I love clean and minimal desk setups. While I felt my previous desk setup embodied those characteristics, there was definitely some room for improvement.
The last desk setup tour I made was in 2016 and while the bones of that setup have remained the same I’ve made some note worth refinements which I feel have elevated my setup.
The most notable upgrade I made to my setup is my PC. I hadn’t upgrade my computer in over 5 years, so I felt it was time for something new. My previous system was an Intel, but with AMD's release of Ryzen, I decided to give team red a try and it has not disappointed. Powering the PC is a Ryzen 1700X overclocked to 3.9GHZ. I’m keeping the system cooled with an NZXT Krakken X62 AIO and NZXT RGB 120 mm fans all connected to a Hue+ lighting system. For memory I’m using a 16gig kit of G.Skill Trident Z 3200MHz RGB modules in the default waterfall color way. I’m also using an EVGA GTX 1080 FTW edition graphics card to push pixels. All of this is on a Gigabyte Aorus Gaming 7 motherboard and all house in the popular NZXT S340 Elite case.
Moving on from the PC, everything is sitting on the now iconic Ikea Karlby countertop. I love anything in a walnut finish, so the Karby was a must have for me. What sets this desk apart from most desks in that it’s a manual sit to standing desk. The raising and lowering of the desk is powered by a large spring.
I can’t call this a clean and minimal setup without having my cable management on lock. Under the desk, I’m using a Startech 2x2 cable raceway. I’m been using it for a year and a half, and it’s been flawless.
The next change I made to my setup was to replace my dual 24” monitor setup with a 34” ultra-wide screen. I bought the Alienware AW3418DW gaming monitor late last year, and it has completely changed the way I create and consume content. I can confirm all the ultra-wide hype train is real. I’m now a firm believer that once you go ultra-wide, you can’t go back to a standard 16:9 monitor…at least not without some serious withdrawals. Recently BenQ sent me their 35" EX3501R curved HDR monitor for review, so look out for that in the next coming weeks. To the right of the ultra-wide, I’m using a BenQ GW2270 monitor in portrait mode. I mostly use this second monitor to keep my twitch page open when I’m gaming or to keep miscellaneous info up on screen while I’m editing videos.
To better achieve a cleaner look on my desktop I went with wireless peripherals. I’m currently using the Drevo Calibur tenkeyless keyboard. Beside the keyboard I’m using the Logitech G703 wireless gaming mouse. The wireless performance of this mouse is flawless; however, it recently developed a scrolling problem which Logitech is aware of, so I’m probably going to have to RMA the G703. Both my keyboard and mouse sit on the Corsair MM300 extended mouse pad.
Flanking my monitors are my studio monitors. I’m still using long discontinued M-Audio BX5a monitors which are sitting on Rockville foam isolators.
Next up is my audio interface. I’m still using an old Cakewalk UA-25EX. My next upgrade will probably be to an Audient iD 14 interface. I’ve been waiting on it to go on sale for months, so who knows when that will happen. Beside my interface is an Anker USB hub I use to charge my keyboard and mouse.
A good desk setup needs an equally good chair. I’ve been using the Herman Miller Embody chair for the past couple years now and I highly recommend it if you spend a significant amount of time at your desk.
For voice-over's I’m still using the Audio-Technica AT2020 microphone on a newer boom arm. I get a lot of complements on the sound quality of this mic, so I see no reason to upgrade for the foreseeable future.
Underneath my desk, I’m still using the Stinkyboard for my in game push to talk switch. After I built my new PC, I re purposed my old PC as my Plex media server.
Coming to the end of the tour, I saved my biggest changes for last. A few months ago, I wallpapered my office with the cool free form geometric inspired wallpaper. While I thought this wallpaper completed the room, it occurred to my that Nanoleaf Aurora RGB panels would take the room to the next level. It turned out, I could arrange the nanoleaf in a way that matched the abstract nature of the geometric patterns on the wallpaper, and it turned out fantastic.