Upgrading My Dream Gaming Setup on a Budget

[00:02] slacking, and we're going to convert it into a sleek, minimal, modern, gaming setup, all while doing it on a budget.

[00:14] budget. >> [music]

[00:33] I've been trying to build up my space to have all these different environments. And one area of the room that I have not worked on yet [music] is the gaming setup. I threw some [ __ ] together, so that way I could just go live and stream

[00:48] and play some games with the [music] homies, but I haven't really taken the time to design anything and take it serious. I'm going to be doing a project with AMD over the next couple weeks, so I needed a gaming space for that. So, I

[01:02] opportunity. So, the first thing that I wanted to change up for this gaming setup in my home office is I really wanted it to match this like clean, modern look. Instead of trying to minimalize one desk and one area, I

[01:17] wanted to kind of do the same thing for each individual station. So, for my clean and minimal, and this is where I edit, design, and manage my brand. I wanted the gaming setup to replicate that. So, the first thing that I wanted

[01:31] to do was get rid of the Alex drawers from IKEA. Truth be told, these things have been pretty much aesthetic for a while now. I haven't even had anything in these drawers. I don't even use them. Ever since I upgraded to a toolbox in my

[01:45] office, I just have no need for the Alex drawers. So, first thing was getting drawers out of the room, so that way I could make space for the setup. Now, I I like the tabletop that I've had for this setup. I got this butcher block table

[02:00] setup. I got this butcher block table top years ago from Home Depot. It came unstained, just complete raw wood, I guess you'd say. So, I stained it this like dark ebony color years ago and I really like the look of this. It's kind

[02:14] of one of those tabletops where I tried to not keep clean throughout the years. Like I want it to get banged up. I want it to develop like a rustic look over the years. But, the big thing that I noticed so far from the the gaming area

[02:26] is something in the background was missing and I think this is like one of missing and I think this is like one of the most key parts of this video for a setup upgrade video. So, I bought a few packs of these acoustic wood shiplap

[02:40] looking panels that you can get on Amazon. A four-pack of these things is Amazon. A four-pack of these things is $230 and that's all I needed to use for this particular setup here. I actually should have done it better because

[02:53] even get to use for this. I wanted it to be centered in the wall, so obviously I took my time making sure I would do that. I will say I bought these originally when we were at our old house and we had shorter ceilings there, so

[03:06] there was a gap. So, make sure you're getting them in have in your room. But, dude, these things were super easy to install. The wife and kid actually helped me out. It

[03:20] took like 10 minutes if that. I think it would have taken less if I wouldn't have centered with the wall and making sure it was really balanced. But, it's crazy how much just a simple change like that can make to your entire space. I mean,

[03:34] you're talking for $230. Not only is it an aesthetic change. Like it it makes the entire wall look completely different just from this little portion here. But, on top of that, too, it's added a lot of sound dampening to the

[03:47] space. So, that way my audio from my voice isn't bouncing off the walls some of that. It's crazy because for years there's been do-it-yourself videos on how to produce your own chip lap look, and it didn't even have like

[04:04] now you can just literally buy these sheets off of Amazon for a few hundred link in the description if you want to check those out. They have so many different colors and variations. It's also key to point out that today I am

[04:17] not sponsored by anything. Any link that I will be providing will just be my own personal affiliate link. The AMD stuff that I mentioned earlier in the video that has nothing to do with today's particular video other than just being

[04:32] pushed to change the setup to prepare for that. So, again, not sponsored whatsoever. But yeah, once we got the paneling done, from there it was honestly fairly easy. Now, one thing I wanted to do in this

[04:45] gaming setup, since I will be streaming from this area, is I wanted to have years I've absolutely fallen in love with the DBX 286S preamp, especially

[04:57] stacked with the Electro-Voice RE20 microphone. But the thing is, it's it's pretty bulky, right? Like, I don't want it sitting on the desk. So, for like an it sitting on the desk. So, for like an idea of minimal sleek modern design, we

[05:09] we want to fix that problem. So, all I simply did was I got this server bracket off of Amazon, and I mounted it underneath on the end here. After doing that, I got these legs off of Amazon for literally $85. The quality of them's

[05:24] really good. I actually have them on my 96-in setup over here, and you would assume that they're not very sturdy, but they actually do the job well. After installing the legs and getting them

[05:37] measured out appropriately, one big difference that I wanted to do in this setup, which I need to also do in my creative area, is I actually wanted to do a good job at cable management. I found this amazing cable

[05:50] management tray that just clips to your desk on Amazon. I had this whole part of the video where I actually recorded putting it together on here and I recorded it in the vertical format, but I didn't hit record in the horizontal.

