Mice & Keyboards by jmke @ 2013-01-07
In this group test I will focus on a specific feature and gaming goal to reduce the variables as we go on a quest to find some of the best First-Person-Shooter wired mouse out there. To properly gauge the performance of my new gaming rodents I spend several weeks with each to get to know the ins and outs, their features and deliver a good dose of my personal opinions on these mice.
Over the years of testing hardware we here at the site and the industry in general have improved and fine-tuned the testing methods; CPU reviews now feature everything from cache specific tests, power consumption and overclockability; power supply tests measure each volt rail in detail, cases are tested for thermal performance with different fan configurations, cooling fans are put through their paces with CFM and dBA numbers flying at you, all that to provide a solid fact based groundwork to help decide if a product is worth your hard earned cash.
When it comes to gaming peripherals some are easier to benchmark than others, the most used and popular PC input device also turns out to be one of the hardest to objectively evaluate. In its simplest form a mouse will allow you to track a pointer on the screen and has one or more buttons, if you need a bit more surfing comfort, a couple of shoulder-buttons will come in handy and last but not least a scroll wheel / third mouse button combination to finish the deal.
What I’ve just described is every desktop mouse released this last decade since the Microsoft IntelliMouse which featured a scroll wheel and dedicated forward/back buttons for browsing the web.
The introduction of an optical sensor was also a welcome addition with the IntelliMouse Optical, no longer did we need to remove the cat hair or what-not from the insides. First released in 2000 the IntelliMouse Optical was a favorite among gamers as its optical sensor allowed for much higher accuracy than the ball-mice of the period. In 2007 Microsoft even collaborated with SteelSeries to make a gamer-specific device; an Optical SS (SteelSeries) was the result!
But even all that is ancient history by now, so how have manufactures improved the mouse, and how can you test these advances? This review will be very subjective, I will try to include as much facts as possible but at the end of the day, unlike other PC hardware components, there is no real industry standard to benchmark a mouse, personal preference plays a large role, feature set and extra’s do take the backseat.
So in this group test I will focus on a specific feature and gaming goal to reduce the variables as we go on a quest to find some of the best First-Person-Shooter wired mouse out there.
A mouse pad can make or break your gaming experience, we are using the RatPadz XT which proved to be top contender in our 21-Way Group Test a few years ago
FPS games are mostly twitch happy affairs, I decided to use the freely available www.teamfortress.com game which offers 9 distinct classes which require completely different gameplay styles, for each player style there is a class to match. The game was released in 2007 and still has a very vibrant community due to Valve investing time and money into constantly adding content and gameplay features and variations.
I’ve used a truckload of different mice since I first started using one for FPS gaming, while Doom I was enjoyable with a keyboard, Quake 1 definitely required a change of controller if you wanted to aim at an opponent which was above or below you. I’ve always had a preference for right-hand specific mice so keep this in mind when you read my biased opinions on the next pages.
Going back to the reference game used, TF2, which was released in 2007, I was using a Logitech MX1000 at that point, a wireless laser-mouse. The performance was adequate and didn’t really feel the need to change. Then I tested the OCZ Behemoth mouse and changed my opinion on wireless mice drastically, it was not the absence of the cable or extra weight of the batteries which made the biggest difference, but the aggressive power saving mode on the MX1000 which disables the laser when you don’t move the mouse and enables it when you move, while this re-enabling is almost instant, compared to the Wired Behemoth mouse the difference was noticeable.
The Behemoth was a right-hand only mouse for larger hands, it performed excellently these last 3 years, early summer it started acting up, the laser was dying, apparently a known issue for this OCZ product, but giving the $15 price tag it carried, not a disaster. Too bad I didn’t stock up on a few of these Behemoth mice, as OCZ no longer makes them.
To properly gauge the performance of my new gaming rodents I spend several weeks with each to get to know the ins and outs, their features and deliver a good dose of my personal opinions on these mice.
Coolermaster send their latest mouse from the CMStorm gaming line-up, the Sentinel Advance II is a feature rich mouse with fancy LED lightening, different game profiles and meant for right-handed gamers.
