Peripheral Hunting

[Gravatrax]

Now that My rig is pretty much complete (well minus possible future upgrades) I decided to possibly invest in some peripherals such a mice, keyboard, and headset.

 

I own a pair of AKG 240 that I use occasionally for music.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--AKGK240STU

They are indeed nice, they don't do bad for gaming. I have my on board audio (back part at least) plugged into my home theater setup which only powers two infinity towers, and then I of course plug the AKG into the home theater receiver because it acts as a much better amplifier. I think I will continue to use it like this. But I was wondering if there were any mics I could use that could possibly snap onto the headphones somewhere for communication. I would just plug in the mic into the front mic input on my case. Yeah I'd have a an extra wire but no sense in spending money if it's not necessary to. So does such a mic exist? It needs to be decent quality obviously.

 

As for the Keyboard well I was considering shelling out for a nice expensive Razer keyboard but I can't seem to justify spending that much on a keyboard, it's not like it's literally going to help my game. So i was just going to get a Sidewinder X4.

 

For a mouse I was considering a Razer Mamba, expensive but all the same really nice and claims to have good precision. What I am wondering, does it really offer that much more precision than lets say my Logitech M305 I am using?

[FMod]

I don't think I know of any Razer keyboard that doesn't suck. Even Blackwidow carries the dubious distinction of one of the worst mechanicals one can get.

 

A good keyboard just feels better and gives less finger fatigue when typing. When gaming it doesn't matter much. There are some good mechanicals for $100 today, you don't have to pay Filco prices. The same Costar CST-104 that Filco uses is also found inside Thermaltake Meka G1 with MX Black switches and CM Storm Trigger with MX Brown. Blacks are better for gaming, Browns are good for both games and typing. MX Blue are only good for typing.

 

 

Razer Mamba is about the size of a dump truck with all the grace of one. It's certainly not precise. And if that wasn't bad enough, the twin eye sensor is among the worst.

 

Fancy mice don't really give precision the way you make it sound. It's more ambiguous than that. Most of the better mice are optical, not laser; if you have optical, you're already halfway there. The second most important thing is size and weight, you want light and small (but not laptop mouse small). In my experience there's no such thing as too light a mouse, extra weight for "stability" is maybe good if you're drunk or emotional, in which case you can't play competitively anyway.

 

Size-wise it comes down to grip - if you use claw or fingertip grip, small size is more important. But if you used fingertip grip, you probably wouldn't need to ask at all. If you use palm grip, the greatest improvement you can make to your mouse performance is learning to use claw grip, so get a claw grip mouse anyway.

 

Out of brand-name mice, Steelseries Kinzu V2 Pro is good, but it's 3-button which is a head-scratcher for the price. Logitech offers some excellent options with G300 and G400. Other Logitechs use Setpoint, you only want these two; G300 is fingertip only, G400 is all grips. Seeing how Logitech also tends to have the best build quality, and they probably also use optical scroll (not sure, but they usually do), and since they use the new LGS that is fully programmable, I think G400 just might be the overall best mouse on the market today.

[Gravatrax]

I looked at those mice. I'd really prefer something wireless. I had a feeling Razer was somewhat just about the name, but I have never actually bought anything from them, so I could never verify it, it was hard to take them seriously after they released that Razer Blade thing lol. That thermaltake looks pretty good and gets substantially better reviews than the Black Widow so I may consider that one. The CM Storm Trigger looks pretty sweet to, especially with the slightly arched design of the keys, might make for more natural movement of the hands or something....IDK!, as do there cases O.o,

 

Yeah on the subject I'd prefer one that is wireless...so what about mics? Any good gaming ones that can be clipped onto an existing headset?

[FMod]

Wireless is really bad for mice. They just don't make gaming mice wireless - it spoils movement control due to wireless lags, plus makes the mouse itself heavier, not a good thing either.

Just keep a separate wireless mouse for when you need one. You can have as many mice and keyboards on one computer working simultaneously as you want and they don't interfere with one another.

 

Razer had some great products, but just a couple, and that was over 5 years ago, it's been all downhill since then.

 

Try mechanical keyboards on first, I mean touching them, pressing the keys. It's all about the feel and the feedback. Make sure you like the handrest too.

 

For lighter switches, take a look at Corsair K90 (there's K60 too, but its handrest is terrible). These are almost as high quality as CST-104, but look... probably the best looking. But some keys on them are rubber dome rather than mechanical, which is disconcerting when typing. And you can brick them when updating firmware (can be fixed at home), they'll fix it, MX Red switches

[Rennn]

I wouldn't buy a wireless gaming mouse. You double the price and the quality and weight is still going to be worse.

 

You'll want to get a gaming mouse pad of some kind though, because a good gaming mouse's sensitivity can be wasted on higher friction surfaces.

[Gravatrax]

Sorry when you are talking switches are you talking about the keys?

 

I will skip on a wireless mouse then

[Gravatrax]

This is the mouse pad I use fyi

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-WaveRest-Gel-Mouse-Black/dp/B00000JRRD/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1341254907&sr=1-1&keywords=belkin+mousepad

 

This is the keyboard wrist guard I use

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Gel-Filled-Cushion-Wrist-Black/dp/B00004Z5RA/ref=pd_bxgy_e_text_b

 

They're ok I guess. Better than using solid wood. The belkin mouse is pretty broken in after a year

[FMod]

Sorry when you are talking switches are you talking about the keys?

Yes. Mechanical keyboards have separate switches under each key.

 

Here's a good guide on fundamentals: http://www.overclock.net/t/491752/mechanical-keyboard-guide

Information about specific models is very obsolete there, but the first generic sections are good.

[blove]

Ahh, nice link. I love an old school IBM PS/2, but I only pull one out if I have to do a lot of typing. Picked up a couple at a swap meet years ago.

[Gravatrax]

Thanks for the link

 

Honestly the CM Storm Stryker appeals to me more Aesthetically