gonX

Note: Every time you buy a laser mouse, god kills a kitten! Why? Read this!

Introduction:
Looking for the best mouse in terms of performance? There is plenty of other guides on the internet relating to performance of mice, but does not take ergonomics as much into consideration.

DPI, grams, what?
DPI stands for "dots per inch", and is also used by printers. The average user cannot "dispose" of any more than 800 dpi, so going above this is pointless. Also, the average mouse is "only" 400 dpi, and there is mice which upscales after installing drivers, such as the MX510/G1 (400 > 800 dpi)
But still, do use DPI as a major factor in selecting your mouse as long as it is above or equal to 400 dpi.

There is also grams, which I feel is quite important too. Very few people do like heavy/clunky mice when gaming. You average mouse weights 110-130 grams, and many people feel this is too heavy. Some mice has an internal weight in them for such case, which you can remove at the expense of a voided warranty.
I will point out grams throughout the reviews too, and if it is light or heavy.

There is also mouse speed, and when they cap out.
The average person only moves at 0.8-1.2m/s, and the professional gamer up to 3.4 m/s (absolute max) (and for anyone interested I play at 1 sens in CS:S on my 400dpi mouse (G1/MX510), and top out at about 3 m/s)
Most casual gamers will hit up to 1.6 m/s

Mousepads!
Far the most of any people misses the mousepad... it is an essential for ANY gamer to have if you want to play seriously. Playing on your table can do many thing, including but not limited to scratching of either device or "decreased" performance.

I have owned a couple of "gaming grade" mousepads, including the:
Icemat
Steelpad S&S
Steelpad 4D
Steelpad QCK Heavy

I have not tried the Razer eXactmat, but I tried touching it and it is quite equal to the Steelpad 4D, though I did not spend long time together with that due to it's poor performance.

Out of the Icemat, Steelpad S&S and QCK, it's mostly dependant on your own option and feel. If you like cloth pads, the QCK is the one for you, if you like hard surfaces, it's between the Icemat and S&S.
The downside of the Icemat is that after user of a couple of months, it gets dirty much faster than when you got it, so you might notice yourself going out in the kitchen/toilet and rubbing it under the tap a couple of times a week.

Don't let that set you off buying it though, because it is a really good mousepad with great potentials (gosh this bring memories back, I'm almost feeling the urge to use my Icemat again), and it is the one of all 3 that has the best control and slide. I don't use it due to that it gets dirty quite easy, and it's not as big (even though I have the 2nd version) as the QCK. My current mousepad is the QCK for anyone interested, because of its size.

I stopped using the S&S though after having it for 2 years (using for 1), seeing as it got pretty worn up after using it plenty hours each day, and doesn't like some mice. It's not worth buying if you are able to get the QCK Heavy or Icemat nearby.

Another downside of the Icemat is that when it's cold, IT'S COLD! I learned that the hard way after LANing outside at the winter, and coming back to a 10c (glass) mousepad is painful when trying to game. On the other hand, it's great if you want to heat your hand, because you can go and put some hot water on it (and dry it off afterwards, obviously). Heating your hand which goes to the harbl later is awesome :<

But generally, get the Icemat unless you need ALOT of mousing space (like me), then get the QCK, which also can be folded.

The S&S is only suited for LANing, and has a pretty good performance looking away from that it gets worn up VERY fast.

So pretty much (out of those that I've owned):
Performance = Icemat
Comfort (cloth) = QCK
Size = QCK
Transportability = S&S/QCK

I'll probably start reviewing a couple of mousepads later on when I get the money for it, but currently these are the only ones.

Mouse Performance!

Get to it!
The current best performance mouse would be the Razer Deathadder (previously the MX500). The reason to this is because of it's incredible DPI and the threshold of skipping in speed.
No (human) person will be able to cap out this mouse's blasting report speed, which caps out and gives up at 4.4 m/s - and starts skipping at first 3.92 m/s!

If you don't like the Deathadder, you can opt for the MX500 which I also highly recommend, but is hard to get nowadays.

Polling rates
Polling rates are easily adjusted by THIS tool, and is rated in "Hz", or reports per second. Polling rates are a somewhat important thing, but not as important as for you to change mouse for it. IE. G5 to MX518 (500Hz to 125Hz)
You can check your mouse's polling rate with THIS tool.
It can also be rated in MS, 125 Hz is 8 ms, and is generally NOT what you want. Almost any mouse will respond positively to the rate adjusting utility above, and can reduce the mouse lag you can feel on some mice.

Sensitivities
Sensitivities are a VERY important part of your gaming. The Windows sensitivity should ALWAYS be set in the middle (6th step), due to that Windows adjusts it in a weird way, which isn't accurate.
Most gamers are comfortable at 3 sens, and pro gamers at sub-1.5 (relative to 800DPI).

The FPS in your game is essential!
Not having a fluid FPS can kill your game too... that doesn't mean that it has to be above 45 fps all the time, but more like 40 constantly. It's the same thing as mouse acceleration, it makes you play different each time, so Vsync is definitely recommended to turn on.

