For a lot of gamers (and PC gamers in particular), your desk is the center of your gaming universe. It’s where you game, where you stream or watch others’ streams, and where you set up your gaming keyboard and other fancy peripherals. Plus, if you’re one of the many folks who now permanently work from home, it might very well be your workstation as well!
That means a gaming desk that’s cluttered, awkwardly arranged, or otherwise suboptimal can be a major drag on big parts of your life. So don’t accept less than you deserve! Up ahead, we’ll show you eight top tips for maximizing your gaming desk setup.
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Start by visualizing your ideal desk setup.
The first step is to consider what you want from your gaming desk. Think about:
- What works about your current setup and what could be improved
- Features of the room, such as its size and number of outlets
- Gaming peripherals (both ones you use now and ones you might want in the future)
- The aesthetic you want for your gaming setup
Let these guide you as you create or revamp your gaming desk arrangement. It’s all about finding what creates the gaming experience you want!
Decide whether your current desk meets your needs.
Your desk is the physical foundation of your gaming setup, so it’s crucial to have one that works for you. Here are some possibilities to think about:
- Need more desktop space, but don’t have a lot of room? A corner desk could be ideal for maximizing your available space.
- Looking for more storage? Pick a desk with drawers or other built-in storage space.
- Need some help with your cable management? Many desks (and gaming desks, in particular) now offer built-in cord management features.
- Want to move a little more while you’re gaming or working? Consider getting an adjustable sit-stand desk.
Elevate your monitors for a more comfortable viewing experience.
Keeping your monitors elevated can be helpful for your posture and health, especially when it comes to avoiding the dreaded “tech neck.” Many gaming desks include built-in monitor stands with support for one, two, or even three monitors. These stands are often adjustable, so you can customize the monitor’s height according to your own stature and preferences.
Alternatively, think about exploring monitor mounting options like swivel desk mounts and wall mounts. These can be excellent choices for mounting a monitor when you need a lot of flexibility and the ability to reposition your display at will.
Plan your cable management from the beginning.
Leaving cable management until last is a good way to end up with an annoying tangle of cords, so save yourself the annoyance by coming up with a cable management plan. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are a few basic pointers:
- Use wireless peripherals to minimize cables as much as you can.
- Create a place to store and organize cables when you’re not using them.
- Consider using clips and raceways to control and consolidate cable runs.
- Choose an outlet strip that includes USB chargers for an all-in-one power source.
Create a place for everything.
You’ll have a much easier time keeping your gaming desk manageable if everything has a permanent home. Little extras like a headphone stand or a dish for pens and spare change can make a real difference in how organized your desk feels.
This is especially important if your gaming desk needs room for extra peripherals. Got a streaming setup with ring light, microphone, and mixer? Planning to add a racing wheel, fight stick, or other specialty controllers? Make a space for all of it, even if it won’t be on the desk at all times.
Don’t use your desk to store unrelated items.
The flip side of the previous tip is that your desk shouldn’t be a general storage space. A good rule of thumb is that it shouldn’t be stored there if you never actually use it at your desk. Paperwork, phone accessories, books (unless you read at your desk) — if you’re not using it, get it outta there!
Yes, finding a place for all of this stuff can be a pain, but dealing with it now is better than enduring the constant stress of a messy desk. Use this as an opportunity to think about installing shelves, purchasing new storage gear, and anything else that could improve your gaming space.
Make it easy to keep things clean.
Various kinds of trash and junk can pile up on your desk surprisingly fast. To keep things clean, step one is adding a nearby wastebasket will make sure you no longer have an excuse to let things pile up! If you’ve got nosy pets, grab a wastebasket with a lid that seals.
Keeping a few cleaning supplies nearby will also make it easier to touch up your desk as needed. A basic gentle cleaner and some wet wipes will take you pretty far. Once you have the supplies at hand, get into the habit of doing a regular cleaning once or twice a week.
Grab a cooling pad if you’ll be gaming on a laptop.
Gaming laptops pack a lot of power into a small form factor — but that can lead to heat problems that slow down your gaming performance. That’s why many gaming laptop owners equip their gaming desks with laptop cooling pads. Each of these pads has one or more small fans inside that help cool your computer when your processor and/or graphics card are running a little too hot.
Take a look at the wide variety of cooling pads available and find one that’s right for you. From ergonomic features like built-in stands that elevate your laptop to fun stuff like RGB lights, there’s something for everybody in the world of laptop pads!
All this might seem like a lot of work, but we promise it’s manageable if you take it a step at a time. And if you let yourself get creative, it can even be enjoyable! Most importantly, the handful of hours you put into this will pay off with a desk setup that serves you well for hundreds of golden gaming hours.
