I’m going to buy a new prebuilt PC next week. I’m almost certain I’ll buy a Windows PC and making a PC is not my thing. I haven’t been a gamer since the late 1970s so I’m a bit behind the curve.

What peripherals should I buy?

I know that’s vague but I sincerely don’t know what kind of games I’ll end up liking.

How much should I budget for it?

~$300? I have no idea. For the short term - I want the basic core stuff I need and maybe a bell and whistle or two.

I want to avoid going crazy and buying specialized stuff like a wheel and pedals set. If I decide that driving games are my thing - I can always buy that later.

Should I buy a headset right off the bat?

Do you use a headset? My mental image is that I don’t want to talk to anybody or listen to anybody because there are a lot of trolls out there. But am I wrong? Are there games where a headset is worth it? I’ll let you define “worth it”.

Also - how much does a good headset cost?

-–

Edit

I thought I needed to budget more for peripherals. It seems I don’t. And - I don’t need to buy everything next week anyway. There’s no rush and my gaming needs might turn out to be (very) modest anyway. Current plan

• Keyboard. My current keyboard is beyond crap anyway.
• Gaming mouse?
• Microphone headset?
• Speakers? Maybe not. For reasons I don’t want to explain - no speakers might be better.