shopping for one PC gamer is a risky endeavor. What may seem like a great sale on a GPU or gaming keyboard may turn out to be a bad deal due to some mysterious specification that only the most fanatical forum-dwellers understand. If you’re shopping for the gamer in your life who lives a nerd life, we’ve got a simple, accessible guide to what they might like.
Be sure to check out our many other gaming guides including the best gaming laptops, best gaming headsets, best keyboards, best gaming mice, and best game controllers. If your giftee is more of a console gamer, read our best PS5 accessories and best Switch 2 accessories guides.
Updated November 2025: We’ve added the SteelSeries Arctic Nova 3P, Razer Viper V3 Pro, ROG Xbox Alley, Asus ROG Falchion Ace HFX, Corsair Scimitar Elite Wireless SE, Keychron Q5 HE and Q6 HE, AOC Q27G4XN, and SteelSeries QCK Mousepad.
The best advice I can give when shopping for a PC gaming hobbyist is simple: if you’re unsure, just ask. Ask if they have a favorite mouse, keyboard, or headset brand they’re keeping an eye on. Ask if there’s anything else they’re thinking about getting for themselves. If you’re still not sure, and you don’t want to get them the wrong thing, there’s another one-size-fits-all gift that no PC gamer will dislike: a Steam gift card. With this, the PC gamer in your life will be able to choose games from a huge online store. Most popular titles are around $60, so use that as a baseline for how much to add to the card.