Gaming Mouse Round-Up

[HardOCP News]

TechSpot has rounded up a bunch of gaming mice from companies like Corsair, Steelseries, Gigabyte, Logitech and Razer, to see which mouse is the king of the hill.

With many hot PC game releases scheduled over the coming months, it seems like a fine opportunity to step up your game with a new mouse this holiday season if you were thinking about pitting your trusty, dusty retail rodent against Battlefield 4. Come along as a dozen mice compete for spots in our holiday and PC buying guides, and ultimately for your cash.

 

[MingoDynasty]

As a CS player, this mouse roundup is useless and is likely to lead people down the wrong path. It's more of a comparison of the fancy features of each mouse and how fancy they look. They even recommend the G700s! Not only is a wireless mouse a bad idea for gaming, but it even has positive mouse acceleration which is not very good for gaming.

The most important aspect of any gaming mouse is the sensor, and FPS gamers are going to be the most affected by this. By sensor I mean something like ADNS-3090 vs ADNS-9500, not optical vs laser. You don't want a mouse sensor that will use any sort of prediction, angle snapping, and especially not mouse acceleration. While the article mentions the sensors for a few of the mice, it does not do so for all of them, nor does it differentiate much between them.

This is a much more useful quick comparison of mice performance based on their sensors:
https://pay.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/189m4w/what_is_a_good_mouse_for_csgo/c8djhe5

 

[Domingo]

Depends on what you want. I'm more interested in additional buttons, comfort, and features than something designed for CS competitions.

 

[mavrocket]

@MingoDynasty

Not everyone plays CS.

You could request a review of mice you deem worthy of CS, or better yet do one yourself.

 

[sylon]

This is a much more useful quick comparison of mice performance based on their sensors:
https://pay.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/189m4w/what_is_a_good_mouse_for_csgo/c8djhe5

Tells you to avoid highly popular mice like the Kone + and G9x, goes to show you this is highly subjective and even difference in the technical specs of the optics may be overstated.

I don't think there's any way to truly evaluate a mouse except to use it.

 

[Methadras]

Interesting. I was surprised to see the Razer Naga 2014 is basically a Naga with Logitech G600 buttons on the side.

 

[dandirk]

@MingoDynasty

Not everyone plays CS.

You could request a review of mice you deem worthy of CS, or better yet do one yourself.

To be fair, he isn't just talking about CS but most FPS. The settings he describe are all auto correction settings that most don't know about which could possibly cause issues if you trying to get that 10% advantage and full control of your mouse/aim. Some of them force your mouse in a perfectly horizontal movement if deviation is within 2 degrees. What if you wanted a 2 degree movement up/down etc?

You are correct that most times these settings are probably not noticed (or automatically corrected by sheer usage/auto-adjustment) by average/advanced FPSers vs expert twitch FPSers.

I personally think he is right in a way though. If it was truly a good "Gamer" mouse review they would explain these features and compare/mention pros/cons. EVEN if the differences are in a small % of performance improvement.

 

[mavrocket]

I personally think he is right in a way though. If it was truly a good "Gamer" mouse review they would explain these features and compare/mention pros/cons. EVEN if the differences are in a small % of performance improvement.

Agreed!

 

[dandirk]

I don't think there's any way to truly evaluate a mouse except to use it.

Ultimately I agree but they could have been a bit more scientific, unify data reporting...

It was nice they reported different grip methods and which worked better for what. But they could have used a universal system to rate these. Aka Claw Grip: Good etc...

While a lot of stuff is subjective, if a customer can see a relative common point, they can better estimate performance under their usage... Which is basically how all reviews actually should be... I only just movie reviews from so and so because their taste is similar. etc

 

[sharknice]

As a CS player, this mouse roundup is useless and is likely to lead people down the wrong path. It's more of a comparison of the fancy features of each mouse and how fancy they look. They even recommend the G700s! Not only is a wireless mouse a bad idea for gaming, but it even has positive mouse acceleration which is not very good for gaming.

The most important aspect of any gaming mouse is the sensor, and FPS gamers are going to be the most affected by this. By sensor I mean something like ADNS-3090 vs ADNS-9500, not optical vs laser. You don't want a mouse sensor that will use any sort of prediction, angle snapping, and especially not mouse acceleration. While the article mentions the sensors for a few of the mice, it does not do so for all of them, nor does it differentiate much between them.

This is a much more useful quick comparison of mice performance based on their sensors:
https://pay.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/189m4w/what_is_a_good_mouse_for_csgo/c8djhe5

I agree on your other points, but wireless is not necessarily bad for gaming. When there is no added latency, signal loss, or interference it is perfectly fine for gaming. In fact it has the advantage of no cord causing inconsistent physical resistance that can seriously hamper your aim.

Most wireless mice have these problems, the G700s does not.

 

[ShamisOMally]

As a CS player, this mouse roundup is useless and is likely to lead people down the wrong path. It's more of a comparison of the fancy features of each mouse and how fancy they look. They even recommend the G700s! Not only is a wireless mouse a bad idea for gaming, but it even has positive mouse acceleration which is not very good for gaming.

The most important aspect of any gaming mouse is the sensor, and FPS gamers are going to be the most affected by this. By sensor I mean something like ADNS-3090 vs ADNS-9500, not optical vs laser. You don't want a mouse sensor that will use any sort of prediction, angle snapping, and especially not mouse acceleration. While the article mentions the sensors for a few of the mice, it does not do so for all of them, nor does it differentiate much between them.

