Respawn 1063 gaming table review: Five feet of freedom

There comes a point in every PC gamer's life when their gaming desk or table no longer fits the bill. These days, it's often a matter of space: The bigger our rigs become, the more space they require, and dinky particle-board desks designed for computers from a decade ago simply aren't enough. Fortunately, the team at Respawn have two new gaming tables aimed squarely at users who need more space: the Respawn-1048 and Respawn-1063. Unlike more elaborate gaming desks, these gaming tables offer simple function-based designs with one special feature: enormous mouse pad toppers that cover the entire table surface.

Back to basics

The Respawn-1048 and Respawn-1063 are being billed as gaming tables, which separates them from many of Respawn's other products, primarily those labeled as gaming desks. The biggest difference in this case is that the Respawn gaming tables don't come with any of the accessories like monitor shelves, speaker mounts, or cupholders offered alongside other Respawn models. In the place of those accessories, the Respawn gaming tables instead offer thrills via a single mouse pad topper that covers the top of the table. More on that in a moment.

Both the 1048 and the 1063 seem to have been designed with sturdiness in mind, with heavy, dense components and all-metal hardware. They're also both shipped flat-packed and must be assembled using the tools and hardware provided. Respawn didn't specify what the table surface is made out of, but the surface of our 1063 review unit appears to be a solid synthetic material, perhaps a polycarbonate. The surface sits atop two steel T-legs and is held together with a frame assembled from steel tube frames and a variety of nuts and bolts. All told, the 1063 weighs in at an impressive 88 pounds, and is rated to support a weight of up to 200 pounds.

Building a new foundation

The assembly instructions are fairly easy to follow, though they appear to have been written with both table models in mind; as such, the fifth step for the 1063 model requires disassembly of a component assembled in step three. Still, given proper attention to the photos and steps in the instructions, neither table will be hard to assemble, at least not until it's time to turn it upright. For that, having an extra person around to help would be recommended.

The tables themselves are no-frills, just basic black-colored work surfaces. However, they come into their own once the enormous mouse pad topper is put into position. Both tables come with a mouse pad that covers the work surface end-to-end, so in the case of the Respawn-1063, it's a five-pound mouse pad with a plush 5mm thickness that stretches a full 63 inches wide. To put it another way, it's an absolutely gigantic mouse pad, perhaps one of the biggest available today. It's been cut to match the curves of the desk, and it comes complete with stitched edges and special cross-shaped slices over the table's pre-cut wiring grommets so users have a way to manage cable clutter.

It's surprisingly nice to have a mouse pad cover the entire surface of a desk or table. Perfectionists may miss having hard boundaries to align their components, but the freedom of being able to move the mouse anywhere is entertaining to the point where it's almost hilarious. The mouse pad topper also makes for a great place to set other electronics like controllers or phones, as there's no risk of them getting scratched or scuffed. There's only one real downside, and it's one experienced PC players will likely expect: the mouse pad has a strong rubber smell. I can still smell it a week after assembling the table, and I've been ventilating my office whenever possible. It's not such a big deal in this room, but in a smaller room, I imagine the smell could become overpowering.

A case for upgrading to a gaming table

As PC gamers continue to upgrade their systems, their their rigs will eventually grow not only in power but also in physical size. Truth be told, most players will inevitably want to upgrade to a bigger screen or more powerful speakers at some point, even if they have no intention of upgrading their core system otherwise. And while monitors and displays are certainly getting smaller and slimmer, monitors in larger sizes are also getting cheaper, offering players more display area for their money. The same can be said for near-field monitors, which offer the sort of sound quality that audio enthusiasts crave in larger speaker cabinets that can easily overtake a desk's available surface space.

The point here is simple: at some time during the upgrade cycle, some thought has to be put into where all those components are going to rest. A 32-inch ultrawide display with a pair of small near-field monitors will quickly fill a four-foot-wide desk — I can verify this information personally. Multi-display mounts exist to allow smaller desks to make use of multiple monitors, but the results are oftentimes cramped, or worse, jiggly. The only proper solution is a sturdy desk that's big enough to suit the system — and ideally one that gives it even more room to grow.

In this case, either of the Respawn gaming tables make for an attractive choice: both the $325 Respawn-1048 and the $350 Respawn-1063 models are enough for solo-oriented PC setups, and the extended 63-inch model is well-suited to rigs with large monitors or multiple displays. The 1063 certainly offers room to grow; I see no reason why it couldn't fit three or more monitors. In fact, if I had to guess, I would say that it could probably accommodate three separate players, each with 24-inch displays, keyboards, and mice, all in relative comfort. That's more than enough for an impromptu LAN party, especially if gaming laptops are brought into the mix.

Sometimes simple is best

The Respawn-1063 is not very fancy. In fact, I'm sure it was never meant to be fancy. It provides a solid, sturdy, and spacious surface for PC gamers to place their important (and often expensive) electronics. Aside from the wire routing grommets, its sole luxury is the enormous, plush mouse pad topper, the likes of which is every bit as pleasurable as it seems it would be. Best of all, Respawn has kept colors, logos, and other distracting design elements to a minimum, meaning there's nothing to steal the thunder away from elaborate RGB-enabled systems, nor is there anything to bother those of us who like more restrained PC setups.

Respawn's latest gaming tables are simple, functional, rugged, and rock-solid. They aren't for players who want things like accessory mounts or speaker stands or monitor shelves — the rest of the Respawn gaming desk lineup has products tailored more toward that demographic. Instead, the Respawn 1048 and 1068 gaming tables address the most basic needs of PC players with growing systems: more space and less clutter.

This review is based on a Respawn-1063 gaming table provided by the manufacturer. Both the Respawn-1048 and Respawn-1063 gaming tables are available for purchase now through the official Respawn website.

Kevin Tucker

Guides Editor

Kevin Tucker is a core component of Shacknews' powerful guide development team. For questions, concerns, tips, or to share constructive criticism, he can be reached on Twitter @dukeofgnar or through e-mail at kevin.tucker@shacknews.com.