The gaming peripheral recommendations thread

Same company or just same speed?

RAM should always be of the same company and speed. Bad things can happen if not.

Opening is the easy part. Disassembling is the bit tougher one.

What are the funny sounds? Clicking? A sort of whining, aka "coil whine"? Just sudden loud noises?

I wouldn't wait if you suspect the PSU. Better make sure now instead of replacing more parts later.

Oh yeah, if it shuts down, it's 99% a PSU issue. So either the fan doesn't cool it well anymore or the power delivery has dropped down from the original spec. Or you have new power hungry hippos in the PC. Happens to old/low quality/faulty units. Does it shut down when under load only or even when it just stays idle at desktop? Either way, it's best to replace it.

For PSUs I always go to Seasonic or beQuiet. They can be a tad pricier than the other similar models, but so far never had an issue with them. I hear good things about Corsair, but never tried one.

I would stay as far away from Gigabyte as possible. MSI are also not on my good list, but it may have been just my luck.

Under load when I am gaming. Or rather it did because the computer won't start anymore.
The PSU has been in my PC for over six years and it's one from LC. I only learned recently that these are apparently kinda crappy. I just hope nothing else in the oldie system died and I'm not buying a new part for nothing. Thought about getting a Xilence, those have good reviews.

Any mobile GPU that can hold up with current gen gaming without costing an arm and a leg? I will have to get a laptop in due time and no idea what to get.




Turns out everything was okay (well, except for the PSU XD). My oldie runs like new now.

Can I assume that a GeForce RTX 3050 Ti is considered above that? I always get a bit confused with the numbering of the cards.

I decided on a laptop with a RTX 3060 and a Ryzen 5 now. Here's to hoping that's a good deal.
Thanks for answering my questions

The 4090 cards look so ridiculously strong that I actually contemplate grabbing one. Not now, of course, but maybe around Spring. Because the prices are a scam. And the 4080 lineup is a scam both in prices and performance.

What would you like to know chief? Overall the gear hasnt been bad but I have used it quite sparingly (about maximum 1 hour sessions at a time every few weeks) I've done this because 
1. Im playing a mixture of games not just racing
2. Im trying to maintain the gear (its still a belt driven wheel and mostly held together by a plastic case)
Still its a significant improvement from trying to use a keyboard and mouse or controller and for the games im playing it largely provides what I need

The good and bad from my own experience:

The good
- Very easy to setup and use out the box (im playing on PC and it took about 10 minutes to configure or lookup what I need)
- feedback is decent, cars in Assetto Corsa feel unique, for example a Mercedes SLR is fast but feels heavy around corners and when trying to break and there is feedback when you go into the gravel or hit the curb of a corner etc)
- Tied to point 1 but its a highly supported wheel so I can play something like Forza Horizon 5 and then I can move into a more realistic game like automobilista 2 and there will typically be Thrusmaster profiles available within the game settings
- Although its mostly plastic the wheel has felt pretty sturdy (buttons on the steering wheel havent been used that often but they feel decent enough and I do like the metal flappy paddles for shifting up/down a gear) The wheel that came with my bundle feels grippy enough as well

The bad
- The steering wheel that came with my bundle is very clearly smaller than a real life steering wheel. You can swap it out and Thrusmaster has an eco system of steering wheel that are designed for specific genre's of racing (F1, GT3/4, rally etc) and some are much more realistic but obviously they would cost more and some can be very expensive (more than the Thrustmaster bundle for example in the case of a particular F1 steering wheel) . Its not something I have invested in personally but the default wheel does take away from the emersion somewhat.
- The default pedals felt very toy-like so I had to invest in the more premium pedals (pedals are very important so dont skimp out) but that was close to another £200 for T-LCM pedals
- The resistance while decent is something I wish was higher (its around 4 newton meters of resistance/force feedback) I think an actual road car is around 5 - 8NM but a racing car (GT) is typically 10-12 NM, finally F1 cars and carts are much higher 20-30NM but thats overkill and if ur not holding the steering wheel properly could legit break ur wrist. I think 8-10 would be perfect because atm the force feels a little too light at times (still its much better feedback than cheaper alternatives and especially a KBM or controller)
- Durability, I said its all held up well so far but there is one thing that does worry me, the wheel has a fan which comes on when the belt and internals gets too hot, this fan can be noisy and for me at least comes on at around 40 minutes to an hour of play (another reason I dont like playing much longer). I have tried to be very careful with this, for example covering the wheel and base when not in use to try and reduce dust getting into the vents etc but its still something that worries me. To this point I have heard a lot of people have had their resistance reduced once the fan comes on, while this is not something that has happened to me im mindful of this happening long term.
- I bought a Thrustmaster shifter which was separate to the bundle and I have really struggled to get it to work, cars which use a traditional shifter in Assetto Corsa for example still dont recognise when I try and use the separate shifter so I have had to use the flappy paddles for everything atm. 

Ultimately it depends on how much ur willing to invest and what games do you want to play if ur thinking about using a racing wheel and pedals etc. This was still a fairly large investment for me which came to around £800 I think total (Thrustmaster T300 bundle with wheel + base + default pedals, T-LCM pedals, Shifter and Next level racing wheel stand) and thats considered fairly entry gear. You could probably get away with the default wheel clamp which clamps to a desk but the pedals move around a lot unless bolted onto something and you also have to consider the type of chair + ergonomics). For a few £100 more you could get a more premium wheel which uses the new Direct Drive technology, their typically much more powerful force feedback wise (minimum 5NM but typically 8 to 10) and dont use a belt or gears, generally dont need a fan either so their likely to be much more durable. 

The flipside is that their really only for proper sim racing games (Forza horizon, Gran Turismo etc cant really get the full functionality of resistance from what I understand so you wouldnt really get any benefit) they can also be more challenging to setup and are less supported. For now the Thrusmaster is good enough for me as im fairly causal but if the DD wheels start getting cheaper (which they are doing then I might upgrade).

TLDR - wheel is good but of course has some flaws, their are better alternatives but they are generally a fair bit more expensive and depending on the games you play may not be appropriate.   



 

That was a comprehensive report Tabouleh, and I thank you for it!

My primary concern with the entry level Thrustmaster HOTAS setup, was durability. I am not a brute, but I am sometimes clumsy and I do mash a button from time to time. I also have cats that choose to be assholes sometimes in my absence.

I need to put this off longer; to have the experience I want will take more money than I should be spending on myself for entertainment at this time in history :/

Still need to figure out which mouse to buy...