This is a much more useful quick comparison of mice performance based on their sensors:
https://pay.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/189m4w/what_is_a_good_mouse_for_csgo/c8djhe5

I don't listen to these "Mouse Purists" when somebody crunched the numbers and the G700 mouse is off ONE pixel every 500,000,000 pixels scrolled, which is flat out amazing considering its the fastest responding mouse I know of with 1.17ms to send a signal to the PC even with wireless mode that the mouse has moved, all while giving 1000 reports per second, vs the Mamba which has a 4ms response time and is supposedly off 1 pixel every billion scrolled

This is versus mice which have as they call it "Perfect sensors" but end up having between a 5-10ms response time

Hell the MX518 everyone swears by has a 14ms response time

 

[ShamisOMally]

To be fair, he isn't just talking about CS but most FPS. The settings he describe are all auto correction settings that most don't know about which could possibly cause issues if you trying to get that 10% advantage and full control of your mouse/aim. Some of them force your mouse in a perfectly horizontal movement if deviation is within 2 degrees. What if you wanted a 2 degree movement up/down etc?

You are correct that most times these settings are probably not noticed (or automatically corrected by sheer usage/auto-adjustment) by average/advanced FPSers vs expert twitch FPSers.

I personally think he is right in a way though. If it was truly a good "Gamer" mouse review they would explain these features and compare/mention pros/cons. EVEN if the differences are in a small % of performance improvement.

I'm an expert twitch gamer who used to earn about $2-5K a year on the side in Quake 3, UT99 etc, personally find the G700 I use now the best mouse I've ever owned simply for all the buttons it has, and it has the same response time as the G9x of 1.17ms even in wireless mode

 

[dandragonrage]

I don't listen to these "Mouse Purists" when somebody crunched the numbers and the G700 mouse is off ONE pixel every 500,000,000 pixels scrolled, which is flat out amazing considering its the fastest responding mouse I know of with 1.17ms to send a signal to the PC even with wireless mode that the mouse has moved, all while giving 1000 reports per second, vs the Mamba which has a 4ms response time and is supposedly off 1 pixel every billion scrolled

"No man I looked this sensor up online and I can tell you without a doubt that the paper specs make it sound like it's a total piece of crap. I haven't used it, but I know what I'm talking about." - people who tell you not to buy mice based on the sensor

The sensor in my Mionix Naos 3200 is looked down upon by said people, but it goes where I want it. If the complaints were true, it would be noticeable i.e. you'd overshoot what you were going for and would generally be inaccurate at using that mouse.

 

[dandirk]

I'm an expert twitch gamer who used to earn about $2-5K a year on the side in Quake 3, UT99 etc, personally find the G700 I use now the best mouse I've ever owned simply for all the buttons it has, and it has the same response time as the G9x of 1.17ms even in wireless mode

As I said many may not notice a difference or have naturally accounted for it without knowing.

The original poster didn't mention response times as much as auto-correction features that can mess with some players who rely on exact pixel aiming etc.

Not to mention the info you specifically stated would be GOOD for a "gamer" mouse round up. Debunking or proofing possibly common beliefs.

Honestly I am right there with "normal" people, probably wouldn't notice anything unless it was drastic acceleration or something. I love my G5 mouse, nice and simple. The 3 dpi setting buttons are AWESOME for BF3/4 where vehicles behave differently. I will bump the dpi up (sensitivity basically) when using a turret so it tracks more like infantry. Though I believe they eventually added multiple mouse sensitivity settings for vehicles.

 

[_PixelNinja]

I'm an expert twitch gamer who used to earn about $2-5K a year on the side in Quake 3, UT99 etc, personally find the G700 I use now the best mouse I've ever owned simply for all the buttons it has, and it has the same response time as the G9x of 1.17ms even in wireless mode

I loved my G700 but man that rat was too heavy for me to be confortable in Quake, CS and TF2...

 

[ShamisOMally]

"No man I looked this sensor up online and I can tell you without a doubt that the paper specs make it sound like it's a total piece of crap. I haven't used it, but I know what I'm talking about." - people who tell you not to buy mice based on the sensor

The sensor in my Mionix Naos 3200 is looked down upon by said people, but it goes where I want it. If the complaints were true, it would be noticeable i.e. you'd overshoot what you were going for and would generally be inaccurate at using that mouse.

Like I stated above, the people that promote the "Pixel perfect" sensors are often the slowest responding mice, where lag will get you killed vs 1 pixel off every half billion in the G9x/G700's case

 

[FearTheCow]

No Mionix mice on that list, my NAOS 3200 has been the best mouse I have used to date.

 

[Maxx]

I just picked up a Perixx MX-3200 myself (should be here Friday) and I'll probably post about it on this forum (not really any reviews for it around). I was concerned about it being wireless, but its latency looks solid (plus dual antenna). Then I worried about the ADNS 9500 sensor's acceleration, but this unit has both optical and laser (I've heard optical lacks acceleration). Also has the typical Omron switches, 1000 Hz polling, on-board memory/macros, gold-plated/braided cable, charging station, tilt-wheel, etc, as well as both wired and wireless modes. I took a risk with it but given how cheap it is ($50, but it sold out immediately) I felt like taking a chance so I can post it as an early adopter. (not sure how the side buttons will work out)

 

[L4d]

Like I stated above, the people that promote the "Pixel perfect" sensors are often the slowest responding mice, where lag will get you killed vs 1 pixel off every half billion in the G9x/G700's case

The inconsistent tracking of the Avago 9500, 9800, and other variants have worse than "1 pixel off every half billion", but I do agree that the C.P.I. war is causing more noticeable/prominent "smoothing" algorithms.