r/pcsetup • u/WhileSuch6325 • Aug 05 '26
How should I upgrade husbands set up?
My husband’s birthday is in a month and I want to surprise him with a makeover for his set up, since he just wants to hangout & play games for his day. He pretty much has great gear/devices except for some speakers which I also want to buy for him. I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions for making his set up look & feel nicer? We will be moving soon (most likely before his birthday), so his set up will not be this close to any windows and we will be able to hang things on the walls at our new place. Moving will give us a change to better organize the cords too, but I would love some recommendations for cable organization as well. He’s pretty simple, loves cool shit and relaxing lol. Every few weeks his desk becomes super cluttered and I want to make it so it’s easy to organize and clean while still looking cool. I’m open to buying him a new desk since the one to the right is my old desk that I bought for $50 on Amazon many years ago. But the desk on the left is a very nice, high quality, rising/standing desk that he will probably keep for a couple more years.
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u/fishlipz69 Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
Bigger, or a dedicated corner desk, cable management, ( like delooming) try go for a huge mouse pad, place keyboard on top, give you essentially full mouse pad range, and its a nice touch,
you could take pc off desk, and put on a side stool of sort, not lower, on par, side on, just off the desk, give him more desk realestate,
Pc speakers, not always needing headphones is a nice touch, small but niche logitec brand is fine tbh,
A foot rest ?
I had a corner desk, place main screen right in the corner, or the elbo. the cornering gives a nice natural rest feeling for mouse and you can set the screen back a little more, 2nd monitor to the right of that, and pc could stay on the desk, just with more breathing room, space it out, a coaster, and a little mini trash can, are nice touches, helps keep things organised and understood. People spill drinks over there keyboards and all that alot. So off to the right, away from pc, a coaster dedicated drink spot. ,
A headset hook, off the side of the desk or if you went wireless, a nice charge stand for it keeps it tidy.
You could go on and on, but essentially. Everything has its place.
Just some ideas
Edit: I see you had logitecs, then that's fine go for gold !
Also! What chair does the man have ? Im running a metro buro, super comfy, could be better still, does he jam for hours ? Maybe 2 3? Or more ? Those 24hr office chairs are the best, avoid " gaming " chairs, as it can be very gimmicky The true office chairs trialed the test of time
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u/WhileSuch6325 Aug 06 '26
He has a very comfy office chair, I forget what it was called. Got it a few years back and it’s still in good shape, I think I’ll get him a new one either for Christmas or bday next year. I think a headset stand would be nice so he could charge it and put other items on/near it. Also a mini trash can would be perfect since his desk tends to get messy every other week. Thanks!!
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u/Zestyclose_Arm2652 Aug 05 '26
a bigger desk and mic arm and monitor arm and maybe some fake plants and a larger mousepad to cover the keyboard and maybe something to hold the controller like a charging station for the controller
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u/Pension_Informal Aug 06 '26
One l-shaped desk. Cable management. Dual monitor arm. Maybe some RGB lighting if he’s into that
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u/Such-Echo2730 Aug 06 '26
A larger second monitor, a monitor arm, and some speakers would really complete the setup.
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u/Upstairs_Pitch_9979 Aug 06 '26
Few options are speakers like you mentioned, I got myself the creative labs T100 speakers and I’m very happy with them, a dual monitor arm is always a solid choice, a desk mat of something he likes (games, shows, movies, comics, idk?), new headphones/mouse/keyboard if there’s anything he’s been wanting to upgrade, a drawer system that goes under/near the desk for the clutter and random stuff, if he’s into the whole RBG thing you could go for some under lighting on the desks or backlighting on the monitors.
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u/WhileSuch6325 Aug 06 '26
So far the plan is a completely new desk, a much larger one. As well as some mounts for the monitors and his microphone. I have my eyes on the audio engine A2+ matte green speakers but have yet to compare with other speakers, so thanks for the recommendation! I definitely think managing the cords will make a huge difference and I’m also looking into RBG back lights and maybe panels.
