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Holiday Gift Guide – Gaming Hardware

Making Christmas morning an event to remember for the gamer in your life is a simple, if expensive, way to impress them.

Just don’t expect to see much of your gamer loved one throughout the rest of the day (or even the rest of the holiday) once they’ve unwrapped any of these beauties.

Gigabyte P35X V6 Gaming Laptop
Price:
R36 999
Get it from: Evetech.co.za

The beauty of gaming laptops is they’re so incredibly versatile – not only do they game well, they work brilliantly as work machines too because they’re just so fast.

Gigabyte’s 15.6-inch P35X V6 is one of the best all-round laptops we’ve used this year, bar none, and thus are only too happy to recommend it as the perfect gift for gamers looking to maintain desktop-level gaming performance in a compact, portable chassis.

Everything a discerning laptop owner/ gamer could want is here: 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a 128GB solid-state NVME hard drive, a terabyte of data storage and a GTX1070 for desktop-level gaming performance, all packaged in a gorgeous and impressively resilient metal chassis.

While the base model doesn’t come with a 4K screen, honestly, it’s not necessary on a laptop. 1080p gaming is just fine, and if you really want that 4K goodness you can always hook the P35X up to an external screen via HDMI or DisplayPort.

Sure, it’s R37k, but that’s nothing a good pre-Christmas tender can’t solve.

Sony PlayStation Pro
Price:
R6 999
Get it from: Retailers Everywhere

If you’ve looked at the prices of the PC gaming hardware on this page and had a small heart attack, fear not – Sony’s brand-new PlayStation Pro (also called PS4 Pro) has hit store shelves in time for Christmas, bringing with it the affordability of the console world to you.

But more than that, it’s also bringing improved graphical performance that brings console gaming into the age of the 4K TV.

Yes, that’s right, if you’re in possession of a 4K TV, a PlayStation Pro can actually make full use of it as many of Sony’s existing titles will be PS4 Pro-compatible at launch, enabled by some form of software update. New titles coming out now will support it out the box, of course.

That means games will look sharper than ever and even run slightly faster than they did on the PS4, plus the new design will have address some of the PS4’s annoyances.

Razer Chrome Range of PC Accessories
Price: From R999
Get it from: Etailers and retailers everywhere

Every PC gamer needs a keyboard and mouse, but not every gamer can show their selection off with a range of internal lighting options. That’s where Razer’s Chroma range comes in – it’s chock-full of keyboards, mice, and headsets that feature built-in LED lights that are entirely software-configurable with a massive number of colours of the gamer’s choosing.

Combining Chroma technology with mechanical keyboards – the preferred method of input for many gamers today thanks to their superior feedback and response times – is proving particularly popular. Gamers can highlight specific keys with specific colours, control the brightness and even dim parts of the keyboard entirely.

Chroma is a customisation-loving gamer’s dream tech, and any keyboard, mouse or headset found under the tree will earn mom and dad some serious gamer cred.

ASUS Republic of Gamers Strix GeForce GTX1080 8GB
From: R15 225
Get it from: LandmarkPC.co.za

This graphics card is close to the ultimate gaming PC upgrade. It’s astoundingly powerful and can run any game you care to play at 4K, as well as multi-screen and 1080p games at frame rates well beyond 60fps.

It’s brilliant for gamers with 100Hz monitors (and faster) as it takes full advantage of their higher-than-60Hz refresh rates to deliver games that run super smooth.

It also features LED lights and a custom cooling solution that’s both effective and quiet.

Sure, it’s expensive, but trust us, the PC gamer in your life will love you forever for this.

MSI GeForce GTX1070 Gaming X OC 8GB
Price:
R9 499
Get it from: Evetech.co.za

Should you wish the undying love of the gamer in your life but you think R15k is a bit much for a graphics card, the GTX1070 is a fantastic compromise. This one from MSI even does the bling thing with its own LED lighting system, but you lose out a bit on the performance front compared to the 1080.

Gamers will still get 60fps and more at 1080p, and even close to 30fps at 4K depending on the game, so the 1070 is no slouch. More importantly, it offers a lot of bang for your buck, and will definitely still earn the love of your gamer on Christmas morn, and forevermore.

Xbox One 500GB + FIFA 16
Price:
R3 999
Get it from: Retailers Everywhere

If you want to grab a games console to put under the tree this year, there is no better option than the Xbox One. Sure, it’s not the S, which is only coming to SA next year, but the price is the best it’s ever been.

For just R4k you get a modern console, and you can spend the money you save on the Xbox One’s recommended retail price of R5 999 on extra games like Gears of War and Halo. The only way you can lose on this deal is if your kid kicks your butt at FIFA on Christmas morning.

ASUS Republic of Gamers G752VS- GC031T Gaming Laptop
Price:
R38 999
Get it from: Evetech.co.za

Should the gamer in your life be unimpressed with “mere” 15.6-inch screens and “only” 16GB of RAM, they will likely be quite smitten with this 17-inch gaming notebook from ASUS.

It bumps its RAM count up to 24GB and comes with a generous 17-inch display. This particular model features a 1080p screen, but there’s a 4K option for another few thousand rand.

17-inch notebooks are ideal for the regular LAN attendee, as the display is big enough that there’s no need to lug a separate screen along. And with a GTX1070 under the hood, there’s no worry that the system won’t keep up.

And perhaps best of all, the Republic of Gamers stylings that make ASUS gaming laptops look so mean are present and accounted for, so not only does the V752VS perform like a beast, it looks the part as well. Nobody’s going to mistake anyone carrying this laptop for an accountant.

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