Gaming mouse - worth it?

megatron · 23 Feb 2006 at 08:37

Upgraded from mx510 to G5 and it was the best thing I ever did for my fragrate. Im kind of unusual in that my wrist is for the most part planted and the mouse moves so I need some super sensitivity. The sensitivity adjustment I dont use all that much but it can come in handy speeding up the tank turret in BF2 in close confines and lowering sensitivity occationally to snipe (but if I do usually means that Im out of range with the standard sniper rifle).

I have mouse acceleration activated on the desktop and off in games, and the logitech setpoint software is well up to the job despite some people recommending it not be installed.

Pickers · 23 Feb 2006 at 09:39

Off topic a bit, but can anyone tell me why (in all my years of gaming) I suffer with mouse filtering? Its only if I'm strafing and turning, the screen jumps. With any fps, I head straight for options and look for mouse smoothing or filtering.
Why am I plagued with this curse? It has happened on all my systems since I got my first intellimouse (serial) up to my current system which has a logitek desktop wireless combo.

audiolab · 23 Feb 2006 at 09:45

Depends on how much you want to spend, I had a MS Explorer V3 and I stil like it. I needed a new keyboard so I bought the MX510 and pad bundle along with a Saitek Eclipse keyboard. I had intended to replace my standard 3 button IBM mouse at work with the MX510 but having tried it I decided to keep the MX510 for the house.

As said above it is old tech but very very good value, I think you will get better response from the copperheads etc. but it depends on what you want to use it for. I mainly play driving games so my mouse is not really for gaming. Coming from an explorer to a MX mouse I would say that I noticed no difference in performance, but the MX is nicer in the hand, I found the explorer a little large.

You will not go wrong with the bundle from OC but if you want something thet wee bit better then splash out and treat yourself.

Vtec9k · 23 Feb 2006 at 10:13

After breaking my intellimouse that i thought was pretty decent and being stuck using a 1980's compaq rollerball mouse for the past week or 2 I spashed out on a G5 + S&S pad and the difference is just crazy, never again an i going to settle for a cheap mouse and free pad combo.

Raikiri · 23 Feb 2006 at 11:45

smoove said:
I used these steelpad things and thought they were awful, felt so uncomftarble.

What are these gaming mice like for every day PC use when your not gaming?

They are only 2mm thick how can they be uncomfortable?

Great for every day use, currently using an MS ball mouse piece of crap at college

and my MX510 is 100x better

Mark A · 23 Feb 2006 at 15:15

Im using a mystify mamba and its great, i tryed a generic mouse yesterday and it was awfull. The best mouse pad ive used is an Eyepad by corepad, the mouse just glides like silk over the surface. Plus these mouse mats are very cheap as they are oem and come in a plastic bag, i got mine for £10 and its mahoosive, theres a smaller one for £7 aswell, definatly worth getting.

Mark

mortals · 23 Feb 2006 at 15:22

smoove said:
I used these steelpad things and thought they were awful, felt so uncomftarble.

What are these gaming mice like for every day PC use when your not gaming?

I found them a little uncomfortable, it is steel after all and the surface wears on your skin aswell as the teflon

.

Raikiri said:
They are only 2mm thick how can they be uncomfortable?

Great for every day use, currently using an MS ball mouse piece of crap at college and my MX510 is 100x better

Being 2mm thick doesn't change anything, it's still hard steel(4S) or plastic(S&S)

Given my steel one lasted 6months I wouldn't expect the plastic one to last any longer, if anything it would wear out a lot quicker :confused:

HangTime · 23 Feb 2006 at 19:09

Pickers said:
Off topic a bit, but can anyone tell me why (in all my years of gaming) I suffer with mouse filtering? Its only if I'm strafing and turning, the screen jumps. With any fps, I head straight for options and look for mouse smoothing or filtering.
Why am I plagued with this curse? It has happened on all my systems since I got my first intellimouse (serial) up to my current system which has a logitek desktop wireless combo.

Mouse filtering was initially implemented in Quake because at the time, USB didn't exist and by default mice used a ~40hz refresh rate (ps2/serial). Basically this caused unsmooth, jerky movement especially at high framerates due to the mouse position only being updated 40 times per second.

Mouse smoothing/filtering basically works by taking an average of the mouse position over the frametime and smooths out the movement.

However, filtering is fundamentally bad because there is an inherent increase in mouse latency (frametime/2) by using it. If you have 50fps, this means that you have a 20ms frametime, and hence using mouse filter gives you a 10ms increase in effective mouse latency. Doesn't sound much, but in a fast paced FPS, it all adds up.

When using modern mice, with polling rates of >100hz (usb defaults to 125hz and can be increased to 250/500/1000hz, ps2 should be increased to 200hz), there really shouldn't be any need to use m_filter. The very small reduction in mouse smoothness is more than made up for by the more responsive mouse, once you get used to it.

IF you are using your mouse via the ps2 port, it might be worth checking what the polling rate is set to - if it's at default, it's probably not at 200hz.

Bottom line is: Try and get used to playing without mouse filter, as this will reduce lag.

Pickers · 25 Feb 2006 at 18:23

Whoops- I forgot about this

Should I change the sample rate to 200? Why is it set to 100 by default if this isnt good?

Zacko · 25 Feb 2006 at 19:40

BS Dave said:
defo, i have one of those razor diamondback, and if anything it's too responsive!!

only trouble is everyone once in a while it's not recognised when you boot up, something to do with drawing too much power from the usb apparently.

would recommend it though, and they come in 3 colours

Ditto, had it two weeks an I'm loving it, shame about the start up thing though eh?

HangTime · 26 Feb 2006 at 00:39

Pickers said:
Whoops- I forgot about this

Should I change the sample rate to 200? Why is it set to 100 by default if this isnt good?

200hz uses slightly more cpu than 100hz, in the old days when overclocking ps2 mice was first discovered people were running much slower computers (pentium1/2), and there was also occasional mouse issues when using 200hz. Should be fine with modern hardware.

Raikiri · 26 Feb 2006 at 00:51

mortals said:
I found them a little uncomfortable, it is steel after all and the surface wears on your skin aswell as the teflon .

Being 2mm thick doesn't change anything, it's still hard steel(4S) or plastic(S&S)

Given my steel one lasted 6months I wouldn't expect the plastic one to last any longer, if anything it would wear out a lot quicker

Must have girly wrists/hands then cos mine is fine

Had it 2 months and it looks brand new. (S&S)

cheets64 · 26 Feb 2006 at 00:56

I got a mx510 a few weeks back with a free steel pad £25 and its great for games but i am using my mx700 for surfing