Top 5 esports gifts for gamers: All budgets considered

What do you get the gamer in your life? Or what do you get the friend or family member who really wants to improve their gaming setup, whether that’s for enjoyment, competitive ambitions, or because they desperately need an upgrade or replacement? Well, we’ve got some ideas, and we’re going to share them with you in this esports gifts for gamers list. 

Not every gamer likes the same gear, and not everyone needs the most expensive options available. That’s why, below, we’ll go through key items and offer some alternatives for what to pick up. We’ll run through the options for an esports mouse, keyboard, monitor, headset, and even a GPU if hardware is more important than peripherals.

Whether you’re a professional or amateur, esports gaming demands more than undoubted skill and dedication. It also requires gear that can deliver the smooth, high-quality experience you need to win. That may be a high-refresh-rate monitor or peripherals that can respond rapidly to key presses, but having the right gear is key. 

For example, professional gamers depend on their setups and will often be spotted using the same model esports keyboard competition after competition. It’s familiarity, but it’s more than that: it’s the assurance of quality that comes with specific makes and models, and that comes with a reliability that is tied to repeated game-winning plays or clutch kills. 

A crucial part of any setup for a player of competitive titles is an esports headset. Sound is critical in hearing opponent footsteps, skills, and voice cues from teammates. The wired variant of SteelSeries’ Arctis Nova Pro is a top pick. This is thanks to its zero latency and ANC (active noise cancellation), which allows for a greater focus on in-game audio.

The Arctis Nova Pro is one of the best gaming headsets, but it’s $280. There are more affordable alternatives: the first is the wireless Razer BlackShark V2 Pro, at $200. It offers high-quality audio, it’s regarded as very comfortable, and it has up to 70 hours of battery life. A more affordable wired option? The HyperX Cloud III can be found for under $100. 

The best gaming mouse for esports depends on the game and the player wielding it. A mouse needs to deliver the correct, timely response for movements, button presses, and potentially even allow specific mouse button binds. For competitive play, Razer’s Viper V3 Pro is renowned for its performance and 8KHz wireless polling rate, but it comes in at $160.

Our mid-range pick is also a well-known option for esports gamers, and is the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro. The V4 Pro is available, but the older V3 is still great and often costs around $100. The budget pick here is even more affordable. We’d go for the Logitech G305 Lightspeed, which is usually around $50, is lightweight, and has programmable buttons.

For games where a mouse and keyboard aren’t the best option (e.g., Rocket League), options for the best controller for PC gaming can pick up the slack. And there are far more choices than getting an Xbox controller. One of the best and our top-end pick? The Razer Wolverine V3 Pro. It’s a speedy option with rapid esports switches built in for quick actions. 

For a mid-range option, we’d suggest gifting the GameSir G7 Pro. This controller costs around $80 and is a very responsive option thanks to its 1000Hz polling rate. Even more affordable is the GameSir Cyclone 2, available for $56 and a balanced option with good features, including responsive buttons and a charging stand. 

Picking keyboards may be trickier than choosing other peripherals for esports because of the various form factors available. The best gaming keyboard for esports (for example) may be the $220 Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL. As a ‘TenKeyLess’, it omits the numpad, making the keyboard smaller. But not all gaming keyboards are the same. 

Another popular option is the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro Mini Black. This is a $180 keyboard, but it’s also a 60% esports gaming keyboard, so it lacks the numpad, F1 to F12 keys, and navigation keys like the arrows, Home, End, etc. There are also wired or wireless gaming keyboard options. The Corsair K70 CORE TKL Wireless is one option here, at $150.

Generally pricier than peripherals, the best graphics cards for esports can cost several hundred dollars. But you won’t necessarily need the top models available if you’re an esports gamer. This makes gifting one a little easier, because Full HD 1080p gaming and 2K (1440p) resolutions are far more common in esports for speed and competitiveness.

In terms of the best GPU for gaming when gifting, for big frame rates at 1440p (for the foreseeable future), Nvidia’s RTX 5070 Ti or AMD’s RX 9070 XT would be excellent options. Meanwhile, for super-quick Full HD 1080p resolutions, Nvidia’s RTX 5060 Ti cards, Intel’s Arc B580, or the AMD RX 9060 XT can offer plenty of power. 

And finally? A key part of any setup is an esports monitor. As with graphics cards, the very best (and most expensive) monitor isn’t necessary. However, a decently sized 27-inch monitor with a high refresh rate for smooth gameplay at hundreds of frames per second is essential, as is a quick response rate. 

For 1440p resolutions, a monitor like the Asus ROG Strix 27-inch XG27AQDMG will support up to 240Hz, with a super-quick 0.03ms response time. The XG27AQDMG is a superb choice at around $550. For Full HD (1080p), the $350 Alienware 25 AW2525HM supports 360Hz, or the more affordable Alienware 27 AW2725DM supports 180Hz for $280.

So there you have it. There are plenty of options for esports gifts for gamers, whether you’re buying for a friend, family member, or even treating yourself. There are plenty of expensive peripherals and bits of gear, but you also don’t necessarily need to buy the very best item to get something that will help a gamer looking for an upgrade.

The key elements to consider for esports gear are reliability, utility, and responsiveness. This list should help you focus on items that offer that, so you can pick high-quality peripherals and items that can be depended on when competitive gaming kicks up a notch. If in doubt, the best approach is always to spend on quality, rather than spending big.