Peripheral Refresh

[Champman99]

Couldn't find a relevant hardware section so here I am in PC Gaming.

Due to heavy use I tend to need to refresh my PC peripherals quite frequently.

Right now I'm looking for the following things. And I'd really welcome your recommendations.

New Keyboard
Possibly New Mouse
New Headset or Headphones
Gaming Mousemat

Currently I use

Logitech Wave Keyboard
Sidewinder X8 Mouse

Its important that the stuff is suitable for both gaming and every day use. Especially the keyboard its important that its comfortable and not horrible to type on - and the headset has got to be decent for music and films as well as gaming. Its not essential to be a headset rather than just plain headphones as I have a high quality studio condenser microphone but I appreciate that most of the gaming products (ie 5.1 / 7.1 headsets) will have microphones anyway and that is fine too. Ideally the headset will not be USB (it can be USB powered but not USB soundcard), as I have an Asus Xonar. Budget is flexible but if something is expensive it will have to justify why its worth more than a competitor.

As shown by my current use of the Logitech Wave its not crucial that the keyboard have tonnes of macro keys etc, but if you recommend one that does then that's great too. Mostly I'd just like to be given some ideas of stuff I hadn't thought of. I tend to think people (and I myself am guilty of it at times) spend so much on their PC hardware and skimp a little on peripherals when in reality - how you interact with your machine is actually probably a lot more important than a few extra fps or changing High->Ultra.

Some of the things I've considered so far (please feel free to point out positives and negatives of these products too)

Keyboard: Roccat Arvo, Sidewinder X4/X6, SteelSeries Merc Stealth (interested in the LHS panel on this as it almost seems like a built in N52)
Mouse: Not sure I want to change my mouse but certainly if I do, something similar to X8. I like the Wired / Wireless flexibility especially, in that I prefer a wireless mouse, but if you forget to charge you can just plug it in - perfect!
Headset: Corsair HS1A, Roccat Kave
Mousemat: No idea - would only look to spend £10-15 and would't want something too massive. But again there are the usual suspects from SteelSeries / Razer etc, or was looking at http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/p...ats/ozglx.html too.

If you aren't sure what to recommend, please feel free to turn this thread into which peripherals you currently use, and your experiences with them, and whether you would buy them again or chose something different. Merry Christmas!

[Hoonigan]

Mouse
Keyboard
Mouse mat
Headset

These are all items I use myself and I'm very happy with the way they work! The headset is especially comfortable.

[vrykyl]

Keyboard - sounds like you're having the same dilema I'm in right now, and thus Im not sure what to recommend; does it have to be a gaming keyboard?
Those Ive tried thus far - logitech g15, g510, Roccat Isku, Saitek Cyborg, Microsoft SideWinder -all of which my friends own, I've personally felt to be uncomfortable for daily typing duties - either due to having non-standard key sizing / placement, odd key travel, etc...

Possibly consider something mechanical? They are horrendously expensive though


Mouse - it doesnt get any better than the Logitech g500 imo, though if you want all the features of the g500 with a wireless flavour, the g700 sounds like it'd be right up your street: it can play and charge off its usb cable just like you've said you'd prefer too.


Mousemat - Im currently using a Steelseries QcK+, which in combination with the g500 is an absolute pleasure to use. Your choice comes down to how physically large you want the mat to be, and how much you want to pay! I'd never go back to not having one now though!


Headset - thats a very personal choice. Do you wear glasses? As that can make a big difference to what you'll find comfy. For you I'd rule out everything usb, as I think they all feature a usb soundcard, so you definitely want something with 3.5mm jacks. The corsairs get decent reviews, especially the new Vengeance 1300 series, or the HS1a's you mentioned.

Given that you have a brilliant soundcard, and you say a very good microphone, you'd probably be better forsaking 'gamer' products entirely, and consider a proper set of 'audiophile' headphones - like the Sennheiser HD 558 or equivalent.

Yes theyre expensive, but they'll absolutely decimate the equivalent priced 'gamers' headphones for sound reproduction and quality...



Ive chucked a lot of options at you there, but in short, I'd probably;
keep your current mouse
Pick up a steelseries mousemat (which you may well find changes the feel of your x8 entirely anyway)
Keep your current keyboard and consider saving for a mechanical
Consider a decent set of headphones rather than a gamers headset

[TaintedShirt]

Check out this page and try the test to see if you are getting any issues with ghosting. Try out typical key press combinations that you may use. If you don't have any issues then keep your keyboard if you like it.

If you have issues then the keyboard Hoonigan linked to has a MS patented method (resistive multitouch) to get round the typical usb limitations. You should be able to find one in currys or pc world to try it out.

That link if you read through the long post lists various gaming/ typing keyboards and what type of rollover they have (many don't achieve anything like they advertise).

There is of course the world of mechanical keyboards. Very Expensive. I have a Majestouch Filco Brown Key and love it. Very loud, actually make that extremely but really, really nice to type on. It also has full n key rollover on ps/2 (which I see you have on your motherboard). So no ghosting issues. There are different colour key type Majestouch Filco, some need to be pressed harder, others are softer and quieter.

In fact the second link I gave you above (geekhack) is a site dedicated to keyboards and mice and even go in to mouse mats. Worth looking around.


Headset is really subjective. What sounds good to you may sound crap to someone else. Some people like a bassier sound while others prefer more natural. As vrykyl says you may be better off with audiophile headphones. Open earphones have a larger soundstage so better 3d orientation and are cooler on your ears. Closed have the advantage that you aren't annoying anyone else in the room. This is a good post to have a read. I bought a pair of Ultrasone pro550 and find them great but then they are the first serious pair of headphones that I have tried so can't really compare.