a few, so don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Hold on to your bank account…
Aren’t you tired of waking up every morning, only to be faced with the exhausting prospect of dragging your husk of a body across the floor to your desk? How can someone be expected to move from their bed to their gaming PC, or anywhere else less important for that matter, when the journey feels as arduous as Sam and Frodo’s quest to deliver the one ring from the Shire to Mount Doom? Bauhütte understands your pain all too well, and hopes to save you from your tortuous morning routine with its gaming bed, which it so brilliantly describes as “your gaming environment: the final form”.
Not only is the headboard adjustable, but it also features oodles of space so that you’ll never be too far from all of your essential gaming snacks. If you’re worried about having to get up to stock up on gaming fuel, the slim bottle rack and energy wagon will keep you from having to leave your bed much (if ever). The best PC games will always be at your fingertips thanks to the all-powerful, all-adjustable bed desk, which fits snugly at the base of your single bed. There are plenty of other add-ons that you can buy to set up the ultimate gaming bed, save for one key part: the actual bed.
You can’t go wrong with the Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 gaming chair and Magnus gaming desk, if you’re looking to customise your setup into something altogether more comfortable. These both use high quality materials and come in a range of designs, including many inspired by game franchises like The Witcher, League of Legends, and more.
When Nvidia revealed the GeForce RTX 3090 ‘BFGPU’ in September 2020, the promise of playing games at 60fps in 8K resolution was too great to not have it (even if you need to use Nvidia DLSS to achieve it). So, now that your finances have finally recovered from buying this goliath of a graphics card, it’s time to break the bank all over again for the latest in display technology: Mini LED.
You’ve tried all the best gaming monitors out there, but you need something bigger, brighter, and altogether more bourgeoisie. The LG 86QNED99UPA will be the last TV you will ever need, because once you’ve carried it into your house and set it up, you won’t ever want to move it again for fear it will fall on top of you and take you to a place so dark you’ll think you’d bought an OLED instead. Yes, you could put $4,499.99 towards a house, college, or a car, but it’s a small price to pay to get the most out of your BFGPU.
If 32 inches simply aren’t enough to satisfy you, the ROG Strix XG43UQ is packed with all the features you’d want in a gaming monitor without dominating your entire wall. Its 43-inch VA panel can output a 4K resolution at 144Hz, which keeps gaming experiences smooth and sharp, while its DisplayHDR 1000 certification will make on-screen visuals pop. Additionally, if you’re someone who’s lucky enough to have a gaming PC and an Xbox Series X|S or PlayStation 5 console, the XG43UQ’s two HDMI 2.1 ports will make sure you get the most out of all your gaming devices.
We’re not sure who first said ‘a display is only as great as its cables’ but the most important thing is: they’re right. After all, what’s the point in spending your life savings on superior tech every year if your cables don’t use cutting edge materials? Your friends might not be able to tell the difference, but you’ll know just how good it is deep down.
Thankfully, AudioQuest has produced the perfect pairing for the best graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia alike, with its line of Thunderbird 48 HDMI cables. Using 10% Silver-Plated Copper conductors, AQ’s Level-5 Noise Dissipation technology, and other specifications that sound fancy enough to fool us, the $750 price tag is probably more than justified, right? Just make sure you make sure the arrows on the cables are pointing in the right direction, else you’ll have to contend with suboptimal RF noise.
Snark aside, it’s crucial to understand that not every cable is created equally. Yes, materials are important, but you should concern yourself with specifications first and foremost. The most recent HDMI standard is 2.1, which is plenty for 1440p/240Hz or 4K/144Hz, but you must make sure your graphics card and display also support it. HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.4 is still plenty good for most use cases, too, so don’t despair if you’re not rocking a wire that could kickstart the funds for your next display itself.
Do you have a burning desire to play Forza Horizon 5 from within an exuberantly priced sports car? Well, Tesla’s Model S just so happens to be a gaming PC on wheels, complete with an ultra bright 2200×1300 resolution display on the desk and an AMD Navi 23 GPU under the hood.
Sure, the Model S might cost $94,990 for the base model, but at least the crypto miners won’t be snaffling up all of Tesla’s stock. That said, a crypto mining car (or cart) sounds exactly like something the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, would endorse.
Buying a gaming laptop that’s not part of a supercar’s dashboard could save you from trading in your reliable old Volkswagen Polo, and they cost 97% less than a Tesla. We’d recommend investing in Dell’s Alienware M15 R5, as it’s one of the best gaming laptops out there at the moment with an Nvidia RTX 3070 and proprietary Cryo-Tech cooling system. In fact, you can even buy a mounting tray and emulate Tesla’s expensive gaming experience (minus the ability to go zero to 60mph in 2.28 seconds).
Nostalgia is a persuasive, powerful thing, and if you’re not careful, it could grab you in its clutches this Christmas. If that’s already happened, you might want to consider a retro rig that matches your beige machine from back in the day, dreaming of playing the classics like Doom, Commander Keen, and King’s Quest.
However, while there’s nothing quite like the glow of a CRT, and the feel of an original IBM Model M keyboard, acquiring a retro gaming PC ensemble is expensive. Even vintage PC components are pricey, as the best retro graphics cards, like a 3DFX Voodoo 2, can cost near the same as an entry-level Nvidia RTX card.
Original hardware will always trump emulation, but paying a pretty penny for complete retro gaming PC setup can lead to heartache. Not only are classic components nearing the end of their lives, but achieving the perfect setup will take up a lot of free time, and room in your house. So, with that in mind, you might want to consider picking up something like a Raspberry Pi instead. It’s worth noting that to avoid the seven seas of piracy, you should only use games with your Raspberry Pi that you actually own, but it could be a powerful retro gaming space saver.
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