Building a computer. Just need a monitor and keyboard now.

Spent a LOT of damn time working through a computer build tonight, and I am SPENT. First time doing this stuff, and it's a handful. Can't wait for the stuff to get here and finally start playing games on a nice PC for the first time in my damn life - but I still need a monitor, and speakers, and a mouse, and a keyboard, and I'm ready to get it over with. Anything you guys can recommend that's... fine? Adequate? Workable? None of this stuff needs to be great, I've spent enough money already. Only request is a 1080p monitor.

Here's my build if anyone's interested.

The Asus VS248H-P is a good 24 inch monitor, its 169.99 on amazon. It is VESA mountable which is nice if you ever go with a dual monitor display or beyond. If you want to look at "serious" gaming monitors BenQ is generally a great brand but that will cost a good deal more.

For speakers it all depends on if you want a sub or not, I have the logitech Z623 and they are great for me, come in at right around $100. I would also say consider your surroundings, you may get more bang for your buck with a good set of headphones if you arent going to be cranking your speakers up most of the time. Plantronic Gamecom 780s are the headphones I had before my Astro A40s, they were great and sell for around $60-$70.

As for keyboard and mouse, everyone has their own brands they love if they game on PCs. Again, I would say logitech is a good place to start if you are looking for moderately priced with good quality. You can get by with any keyboard, just make sure you have some sort of wrist support, I wouldn't buy into all the programmable keys and additional stuff unless you plan on playing something like an MMO. I would recommend ensuring whatever you get is backlit though. The logitech G series mice are great and designed with gamers in mind, try to get something with a few thumb buttons, they are nice to have, and make sure the dpi isnt too low, I would try for at least 3500 or so. Right now I am using a G500 mouse that goes for $77 and a Razer Deathstalker essentials keyboard you can grab for $57.

No one item is TOO expensive but starting fresh is rough, it adds up. Good news is I have not had to replace any of these accessories more than once or twice in the last decade. Spend the extra $10 or $20 to buy something that is a good quality brand so it doesn't break on you immediately, doesn't mean you need to buy the best model though.

Hope this is helpful!

I know that you said something "workable", but I still think a good mechanical keyboard makes a huge difference. Not just in playing games but also in getting work done. The Razer Blackwidow is like <$100, and it's done me very well over the past couple years.

I recommend against Razer keyboards.

I've had two and both like to randomly malfunction with keys not working suddenly, ports not working etc.

And the software is a system hog and seems to crash a lot.

It's something I would of thought they would have sorted out by now but it's literally been 3 years same issues.

Next one i get i'm probably going with logitech or someone.

For your mouse, the Logitech MX518, which I believe is now the G400 (or it might've been rebranded yet again, I'm not sure; still rockin' my 518).

Speakers, I use these, which I upgraded from these. They are both fantastic, and can produce a tremendous amount of bass for not having a sub, if you're into that.

I'm the wrong guy to ask about keyboards, though. I still use a 10+ year old eMachines keyboard from like 3 computers ago, because I prefer how much resistance the keys have to being pressed. I've found that all the mechanical keyboards that I've used either in store displays or at a friend's house have been too easy for me to hit keys that my fingers are just resting on instead of actively trying to press. The same is also true of low profile/laptop keyboards for me.

I've had the same monitor since 2009, so I'm sure there's something way better out there at this point, but I have a 24" Samsung 1080p monitor (not gonna bother looking up the model number as it was discontinued years ago). As long as you've got the desk space, I wouldn't go any smaller than 24". I paid $199 for it five years ago, so I'm sure you can get something better for cheaper today.

Monoprice monitors are usually high quality and relatively cheap.

For other peripherals keep track of Kotaku Deals, they usually have a bunch of keyboards/mice listed.

IMO the monitor is the most important thing. You've got all that gear to run games, but how do you actually enjoy them? Through the monitor. Output is the most important thing. Sadly, LCD prices are still high even after all these years. Anything under $200 is going to be very meh. IMO, I'd get one of the Korean 1440p IPS monitors on ebay. I think Monoprice has one too. Look at spending ~$350, but it will be completely worth it. FWIW, I've owned tons of monitors. I have one of the Catleap 1440p monitors and it looks great for its price. I also have a VP2770-LED and an Asus PG278Q Swift. Those two are probably out of your price range, but the Catleap would be awesome for you.

For mouse, I'd just get a Logitech G500 from amazon. They usually have them for $35-45. Keyboard can be anything unless you absolutely need macro support or want to splurge on a mechanical board. I use a mechanical and love it, but on a budget it is the first thing I would cut.

Oh and for speakers, they are nearly all the same in the lower end price bracket. The only thing that starts to matter is if you want to buy a receiver and some book shelf speakers. Then I'd have some recommendations, but for an all-in-one speaker set, just get what you can afford. Any of the logitech will do its job. If you enjoy wearing headsets then using the speaker money for a quality headset would net better sound quality.

I recently got a Logitech K750. I love typing on it. Best keyboard I've ever owned. It's solar powered too which is pretty freaking awesome!

I dig my G710+ logitech thingamabob. It's pricey and big but the keys are satisfying to clack on (it's loud), and the little things like the button that disables the Windows key and the volume slider are pretty great.

I recommend Dell's IPS monitor. Their stand can be physically adjusted and turned in every dimension plus it serves as a USB hub.

I don't know if they are available in North America but Steelseries makes great no-nonsense mice and keyboards for gaming. They might not have fancy macro buttons or adjustable DPI but they are durable and easy to keep clean which is far more important to me. If they are too expensive then Razer's budget mice are great value even though they might look tacky.

Finally it's worth pointing out that while mechanical keyboards might seem like a big investment they will probably outlast any mouse you buy 4-5 times over (more than 10 years) while also serving as a great blunt melee weapon for bludgeoning zombies :P