The stats
Opening the box reveals the bare essentials, no manual (you have to download it) and no drivers or applications (also via download). Do you get a spare set of mouse feet which should double the life of this mouse once they start degrading after the Nth gaming session.
Looking at the Sentinel II from the top you can see the big rear bulk and the cutout for the thumb of right-handed gamers. Looking closer you can see one button above and two below the scroll wheel. The one at the top cycles through the different profiles, the two below allow you to increase/decrease the DPI. At the left side are two buttons, forward & back, with the back button also functioning as the “combo” XL button.
The USB cable is braided and quite long, it won’t come entangled easily. At the bottom you can see the big mouse pads and a hidden hatch which holds the five 4.5g weights.
Once powered on the display in the middle of the mouse comes to life and shows you a configurable logo as well as the current X/Y DPI setting. The grill around the display also lights up by a customizable colored LED, another LED at the front gives a cool glowing effect when powered on.
The mouse works nicely out the box and doesn’t require any special drivers or software to get you going. If however you want to customize the Sentinel II a bit, you can launch the CM Storm software; this software can either be installed via a setup (adding shortcuts and auto-start icon to your system) OR can you just launch the “SentinelAdv2_EN” executable! Installation via setup is optional.
The main control tab allows you to customize up to 5 profiles to your liking, changing the actions of all the buttons, setting the four different DPI settings which can be adjusted on the fly on the mouse and set USB polling rate.
The next tab called “Color Control” does exactly that. You can chose per profile the color of the top and front LED, as well as change the MODE between OFF, Breathing (pulse), Always ON or Rapid Fire. The last mode was quite cool to see, as the LEDs light up when you click any of the buttons.
After setting your favorite color you can also add a custom logo, a 32x32 b&w bitmap uploaded through the CMStorm gives this effect: [M]
The CMStorm didn't take long to get used to, the most important buttons are on familiar places and could be reached with ease, playing around with the DPI settings I settled for 1200-1400 DPI depending on the class I played in TF2, the mouse tracked well and true, lift-off distance according to specifications is ~1.5mm, which means as soon as you pick up the mouse higher than 1.5mm the sensor stops tracking. A low value here is best if you have a tendency to play with lower DPI setting (and thus require to replace the mouse during gameplay on your mousepad).
A second test with high DPI was performed at 8200 in Quake 3 Arena, which allows in-game mouse sensitivity tweaking in high detail... the high DPI and low sensitivity allowed for unparalleled control of the mouse pointer.
* important note here: increasing USB polling rate above 500hz conflicts with Q3A and the system will start acting up, this is a known issue, that only recently surfaced with the introduction of these high end (and high USB polling Mhz) mice
The cutout of the thumb area is sufficient to keep your thumb from touching the mouse-pad most of the time, on the pinkie side you can more easily drop off; despite the hard plastic used throughout, the CMStorm Sentinel Advance II was a comfortable right-handed mouse.
SteelSeries has been around for many years, providing quality gaming gear, their latest product is a price conscious version of their Sensei mouse, dubbed the [RAW] it does away with the fancy multi-color led lightening, onboard ARM CPU, LCD menu system and double DPI functionality. What we’re left is still a very capable and left-right hand friendly gaming mouse which is €30 cheaper compared to the full version.
The RAW can be had with a Glossy surface, or Rubber body, SteelSeries send us both to test and compare.
The stats:
The contents of both boxes are identical (no surprise there): a getting starting guide, case sticker and manual.
This is a completely symmetrical mouse, the ideal product for southpaws, each side features a forward and back button, at the top you have an indicator led and “enable turbo mode” button.
Flipping over the Sensei RAW reveals some impressive looking mouse pads.
The USB cable is braided, no tangled wires hell with these mice!
The white LED logo is gives a nice subtle effect when powered on; its intensity of it can be configured through the SteelSeries software. The same LED light also gives a glow effect to the scroll wheel as you can see.
As soon as I installed the SteelSeries software the firmware on the RAW was updated, which was a painless process.
