The Ultimate Minimal Gaming Setup in 2022

Okay, show me a cooler minimal gaming setup other than this. No RGBs. I can't wait for people to comment down below. This is not minimal. Welcome to our little gaming corner desk setup. This really isn't a workspace and in fact, when we went to IKEA, I made sure I kept that in mind. We spent the past few weeks trying to build this right here, whether it was painting part of it, cutting and installing these wooden slates or even completely changing our PC case. All I can say is that the time spent was definitely worth it. This is probably the coolest setup I've ever built. With the GT6 leads and MW2 around the corner, it really pushed us to build a corner dedicated to gaming and gaming tech reviews. So here it is. The past few days have actually been insane. So crazy that we got invited by Ergon Office to their headquarters in order to pick up our desk. And after that, I was basically told I couldn't cut my wooden slates. So I sort of left them hanging on the wall for now. Don't mind that too much though. Look, it was so fun building this desk. Everything started with us planning this new space. Before all of the work, things looked a bit messy and the left wall looked god awful. But I came up with the amazing idea of matching this wall to the slated wall with a paint called Black Limousine by Behr. And honestly, it turned out so good. I'm actually super happy how the paint dried. It pushed me to really go to Ikea and sort this whole new wall up. We really thought that the best thing to do was keep our industrial theme going on, and after going up and down Ikea trying to find the right accessories for that wall, we came up with the perfect minimal gaming shelf. It was just a matter of building it up, and eventually after a couple of hours, we got there. I really really liked how things turned out and how the shelf along the slates makes the whole wall look so much better than before. Out of all of this, I'd say the most tedious task we had at hand was changing PC cases. It was a lot harder taking it apart than putting it into this NZXT H2. This here by the way is the V2, comes with an integrated power supply and a cooler, which means that I saved quite a good amount of money. It took me like 2 hours to dismantle the old case and put all the components into this new one. However, I have no regrets. I mean look at this thing, it looks absolutely incredible, and I thought that it would look even better with a proper lighting setup. Which is why, I went out of my way to get an Aputure 200x with an Aputure SE dome, a proper arm and we did the old lighting softbox over the desk setup, with a Philips Hue plug of course. I recommend this setup to practically everyone, you will have zero regrets and it's super easy to install. Although, I will say, I sort of regret getting the IKEA filing drawer. We stayed overnight building this thing to find ourselves disappointed. I honestly really considered getting one from Ergon Office and that's because they build the craziest desk setup gear. After I saw one at their headquarters, I really second guessed my choice. Not only that, but when I assembled the desk they provided for this video, I was even more amazed by the quality of their materials. Plus, right out of the box, the instructions are super clear. I mean it's so clear that depending on the table size you got, they let you know exactly how much you should stretch the legs by. It comes with cool accessories to easily cable manage your space, but most importantly, a net to keep things tidy. I completely forgot to buy a cable rack to route cables, but honestly, all you need is some 3M tape and a power bar. You guys see this? This is my biggest fear, these bricks. Guys, please do not make bricks like this. I have to go get another power strip. Look at that. How am I supposed to? This doesn't fit. So now, basically, I gotta run to Rona, get another power strip, install it, stick it, and figure out my layout under the desk. This should work. Well, this thing is ginormous. Let's figure out where we're gonna fit it. Okay, well, two power bars. This thing is also extremely heavy. It was a bit of a battle to put it up, but once it was all up, oh my god, did I make the right decision. I was so scared of the black, but it looks good and feels great. I immediately started to unbox our arms for dual monitors, the monitors we chose for a dual setup, some of the peripherals I got, which include the craziest keyboard ever, a keyboard mat, mouse mat, mouse, and even a custom braided cable. I also finally got a proper key light to shine light on myself and the desk, in case I ever decide to keep streaming on Twitch, as well as their stream deck, which is going to be extremely useful. The last thing that needed to be unboxed was our entire audio setup, which I was so excited to try, except for the Wave XLR, that, and my new keyboard I've been using for a while now. Oh, this keyboard, I've got a lot to say about it. I adore this thing. Naturally, with all of this, not only did I need a bit of light towards the left side of the desk, but also a proper device to clean this gaming corner, which is why I brought Narwhal for a second time. Last year, we were extremely pleased with their product, and so I decided to give their new unit a shot. This here is the new Narwhal Frio, with a touchscreen this time, which can achieve network connection and quickly control the robot. It is the world's first self-cleaning robot vacuum and mop, and I'm not kidding when I say that. You literally just need to fill the buckets with water, apply the soap it came with, and it'll clean these little detachable mops automatically. It's so smart that it can also auto-detect the mop's dirtiness and return to base to clean itself and then resume where it left off. You can actually swipe left and right on the base station LCD touchscreen to check out the 5 cleaning modes. It really doesn't have to only be mopping, it could be vacuuming, or even vacuum and then mop. The mop is smart enough to know it doesn't need to mop, so