Black Friday deals are here but that doesn't mean you have to put a massive dent in your wallet to nab a bargain—though I would be lying if I said I hadn't succumbed to one of the best Black Friday gaming TV deals myself. Still, if you're short on cash, looking for stocking fillers, or even after a little something to spruce up your gaming area, this round-up of cheap but useful things you didn't realise you needed for your desk could be just what you're after.
- We're curating all the best Black Friday PC gaming deals right here.
None of these items come with G-Sync, 32GB of RAM, nor will they will increase your FPS when gaming at 1440p. What they will do though is save you space, cool you down, or make your desk space look a little more attractive.
First up are a couple of USB desk fans. Okay, so they won't cool an entire room or combat the warmth in the midst of a summer heatwave but mine has been invaluable for the several years I've had it. Sometimes you don't want to go through the fuss of getting out a full-sized fan if your office is just a tiny bit stuffy for an hour or so a day. At under $10, neither of these desk fans will break the bank either and they're both small enough that they can be stored away in a drawer if they don't get any use during the colder months.
If you're looking to tidy up your desk space but want to keep things within easy reach, a desk organiser might be something to consider. I use something very similar to the bamboo drawers above and have found it useful for storing USB drives, pens, and random screws that I'm sure came out of my PC but I can't figure out where from and so I'm scared to throw them away. Let's just say that I didn't realise how much I'd use the organiser until I had it.
Of course, if you don't want to allocate desk space for something like this, you can double up with the monitor stand/desk organiser combo. Like the standalone option, you'll be able to stow away those bits and pieces that clutter your desk and sort out the height of your monitor, all in one go.
There was a brief time when I didn't use a mouse mat at all, and instead relied on the precision of the mouse and the surface of my desk to do all the work—why should I be limited to the small surface of a mouse mat? Like everything else PC-related, mouse mats have come a long way in recent years. The principle is still the same, but why limit yourself to a tiny rectangle when you can cover a good portion of your desk with mouse-friendly surface? Exactly.
Both mouse mats listed here are currently under $15, and offer decent desk coverage, non-slip backing, and a smooth surface to make even the most extravagant mouse movements feel weightless.
To round things off, I've also included a basic stand on which you can display your gaming headset. You can get these in several varieties, including ones you can stick to the underside of your desk. If you've not used one before though, you're probably better off starting out with something less permanent to see if you really can kick the habit of hanging your headset on the edge of your monitor.