The difference between the rubber and glossy RAW is immense, visually they are stunningly different, but they each have a very unique feel when you put them in your palm. The glossy RAW is definitely the cooler looking product, but it’s a thumbprint magnet!
The SteelSeries Engine is recommended download, not only to configure and customize the LED lightening and different buttons, but also to use the one of many pre-defined macros for tons of games. New profiles are constantly added and make playing new games easy if you want to just plug&play.
The RAW is one of the most neutral mouse of those tested and will equally well fit left- and right-handed gamers; with this comes also its greatest drawback, while its form is comfortable it doesn’t quite match the comfort a specific right/left hand mouse offers. It took a bit longer to get used to the Sensei RAW in-game, the lift-off distance is rated at 2mm which I did notice when displacing the mouse, the first 10 minutes I had to concentrate on lifting the mouse higher than what I was used to, but afterwards it went smoothly.
Accuracy went down a few notches, but nothing earth shattering, overall the mouse performed nicely and the quick DPI switch mode button made it possible to further fine tune the experience without delving into the menu settings. After a few days of using the Sensei RAW I noticed that I was accidentally pressing one of the two shoulder buttons on the left side of the mouse more often than I wanted, especially in the heat of the battle when picking up the RAW to reposition it, disabling them in with the included Sensei Software resolved this issue.
Swapping between the glossy and rubberized version, I ended up liking the rubber version for its extra stickiness and overall more comfortable experience;
MADCatz is a gaming peripheral company with quite a few different products under their wing, they created a separate organization to focus a particular style of the gaming mouse; the Cyborg RAT series.
The most striking feature of the RAT is its ability to physically morph into a different beast by swapping out the top and side plates, as well as move the buttons on the right.
The stats:
The RAT 7 doesn’t look like your run of the mill PC rodent, between the different mice plates are gaping openings, allowing you to see inside the guts of the beast. You can clearly make out how the mouse is constructed, an aluminum skeleton fleshed out with different panels which can be swapped out (palm- and pinkie-rest) or moved back<>forward (thumb rest).
Inside the package you’ll find a nifty box that holds all the custom panels for safe keeping. There’s also a weight cartridge that can hold the 5 custom weights of the RAT.
Without the weights the mouse is already on the heavy side, adding a further 30gr was not necessary for me, this is of course a personal choice.
The palm rest was the second option I started testing to find my preference, the thickest one was too high for me, the rubberized one too grippy, so I left the default one; position wise you can move the palm rest in 4 different positions, the furthest away is definitely for those with very large hands!
Removing the palm rest is tool-less, swapping the pinkie-rest requires a custom hex driver, luckily one is included with the RAT and is never far away. Again the stock one was ideal for me, although I did like the big one, but in the end it was too cumbersome in fast gaming sections.
This leaves two physical customizations before we get to the software, both are for the thumb rest, which can be moved forward as well as outwards with the included hex driver.
The Cyborg software is a two part installation; first you need to install the mouse drivers; afterwards you can load up the Cyborg configuration tool; above you can see all the buttons available on the RAT 7, each one can be configured as a single action, or link them to MACRO actions. The small red button as highlighted in the middle picture allows for instant "slow down" DPI mode; useful if you need extra precision when sniping from afar. It's location however is not perfect and accidental presses were registered during heated gaming sessions. You can disable the button if it conflicts with your gaming style.... or tweak the button with a custom command to link it to a keyboard press. Than link that keyboard press to an action in-game and you got another button on the mouse. While at first hitting the button by accident happened often, after months of using the mouse, the small button proved extremely useful and accidental hits were drastically reduced. Definitely a killer feature of this product.
Through the software you can also predefine different game profiles; making it possible to have endless button setup variations for each game.
The unorthodox look of the RAT 7 with its gaping holes and open structure lead me to believe it would make for an uncomfortable fit, while it did take some to adjust to its unique physical form, it was far from unpleasant. And after a while I noticed an increase in aiming accuracy and this continued the following days, as I became more accustomed to the design and fine tuned the layout of the different components. In the end I do think the added customization options improved my gaming experience and the mouse ended up as one of my favorites in this roundup.
