Hi! I agree with annbee here. Monohydrate is the best form of creatine. I've tried creatine malate and I felt so much stronger and better on monohydrate.
Although it may depend on a person, but most people report better effects from taking mono. I tried only two different brands so far and I didn't really notice any differences - one was very cheap, while another one was pretty expensive, so the price doesn't really matter in this case either I guess.
I don't use any pre-workouts, only coffee and it's enough for me. Sometimes I like to grab energy drink as well, which has plenty of caffeine to get me going.