The best mice that will click with your gaming setup

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When building a gaming PC, every choice you make is important. Like your keyboard, choosing the right gaming mouse can be a huge game-changer for your performance. While it’s easy to focus on optimizing your internal specs, your choice of peripherals deserves time and consideration.L

Here’s what to look for when buying a gaming mouse, along with a few suggestions on what to buy.

What you need to know before buying a gaming mouse

Image: RyanKing999/iStock

DPI/CPIE

The DPI (Dots Per Inch) determines how many pixels on the screen your cursor will move for every inch you move your mouse. The higher your DPI, the faster your cursor will travel. Most modern gaming mice (especially the more expensive brands) allow you to adjust your mouse’s DPI to settle into something you’re more comfortable with.

The CPI (Counts Per Inch) represents the movement your mouse’s sensor picks up as it slides across your desk. The higher the CPI, the more sensitive your mouse will be. A lower CPI means you have to physically move your mouse more to get the same result as one with a higher CPI.

Sensor

The sensor helps your mouse track movement and works by shining a light on the surface you’re using it on — be it your desktop or mouse pad — then recording how the light bounces off it. By capturing this reflection, the sensor can determine in which direction you move the mouse.

You should pay attention to two types of mouse sensors: laser and optical, which have their strengths and weaknesses.

Optical sensors use a more reflective infrared LED light, although they will struggle to work on glossier surfaces (but they shouldn’t if you’re using a standard cloth mouse pad).

A laser mouse uses a laser beam, which allows it to work on more surfaces and be more accurate in its measurements. But this attention to detail also makes them more prone to acceleration issues when the sensor can’t keep up with your physical movements and gets confused as you try to compensate.

Optical sensors can suffer from acceleration, but it’s rarer, making them much more preferable when gaming.

Tests

While your standard mouse has three buttons — left, right, and a scroll wheel in between — gaming mice usually include a few extras. Most of these buttons are also programmable, so you can customize your mouse’s arrangement by assigning additional functions and macros to suit better the game you’re playing.

Standard gaming mice usually have one or two extra buttons that are within easy reach of your thumb. There are even mice designed for RTS and MMO gamers with a full numeric keypad on the side.

Image: Razer

Weight

The mouse’s weight determines how smoothly you can move it across your desk. Personal preferences also play a big part in determining the weight of your mouse. Some people like the trend of ultra-light mice that they can float around with a flick of their wrist, while some prefer a little more resistance to their movements.

Ergonomics

This may be something you’ve never considered, but how do you hold your mouse while gaming? Because your favorite style can play a big role in which mice do or don’t suit you.

In terms of grips, these are the three most common styles:

Palm: You rest your entire palm and the length of your fingers on your mouse. Claw: You grip the mouse with the underside of your palm and fingertips, giving your hand a claw-like shape. Fingertip: You only make contact with your mouse with your fingertips.

Personal preference also plays a major role here. How you hold your mouse may differ from your friend’s.

Which gaming mice do we recommend?

Razer DeathAdder V2 Mouse

Image: Razer

It wouldn’t be a list of peripherals without something from Razer, and it certainly wouldn’t be a list of gaming mice without the DeathAdder. This mouse is a perennial favorite thanks to its comfortable ergonomic design, smooth glide, adjustable 20,000 DPI, and easy-to-customize buttons (there are all eight). If you’ve never owned a gaming mouse, the DeathAdder is a simple and reliable option, especially if you prefer a palm grip.

Where to Buy: Amazon Australia ($60) | Bing Lee ($119) | eBay ($69)

Corsair Scimitar RGB Elite Mouse

Image: Corsair

If you’re not much of an MMO or MOBA gamer, you can skip the Corsair Scimitar Elite. But if your gaming diet leans toward titles like World of Warcraft or League of Legends, the Scimitar Elite could be the special ingredient your setup is missing. Its biggest feature is the inclusion of 12 side buttons, which you can customize for macro input or remaps.

While the additional numeric keypad gives the impression of an uncomfortable design, you’ll be amazed at how well this mouse feels in your hand. It also uses a PixArt PMW3391 optical sensor with an adjustable 18,000 DPI, giving it precise movements.

Where to Buy: Amazon Australia ($125) | PC Cabinet Gear ($125) | Umart ($125)

SteelSeries Rival 3 mouse

Image: SteelSeries

The SteelSeries Rival 3 is a solid mouse with no frills, with a TrueMove Core optical sensor and six fully customizable buttons, including two side-mounted and an extra one just behind the scroll wheel. It’s also quite affordable, making it a great option if you buy on a budget.

Configuring the mouse with the SteelSeries Engine app is also quite easy. It has built-in memory, so those settings will be preserved when you plug it into another PC. You can check out Gizmodo’s review of the SteelSeries Rival 3 here.

Where to Buy: Amazon Australia ($33.48) | Bing Lee ($49) | Computer Alliance ($49)

Cooler Master MM710 mouse

Image: Cooler Master

Do you prefer your mice to be as light as a feather? Then maybe it’s time to jump on the ultra-light honeycomb trend. The Swiss cheese design of Cooler Master’s MM710 reduces its weight to light 53 grams, making it a great option if you play a lot of fast twitch shooters.

Despite the perforated design, the MM710 still feels sturdy in your hands, and its PTFE feet provide enough friction so that there is some resistance in your movements. If you’re not used to such an ultra-light mouse, it might take some time.

Where to Buy: Amazon Australia ($59) | Mwave ($59) | PC Case Kit ($55)

Razer Viper Ultimate Wireless Mouse

Image: Razer

If you’ve mainly been a wired mouse in the past but felt a little too constrained at times, you might want to consider the greater degree of freedom a wireless mouse offers.

The Razer Viper Ultimate is a lightweight (74g) wireless mouse that runs smoothly. If you mainly play shooters, you’ll love the crisp click latency of the Viper Ultimate’s optical switches, along with the Focus+ optical sensor with a massive 20,000 DPI and 99.6% resolution.

With a battery life of up to 70 hours, it also has an RGB charging dock that gives you five hours of playtime on a 10-minute charge. It also has an ambidextrous design, making it a great option for any left-hander.

Where to Buy: Amazon Australia ($139) | Bing Lee ($199) | eBay ($127)