The flashiest mouse in our roundup today comes from gaming pheriphal company Roccat; their Kone XTD is their latest high end wired rodent which features extremely fast tracking, right hand molded design and lights up with multi-colored LEDs when powered on.
All the features and options are mentioned in detail on the packaging, with a run-down of their Easy-Shirt[+] macro button and highlights of the many unique features of the Kone XTD version.
A summary:
When not powered on the Kone XTD doesn't look very intimidating, if you ignore the wild animal logo in the center of the mouse; the buttons are sleek and recessed into the design making the whole a compact product. Flipping it over shows you the compartment where the 4 weights are stored. Roccat also includes a small container for you to store the weights you're not using.
A closer look at the USB connector and you can also see the braided USB cable to reduce a wire tangle mess.
Once powered on the Kone XTD shows its true colors, the LED bars on each side on the mouse can be customized with fancy colors and lightening effects. Of course once you put your palm on the Kone XTD you don't see any of this.
On the software side of things, Roccat did an excellent job of providing a feature rich config panel without too much clutter.
On the first screen you set the mouse sensitivity, scroll wheel speed and tilt, DPI fast switcher allows you to set 5 different DPI levels which you can then cycle through using the dedicated buttons on the Kone. The next screen allows you to configure up to 12 actions using all the physical buttons, if you're combining them with the Easy-Shift[+] button (which is mapped by default to the IE Backward - button #5) you can go up to 24 buttons!
The advanced control screen has some interesting tuning controls which really puts the Kone XTD at the head of the customisation pack. You can set different X-Y sensitivity, next you can calibrate the tracking sensor which calibrates the laser to the surface you're using the mouse on for optimal performance. You can set the lift-off distance (how high you have pick up the mouse before it stops tracking); The polling rate is the next option worth tweaking, in recent games the 1000HZ polling rate will give you the best performance.
The sound feedback option really caught me off-guard... changing the DPI triggered a scruffy male voice announcing the DPI change and what it was set to now. At high volume it can be quite surprising, at lower volume it becomes very useful when changing in-game, you immediately know what the setting is now without having to look to an LCD screen or trying to remember what you set in the software before you launched the game. While it did come over as a gimmick at first, I came to appreciate more over time when swapping different DPI settings and profiles.
Speaking of profiles, you can link an application to one of the 5 different profiles and it when that application is launched, the mouse will switch to your favorite settings.
Helping you visualize what profile is active, you can set a color for each one to easily help identify. The LED control panel is nicely fleshed out to offer you a lot of control to make the Kone XTD either a disco attraction with blinking BLUE/YELLOW lights, or more of menacing RED pulsating rodent. For the stats lovers Roccat tracks total button clicks and other mouse actions, even giving you virtual trophies for using the mouse more intensively.
This right hand mouse from Roccat definitely impresses, the Kone XTD comes with a solid feature set, where the Cyborg RAT 7 could be extremely customized physically, the Kone XTD plays the software customization card, with great success. The default profile gets you going quickly, if however you're used having the shoulder buttons act as IE Forward <> IE Back buttons, you might get annoyed by the default Easy-Shift[+] taking the place of the IE Back; a few clicks through the Roccat configurator and this annoyance is a thing of the past. Fine tuning the weight and lift of distance does improve overall performance. It didn't take long for me to accustomed to this mouse as it lays nicely into your right hand and performed sublimely.
Razer is one of the older gaming gear companies around, they've produced some high quality mice and mouse pads since their debut in 1998, today I take a look a wired gaming mouse which is basically a Razer DeathAdder with added customizable options. Dubbed the Imperator, the 2012 version on the test bench today.
The features are very close to those of the DeathAdder, except for the two highlighted in the feature list below, which are unique to the Imperator
The design of the Imperator screams ergonomics with curves going up and down the sides and top of the mouse. At the bottom you see a whole next to the sensor, inside is a small camera that is used to calibrate the Imperator for the surface you're running it on.