they lift off, and the side brushes are also smart enough to automatically adjust the rotation and speed during certain cleaning tasks. Also, know that the roller brush will also lift during the mopping task. I really like how well it cleans the edge of the walls by twisting the rear of the robot for mopping. Funny enough, something my mom taught me is to first clean the room furthest from where you started, which is exactly what the Frio does. It also creates RQ8 routes for proper cleaning coverage. Under Frio mode, Frio even knows how many times it should clean up the dusty room thoroughly and how long it will take to sanitize the mops depending on how dirty they are. Just like what they say, you are all set, Frio a clean day. I'm super happy with the fact it's super low noise and how easy it is to use their LCD screen along their app to build maps and so on. Very happy with the way it sits in this space. I'm quite happy it's super easy to maintain and use. Eventually, after using the Frio to clean this space, I was of course ready to show you guys the final product. This here, ladies and gentlemen, is our new gaming corner. I'll place the game, review new gaming tech, and hopefully stream. My job as a content creator and techie is to be extremely transparent with you guys, so please note that a lot of these items I haven't used for long, but I chose each and one of them based on experience and recommendations from you guys. For starters, the desk. Ergonofis makes some of the best desks, if not the best desk, in the market. I truly got to experience that for a full year with their V1 Walnut Desk. This time around though, I asked for their Shift Desk, in black, and I am so glad I picked this color. Not only it looks super great with the hue gradient strip we installed, but it also bounces light extremely well. It's a desk that feels like no other, the material on this is incredible, and I guess it's because the surface was made here in Quebec, Canada. Homemade. The surface is antimicrobial and also heat and scratch resistant. I do have to say, it's fingerprints galore, but I absolutely love how it looks after cleaning it up. The desk itself has a touch controller that delivers 4 memory settings, goes from 24.5 inches to 50.2 inches, and has a weight capacity of 300 pounds. It pretty much lifts all of this deck and this 30 inch by 72 inches table. A table that very much matches our aesthetics, especially our shelf. This IKEA shelf is part of the global set we have going on around the office. I love the wood and the color, plus the height is quite perfect to cover a good amount of this wall. It matches the slates we got online and matches the black paint in the back. I decided to give this a bit of a minimal gaming look by keeping things super simple. You know, add some controllers, fungal pop figures, some consoles, and even a bit of light here and there. Of course, the light wasn't enough so I went out of my way to install this Aputure 200x and pair it with a hue plug. This type of setup by the way is pretty much the third time I installed it. I absolutely love this because it provides light from a direction like no other. On top of that, with a hue app you can sync it to Google Home and voice command it. However, for further customizations like colors and dimming, you need to use the Sidious app, which honestly, I really don't mind. The most important part is that it provides light, hides the imperfections behind that corner, and it was placed exactly at a height that would allow me to add a plant I bought at IKEA. Now, my regret is this drawer. I like it, but man, Ergonoff is half that black sleek drawer that looks so much better. I honestly just use it to store printer stuff and small accessories as well as all my documents at the bottom. I can easily lock this, which is what I wanted, and I can easily mount a Red Bull fridge on top. By the way, shout out to Red Bull for always hooking us up with Red Bulls and awesome events. To finalize this little set, I really thought it was a smart idea to add this wall light made by Gantry, and honestly, I was totally right. All I am missing is that extra hue plug to control this as well. I decided that the neon light living above the desk needed it more than this one, and I was totally right. You can see this thing from miles away outside when left on. This here is a sign made by Make Neon Signs, and I love it. They actually made our AKIS sign with our own custom font. I think Neon Signs really complete a space, and I totally suggest you check them out. I've been dying to try these out mainly because these monitors were built based on community, things the gaming community really wanted, like G-Sync, 4K, high refresh rates, a professional and minimal look, and whatnot. On top of that, there is zero to very little branding. In fact, when VESA mounted, you really can't tell the brand. The fun part about them is that their stands do come as add-ons. As a VESA ARM user, it's very nice to see monitors offered at a lower price without the stand. Things are so well thought out to the point that even the power indicator in the front can be disabled or change colors. Ports are absolutely great. These have a bunch of ports like HDMI 2.1 ports, a display port, a USB-C port providing up to 100W of charging, and many others. On paper, it's like the perfect monitor for Mac users, gaming PCs, and console fanboys, and up to now, they have been absolutely great. I just can't recommend them just yet because I haven't spent enough time with them at all. By the way, mounting these monitors to these Vivo Pneumatic Arms was so easy. Not only they are extremely light because the panels are all plastic, but at 27 inches, it really isn't that complicated at all. The only thing I wish these arms had was better cable management compartments. I personally hate having cable hooks to sort of hide the cables. At least my glorious gaming gold-coiled cable doesn't need any hiding. I mean, look at this. It looks so freaking good and it feels so freaking good. It gives this desk a color like