Alternatives
Another great mouse is the G1/MX510 (again same hardware in different shells, just like the MX500 <-> MX300), which does not perform as well, but is still under production (or at least the G1 is), in contrary to the MX500/MX300.
This engine tops out at ~1.7 m/s and gives up at 3.4 m/s

There is also the MS Intelli 3.0, which is still used by many professional players, such as HeatoN from NiP. It's also a great mouse, and tops out at about 1.55 m/s, and decreases slightly until it simply just gives up at 2.1 m/s (note: the MS WMO 1.1 is equal to this mouse in hardware)

Fourth option leaves us the MX518, which is also a great mouse, though with a quite unneeded DPI - 1600 DPI - will cause hassle for many gamers in Windows. It caps out at ~2 m/s, and the research team (ESReality.com, check the credits section at the bottom) could not make it give up, even at 4.5 m/s. Similiar mice to this is the Razer Krait and Diamondback.

Fifth option leaves us for another manufacturer, which is Razer. Razer was known for their Boomslang optimecanical (ball) mouse and it's responsiveness.
It was the fundament of gaming mice.

Now, to the mice by Razer:
- Razer Diamondback
- Razer Krait
- Razer Deathadder
I know there is the Copperhead too, but PLEASE read whole the review

I cannot say too much about them seeing as I have not tried any of them.

The Diamondback and Krait are both very equal, based on opticals, and both running at 1600 dpi (again, they're this far down the chart due to the DPI, though, on the other hand it is far more adjustable and precise than Logitech's counterpart - the MX518)

The Krait and Diamondback (DB from now on) both tops out at near 1.8m/s, but the Krait craps out at a measly 3.8m/s, and the Diamonback was beyond ESReality's pulley's speed.

Both mice are great performers, and is great for almost any gamer. Though, there is many people that does not like the shape of these mice.

Luckily enough the Deathadder was recently released with an updated firmware, which allows it to excel at both low and high DPIs. This makes it the currently best mouse on the market - compared to the previous leader, MX500. When using them there are virtually no difference other than the majorly improved DPI and the slightly higher (but unneccesary) skipping threshold.

So how much "performance" do I need?
If you look further up in my guide, I described that the average person moves the mouse at up to 1.2 m/s, the casual up to 1.6 m/s and the professionals up to 2.1 m/s
Averagely, this table can be followed (400 dpi):

Sens (CS:S) to average m/s
10 -> 1.0
8 -> 1.15
7 -> 1.25
5 -> 1.3
3 (standard) -> 1.4 m/s
2 -> 1.55 m/s
1 and below -> 1.55-2.2m/s

This is just for getting the idea, it's by no means 100% accurate. That means don't buy a new mouse just because of this chart!

Now, to the other mice on the market.

What mice isn't suited for gaming?
Due to contrary belief, the G5/G3 is actually one of the worst mice - albeit one of the best laser mice - for gaming. In general laser mice just isn't suited for FPS gaming! Steer clear unless you don't play FPS'es AT ALL.

Other questions:

I got one from Drax:
Because they're generally flagged as being "better" than their optical/whatever counterparts, so in theory they should be boycotted, but also because their top speed is FAR from as high as say optical or infrared.

If you're one of those who play at a low sensitivity, you probably notice it alot. I got my G5 back in the time where I was trying to reduce my sensitivity alot, because I started playing better in it.
I think I was down to about 2 when I really started noticing how crappy my G5 was, so I went out and bought a Copperhead (just like you), and that was far from better - actually, it was much worse than the G5 in terms of flicking your mouse.
I'm currently on a G1 which is based on the MX510, which is one step below the MX518.

I'm getting a MX500 very soon, which is one of the best mice (together with the MX300) in terms of top speed (caps out at 3.9 (perfect and malfunction response) m/s, compared to 1.68 perfect and 3.3 malf. m/s with my G1)

Hope this helps

PS. Oh yeah, if it matters, the Copperhead has perfect response up to 0.83 m/s and fails completely (malfunction speed) at 0.85.

PPS. I got a PM asking how fast I approx. am moving my mouse. It's about the +3.0 m/s - 1800 DPI and 0.34 sens in CS:S
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Credits:
- gonX @ overclock.net
- Arsenik and admin @ overclock.net - for making the text box extendable (I love you for that)
- TheSubtleKnife @ overclock.net - by forcing me to make this guide. I've wanted to do it for a long time, and I'm happy to have done it
- Sujoy @ esreality.com (link to mousereview article, link to DA article) - for providing me with results. Hope this gives a bit more visitors to you guys
- My keyboard <3

and more

I will update this over time, and if you spot any mistakes or have any questions, please PM me instead of posting in this thread. Thank you.

Edit log:
08/29/07 - 5.37PM: fixed typos
09/01/07 - 6.02PM: added lines in credits
02/11/08 - 4:51PM: fixed typos, added deathadder part
03/27/08 - 6:12PM: added Deathadder link

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