The shoulder buttons can be pushed back or forwards, so you can have them exactly where you want them to be for ideal comfort and easy access.
Inside the box you'll also find the usual suspects, as an installation and quick start manual, there's also a Razer sticker-sheet. The USB cable is braided for best wire-tangle-mess avoiding, it's also very long which is definitely a plus. Last but not least when powered on the Imperator lights up cool blue, showcasing the Razer logo and highlighting the scroll-wheel.
Software installation is a next->next->finish affair, launching the application triggers and import of the profiles stored on the mouse onboard memory, this is quite a slow process, once they are loaded up the application is however snappy!
All seven buttons can be customized using the Imperator configuration software, you can also change the way the scoll wheel functions if you're so inclined. The tweak performance tab goes further into detail, allowing for fine tuning of the DPI sensitivity as well as set up to 5 different step up stages and enable independent X-Y sensitivity. Acceleration can be enabled or disabled here for the whole system, making use of the extra precision of the higher DPI levels. Polling rate can be tweaked up to 1000Hz for best performance and last but not least: Surface Calibration. When it works, it works very well, with the Calibration enabled tracking accuracy did improve and all is well, although running with it, doesn't make the mouse useless, far from. On an older Razer Everglide Giganta mousepad, the Calibration did not fair as well. As soon as Surface Calibration was set, the mouse would stop tracking correctly, disabling it fixed it... still worthy to keep in mind and to test out on your mouse pad / desk surface.
You can manage different profiles, export them, copy them, assign them to specific applications and rename them to better identify their purpose. The enable on-screen display triggers an UI overlay pop-up whenever you change profile, under the tweak performance tab, the "enable On-The-Fly Sensitivity" triggers an UI overlay as seen below, but this is only visible outside of 3D games (OpenGL and Direct3D titles tested). You can further customize the functions by storing macros to replace multiple keyboard/mouse combinations under the "manage macros" tab. The last screen was the least populated, lighting options are limited, ON/OFF.
As with the other mice, I tested Quake 3 Arena with high DPI, the Imperator boasts 6400DPI, so that's what I first used, however at this DPI level the tracking was not as smooth as expected, turning it down to <5000DPI provided a better experience.
Overall I was most pleased with the on the fly DPI tweaking using the scroll wheel, setting the sensitivity in 100 DPI steps. The ergonomic design also shown through, allowing for comfortable gaming sessions without the slightest discomfort. Razer did compromise slightly on usability when they made the shoulder buttons move-able, as they are smaller and thus a tiny bit harder to hit (or differentiate between the two). The Imperator does lack a feature the DeathAdder has on the software side:Razer Synapse 2.0. This might be a blessing in disguise as you don't need an internet connection to set up and use this mouse from Razer, where as the DeathAdder is, well, like a dead adder, without an internet connection when you try to install the configuration software for the first time. This issue has been addressed by Razer , so it shouldn't be an issue for people wanting to store their profiles in the cloud. For the Imperator user, no such software is included, although it wouldn't surprise me to see Imperator 2013 use the Synapse 2.0 software too. The Imperator was close to be amongst the favorites of the group test, but lack of weight options and picky calibration sensor keep it from a higher score.
Our last lab rat comes from the grand daddy of PC mouse gear, Logitech, founded in 1981, they have covered almost all PC peripheral bases.
While they have high end wireless gaming mice, in the wired department, the aging G9x is set to be replaced, the only sample I did acquire suffered from a broken scroll-wheel (the mouse was a used sample from expo's and demos), so they send me a rather unique, more budget friendly, G300 gaming mouse. A compact wired ambidextrous mouse with flashy colors and an unique button layout.
Inside the box, a small manual and the mouse of course, the cable is not braided to keep cost low.
The symmetrical design of the G300 is immediately apparent with all buttons placed on top of the mouse. There are no should buttons, instead you get four buttons next to the primary left<>right buttons. This design allows for a compact layout and deep cutout at the sides for an ergonomic fit.