no other and matches the aesthetics I want it to go for. This very much connects to my favorite keyboard of all time, the Sonnet by Mode. A keyboard that weighs like 7 pounds, but that's because I configured it to have the top-of-the-line materials like brass, aluminum, carbon fiber, and so on. With this green metal frame, I mean, it looks absolutely gorgeous. I configured this with a hot-swappable PCB, but honestly, I'll never need new keycaps or switches. Just listen to this. To be exact, this here has Gateron Oil King switches, hand-lubed with Krytox, Infini-Key WOB keycaps, Durock V2 stabilizers, also hand-lubed, a carbon fiber full plate, a silicone base, a plate foam and PE foam installed, with a green top cover, copper bottom, brushed copper accents, and copper wave internal weight. I mean, it sounds like I'm reading the spec sheet of my GT4. This is definitely making a comeback on the channel, so stay tuned. This whole thing sits on a glorious gaming keyboard pad to avoid scratching the desk, and it also sits beside an XL glorious gaming pad that sits a wireless model O negative mouse. I've heard great things about this, mostly related to its weight, and up to now, I completely agree. I also agree that the Wave XLR is probably one of the most budget-friendly gaming audio interfaces out there. I've been rocking it for a while now on my personal desk, and I love it. Physically, this thing has a nicely compact design, I love the fact it's slanted so it makes it easier for me to use. However, like I said in the past, the tap mute on the top is what kills me a bit, not on this desk though, but the only thing I do hate no matter what is that the mic jack is at the back. Other than that, no complaints, the audio knob still feels great, I can easily scroll through its modes, with their software and a second monitor at hand, it really makes this whole workflow elite. The software acts as a great mixer and it's super easy to use. Mixing the audio with an XLR mic up to now has been easy. When it comes to mics, I got the full kit for this little guy here. I got the pop filter, the boom arm, and the shock mount. All of it makes this streaming microphone the perfect mic for it. The Wave 3 is very much designed specifically for streamers in mind, so it only delivers a cardioid pattern. It also means that the controls on it were very much implemented to keep streaming easy to mix. Essentially, it makes the Wave XLR useless, because it very much acts as an audio interface and a mixer at the same time. How reliable is it? I'm still not sure, but it's very popular according to many of you. The reason why I rather have the Wave XLR on this desk is because my personal mic of choice is the Shure MV7. Regardless of what you go with, you can connect any type of headphones to complement your audio. Right now, I'm going on this crazy Beyerdynamic shopping spree. I've been loving their brand and so I wanted to give these DT770 Pros a try. It's like their budget-friendly headphones and it really shows within its build. But they are and feel super comfortable and the pads feel absolutely great, but they do feel warm after a few hours. However, for me, the most important part was the audio and these do not disappoint. Insane bass, great sub-bass for things like rap, EDM, and whatnot. It has great isolation, they seem to be super durable according to a lot of people, and it has great soundstage for a closed set. For competitive gaming, don't worry, the highs are very much alive and the bass really doesn't harm your sound experience. They sound absolutely great. As for things I've never used before, this Elgato Key Light and their streaming deck. Elgato's control panel software actually allows me to control this whole light, which is really freaking cool, mainly since it can be all done wirelessly. Instead of having a light bar, which is a bit useless on a gaming setup, having this key light to shine light on your face and on your peripherals is perfect. Up to now, I've been loving this. I'm honestly still trying to play with this streaming deck. I'm currently configuring it to launch programs, as a macro pad, and as a website shortcut. I feel like this delivers so much more than just tools for streaming. So many of you guys recommended I give one a try, so that's exactly why I brought it here. Apparently, you can set this whole thing for Premiere to make your workflow even faster? I don't know, but it truly makes me want to spend more time with it, which is what I'm doing. At last, powering this whole setup, my little mini ITX monster. This here has a Ryzen 5 5600X, paired with 16GB of RAM and an RTX 3080. All of it within an NZXT H2 enclosure that provides its own power supply and liquid cooler, with super silent fans by the way. These specs have been incredible to game on, and honestly, my only complaint with the older build was the fans. It's very much why I decided to give it a bit of an upgrade. My worry right now is how well will the cooler perform, and how well will that power supply operate? I guess time will only tell, but after reading some subreddits, I'm pretty confident I made the right decision with the H2. All of this makes up our new minimal gaming corner and gaming setup. I still kept the same old blacked out autonomous chair. I don't have the need to upgrade it since we actually quite like it. The only thing I have yet to install on this is the master mount with our Sony camera and Elgato adapter to stream. I'm just not sure if I will ever have time to stream again. But look, other than that, I think as a whole this desk is plenty for gaming. It's been such a fun little project to plan, and I've spent quite a few months trying to figure this space out. I'm happy to say that our gaming corner is now ready to be used and upgraded from time to time. I will leave links to all of our tech in the description down below. I might do a top 10 desk accessories for gamers video, just so I can talk about my full experience with all of these items and give proper feedback. Stay tuned, I will see you all soon, take care.