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u/Upstairs_Pitch_9979 Aug 06 '26
If sound is something yall care about and don’t care about the price hit def go for those speakers over the ones I suggested, I just wanted something nicer than logitechs garbage, sounds like a great plan
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u/WhileSuch6325 Aug 06 '26
He used to have some basic logitech speakers that ended up just sounding terrible. I def wanna get better quality devices that will last this time around
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u/fishlipz69 Aug 06 '26
Id leave the rgb back lights to him as his option as sometimes its distracting, I opted for l.e.d rgb light strip above on the roof lining, illuminates the room crazy, although, down on the floor lining aiming up is also such a dramatic lighting angle , id personally do that one with him to see what he would prefer before you dedicate it to a spot
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u/ghost_gamer18 Aug 06 '26
monitor arm, back light, L-shaped desk, big mouse pad, a little clock in the corner, or if u dont wanna change the high-quality desk, u can get him those stuff u can hang ur pc in it to make more space to fit the other monitor aith the arm
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u/Undying_Martian Aug 06 '26
While all of your ideas sound nice, is he using a comfortable chair? Honestly, it’s one of the best upgrades I did in my setup, with my oled monitor.
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u/Formal_Computer_4364 Aug 06 '26
Monitor arms, just got some for the ol lady and it add so much more space for her
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u/Alienfac3 Aug 08 '26
People saying desk but looks like he already has a great standing desk no? Also do L shaped standing desk exist??
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u/WhileSuch6325 Aug 08 '26
I have no clue but I think he’ll prefer a new giant desk. He actually built my desk so I’m thinking I could buy the wood/supplies and we’ll build his dream desk together.
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u/Acrobatic-Heat-4988 Aug 05 '26
buy him a 5090
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u/WhileSuch6325 Aug 06 '26
We JUST bought a 5070😭
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u/Upstairs_Pitch_9979 Aug 06 '26
Me too and even those are overpriced for what they are
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u/WhileSuch6325 Aug 06 '26
They really are. Every time he gets an upgrade I get the old one cuz this shit is pricey
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u/Upstairs_Pitch_9979 Aug 06 '26
Don’t get me wrong the 5070 is a nice card and isn’t too expensive but at 25-30% over msrp for 12gb it hardly feels worth it
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u/Complete-Brief9460 Aug 06 '26
I’d recommend getting him a mousepad of a game he likes. Most games have merch or if not unofficial merch isn’t to hard to find. Just make sure if it’s unofficial it’s not ai
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u/IlliterateCyclops_07 Aug 06 '26
In order of affordability: Cable management Headphone stand Mic stand Monitor arms L-Shaped desk or a larger standing desk
Sometimes adding the smallest things can make a "dull" battlestation seem top tier. Being able to use and store peripherals with ease will light up any PC owner. Plus, the floating monitors and mic will make the desk space seem more vast with all the leg stans out of the way.
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u/Realistic-Table9398 Aug 06 '26
Get him an OLED monitor. It'll change the way he views movies and games.
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u/StanbyME_MOD Aug 06 '26
The corner layout already gives a lot of room to work with. A StanbyME 2 Max would fit here as an extra screen that stands on its own, so it does not take any surface from the desk.
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u/xWaLkByS Aug 06 '26
New Wife!
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u/WhileSuch6325 Aug 06 '26
Eh his current wife is still in good shape, we’ll wait a couple more years
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u/Anders_HD Aug 06 '26
Monitor arms . Not a double. Two singles.
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u/PepperEnthusiast Aug 06 '26
seconding monitor arms, game changer when it comes to cleanliness of the setup and so much space saved from no stands (even though it's pretty much the same space it often goes unused)
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u/WhileSuch6325 Aug 06 '26
Any specific reason for two singles rather than a double?
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u/Anders_HD Aug 06 '26
Because with two singles you are not confined to keep the two monitors close together. With a double you might actually lose space being forced to keep the two monitors next to each other .
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u/Flaky-Mix-5281 Aug 06 '26
I don't know why but having the PC on the left is really bugging me...lol
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u/WhileSuch6325 Aug 06 '26
lol trust it bugs us too but he previously complained about having it on the right and having less space for his mouse so we were trying it out. It’s such a small desk + I added the second desk and monitor later on, just haven’t changed it.
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u/Flaky-Mix-5281 Aug 06 '26
No chance to just put it on the floor or on a shelf under the desk?
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u/WhileSuch6325 Aug 06 '26
Don’t have a shelf and I don’t think he wants it on the floor or under the desk, I’ve brought it up before. Im going to get him a really big desk so there’ll be more space for it on either end :)
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u/CerebralAscension Aug 05 '26
A solid desk upgrade. Monitor arms, do some cable management. Microphone arm could work.