The bottom of the mouse features huge mousepads for smooth gliding performance, the RED color however is a bit flashy, especially compared to the sober black/metallic finish of the top.
Once powered on you can change the color of the LED lightening present at each side of the G300. The 5 colors can be seen above.
The G300 is supported by Logitech generic Gaming Software bundle, you can choose to store profile on your computer, or up to three on the mouse. Each profile can be linked to a specific game through .exe detection. Editing the profile allows you to change the LED colors, set up to 4 DPI levels to cycle through and configure all the 9 buttons; the USB polling rate can also be increased to 1000hz for maximum performance.
Logitech took a leap of faith, when the moved the shoulder buttons to a new location. While the other mice do a variation of the original IntelliMouse from Microsoft, adding buttons, flashier looks and better/different software tweaks, Logitech moved the location of buttons which can no longer be called thumb buttons. When using the mouse my thumb was feeling quite useless as it's only there to hold the mouse. For some office applications or games the extra buttons next to the left/right buttons might give an advantage, but if you're used to thumb buttons for extra inputs, the G300 does disappoint, and no amount of ergonomic benefit can make you overlook this flaw.
If however you don't rely heavily on the shoulder buttons of a generic mouse, the G300 can make a for an appealing gaming mouse to take on the road, with its compact size, above average tracking performance and gaming profile software. For me the G300 didn't quite do it and I was fighting more with the mouse instead of the virtual opponents in-game.
Several months have passed since I started testing the first mouse of this roundup, so now it’s finally decision time; the features have been laid out and compared in the table below, but those are only numbers of course.
| CM Storm Sentinel Advance II |
Cyborg R.A.T. 7 | SteelSeries Sensei RAW | Roccat Kone XTD | Razer Imperator 2012 | Logitech G300 | |
| DPI Range | 200-8200 | 100-6400 | 90-5670 | 200-8200 | 100-6400 | 250-2500 |
| Programmable Profiles | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 3 |
| Buttons | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 |
| LED Lightening | Multi Color | White Color | Multi Color | Blue Color | Multi Color | |
| Weight Tuning | 5x4.5gram | 5x6gram | 4x5gram | |||
| Extra | Customizable OLED Logo |
Customizable Design Face Plates and Size |
Symmetrical Design | Advanced LED Tuning Options |
Customizable Side Buttons | Symmetrical Design |
| Price | €50 / $42 | €60 / $70 | €50 / $45 | €80 / $125 | €70 /$64 | €25 / $35 |
| Somewhat arbitrary AIRSHOT Rating |
8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 6 |
If we boil things down to the bare essentials we can’t leave price out of the equation. Looking at what personal rating I gave to each mouse and the price-tag associated to each, I think there does seem to be a tendency to rate the more expensive products higher and the more affordable ones lower. So in this case I think we can say: you get what you pay for.
The most expensive unit, Roccat Kone XTD, scored quite high in my book, offering excellent right-handed gaming performance, with tons of features and excellent tuning software. The price tag can however be a hurdle as it commands a premium. If you can overlook the special design of the Cyborg RAT 7, than it definitely makes a worthy alternative to the Roccat, features less flashy colors and tuning software, it does match the Roccat in pure performance numbers, yet comes at a lower price.
If you’re on the other side of the big pond, I would definitely take the Razer Imperator into consideration, scoring only slightly lower than the Roccat and Cyborg products.
This brings us to the more mainstream price category, here the Coolermaster Sentinel II really excels, with fancy OLED display, ergonomic design and good performance. If you’re a lefty, the SteelSeries Sensei RAW would make my shortlist, with its no-nonsense design, setup and solid performance.
This leaves the budget product of the roundup, the Logitech G300 is priced competitively, yet its special button layout doesn’t make it a product for everybody. Consider it only if you don’t make heavy use of the shoulder buttons on your current mouse (if it has them).
I’d like to thank SteelSeries, Roccat, Logitech and Coolermaster for allowing us to test their gaming rodents. Looking forward to more exciting products from them in future.