[06:02] So, you guys will just have to trust that it actually is pretty easy and good. From there, the big objective is again minimal. I want most of the desk to be showing and I want every little

[06:16] tool that I'm going to be using, mouse, keyboard, audio interface, my camera mount, I want them to breathe freely. So, I tried to space everything out so and all these things so that way I don't feel cluttered whenever I'm either

[06:30] gaming offline or I am live streaming. I will say for this particular setup and over the next month, especially since I'm doing just mainly just chatting streams as of recently, I'm not worried about a

[06:44] second monitor for now, but eventually I will be looking into getting this arm that I seen on Amazon where you can just mount a tablet and I want to just get a portable monitor instead for that. Like I said in recent videos, I've

[07:00] acknowledged the fact that you just cannot be super minimal with your setup if you if you want to do certain things. Like if I'm going to stream games on some random evenings, obviously, I'm going to need a second monitor, but the

[07:15] thing that I don't need is an entire 32-in 4K display for chat. All I really need is just something simple that I can kind of move out of the way and gives me

[07:27] the aesthetic that I'm going for. Again, this is just a personal preference. If that I mentioned today and build your own modern [music] sleek little setup, you want to use multiple monitors, by all means, you go ahead and do so. I'm

[07:41] just not a fan of the 15 monitors. I'm not trying to feel like I work at SpaceX every time I go [ __ ] live. So yeah, once I got everything mounted with the tray that I got, it was actually fairly fast to manage the cables. I got the new

[07:56] so I could change the colors to the PC the way that I like, and that's it, really. So like I even included the desktop in itself, but like if you have your own monitor and PC and microphone, mouse, keyboard,

[08:12] and you're looking to make your setup look completely different. Like I would argue that the transition from the start of the video to what you see now, like do all that for $500. I included the

[08:26] desk in that price. You're talking $230 for panels, $85 for legs, and $200 for to whatever color that you would like. There was a time that like

[08:39] to get an upgrade like this, to get the shiplap, to to fabricate legs. You couldn't just get them on Amazon. Even the desktop, like >> [music] >> Home Depot and get butcher block

[08:54] countertop. A project like this would be so hard. But with an extra bonus or selling some of the extra gear that you have laying around, like taking the Alex drawers that you bought for like $150 years ago and selling them for $85 to

[09:09] get your new legs, and then taking a little extra money to get the the shiplap. It's crazy on how affordable you can go with changing your entire look. I'm pretty excited about this thing. I'm not going to lie. Like

[09:22] >> I've been gaming offline more lately, and uh yeah, it's it's fun. So when I sit down and I have an aesthetic like that, hang out in, it's just good vibes. Anyways, moving on. I'll be making some

[09:36] updates to the area around it over the next few months, obviously, before I give my full studio tour. We need some decoration in here. We're making small minor upgrades. I've got some of the panels finally finally hung up. I

[09:51] got some decor coming for the setup, the background. Just some things that I feel like as I'm adapting and evolving as a creator and a human being, especially with the weight loss, that I just need some more motivational bits on the wall.

[10:06] Things that truly inspire me. So, we got some of those things coming. Not only is that coming, but I am also going to be coming out with a series where I get my YouTube shorts, but a series where I get more [music] budget-friendly

[10:23] products like the Facecam 4K from Elgato and their Wave mic. But, I want to get a decent, but budget-friendly, monitor and and mouse and keyboard and even a desk. I'm going to be putting together an old PC with

[10:38] parts from years ago, like a 2080 Ti, for example, and I'm going to be showing, as a streamer and a creator, what you can produce if you optimize your setup appropriately in 2026. And how the idea of needing to have the

[10:54] latest and greatest thing to create content is just one of the biggest myths nowadays. So, make sure you guys are subscribing for those videos and in this office moving forward. Let me know in the comments down below what you

[11:07] guys think of the panels. Is that a nice touch? Did I go wrong doing black on black? Like, should I have done wood grain? Should I have cut some extra parts to actually space it from the wall to floor? Or did you even notice that?

[11:20] guys today. I'm out. Peace. Deuces. >> [music]