Optical or Laser? A4Tech V7MA or Gigabyte M8000X or Gigabyte Krypton?

neoroify

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Summary/TL;DR---> Which option is the optimist for FPS gaming, Optical or Laser? A4Tech V7MA or Gigabyte M8000X / Krypton? I am confused when it comes to mice due to all the gimmicks present in that specific market. My choices are limited so my decision must be wise, please reply with the answer and state why.. please refrain from posting opinions due to a company having its name, rather post your opinion due to statistical graphs or information showing which mouse is superior to the other.



Long version:
Greetings,

As always, I only get to ask here around tomshardware because people are more decisive and careful as they provide statistical information when providing help to anyone therefore they're more helpful when it comes to comparison or optimal performance..

My mouse; CM Storm Sentinel Advance II malfunctioned yesterday because of misuse, the metal LED part was rust and I was cleaning it off with vinegar, obviously some of it spilled and got to the chipboard itself, bricking half of the mouse (the sensor can track but buttons are not function at all), so I decided to get a better mouse in terms of performance, though I am very short on budget.

My budget is precisely $57 therefore I have limited options, anyways even if I had more than that the expensive products would be out of reach.

Before going into details about the limited list of mice that I'll have to choose from, I want you to know beforehand that I experienced "Laser sensor" myself and High DPI, to be honest I feel like I wasted $60+ on Sentinel Advance II thinking that more DPI would be better, but unfortunately the mouse was very bad in terms of actual performance, it was accurate but not precise, if you need a mere example it would be that when playing Battlefield 4 I cannot snapshot/switch through targets with the optimal sensitivity and DPI settings, it had some kind of an acceleration where it mixtures between over-aim and under-aim, obviously running the mouse anything above 800~1600 DPI would cause an overkill (coming from a year and a half experience with the mouse) so I want to avoid any mouse that tracks with laser since it has its exaggerated disadvantages.

The 'quality and performance' that I demand are as following:
500Hz+ polling rate
True DPI (i.e. A mouse with a DPI its sensor can actually handle, not advertising gimmicks like CM Storm Sentinel Advance II..)
Optical Sensor OR a proper and trusted precision of a Laser Sensor
Build/design quality (as in preferable rubber grip for sweaty hands, durable mouse buttons and body, etc...)

Here is a list of mice that are available in my country: (sorted from low to high prices)
A4Tech V7MA ---------------- $40
Logitech G400 ----------------------- $57 (OUT OF STOCK IN ALL STORES IN EGYPT)

So far after gathering reviews I came up to the following:

A4Tech V7MA:
No issues at all, neither physically nor in software
ACTUAL PERFORMANCE IS UNKNOWN, NO VIDEO OR STATISTIC SHOW THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE, PRECISION OR ACCURACY OF THIS MOUSE


Tt eSports Black:
Known issues:
- Right click issue where it hangs, doesn't respond or sends multiple clicks and sometimes unplugs (malfunctions)
- Sensor drift and imprecision
- In-durable, doesn't last long


Tt eSports Element:
Known issues:
- Left click issues where it double/triple or quadruple clicks randomly at times, also sometimes getting unplugged


Gigabyte M8000X:
- Reported sensor drift, pixel skipping and defective sensor overall with some users.
ACTUAL PERFORMANCE IS UNKNOWN, NO VIDEO OR STATISTIC SHOW THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE, PRECISION OR ACCURACY OF THIS MOUSE

Logitech G400:
Didn't bother checking for issues since it is out of stock anyways..


Gigabyte Krypton:
No issues at all, neither physically nor in software
ACTUAL PERFORMANCE IS UNKNOWN, NO VIDEO OR STATISTIC SHOW THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE, PRECISION OR ACCURACY OF THIS MOUSE







Now obviously, I will avoid all faulty (or reported at a higher rate of failure) devices such as Tt and focus more on those with least to no problems;
A4Tech V7MA or Gigabyte M8000X or Gigabyte Krypton..?

Now, take in consideration loads of factors to decide on this: personal experience, true/proved technical specifications (with statistics) and durability.

I first question the sensors, lots have agreed that optical mice tend to be better at PRECISION whereas laser mice tend to be better at SPEED, since I've already tried the CM Storm Sentinel Advance II, I can pretty much say laser mice are just a gimmick, or at least.. they are advertising false (not true) information about their product, as in they stress test/squeeze out the maximum statistics out of the mouse just to advertise it and bring customers.

Though this is debatable, since a laser sensor might be a good grade one while an optical one might not be as good, though reportedly it has been technically proven that optical sensors tend to outperform laser mice in all aspects except DPI and/or speed overall, which is something not as needed for FPS gamers as I can pretty much tell no one would use more than 1600~2000 DPI for FPS gaming since a player cares more about precision AND speed, not only speed.

As I said, if a laser sensor is good enough then the mouse can handle high speeds with precision, by precision I mean 1:1 as in "physical movement"=1 shows 1="pointer movement on screen", so that you're able to snapshot between targets easily and make muscle memory more efficient and effective. Optical sensors with high polling rates are known to be more 1:1 among FPS gamers.

Awaiting your response eagerly!
 

brady121294

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neoroify

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Unfortunately these brands aren't as present in Egypt, my choices are way too limited; [strike]I just found a mouse by CM Storm which is supposedly inferior yet superior in terms of sensor, the CM Storm Recon which can go as high as 4000 DPI, I am still going to research on that, it is priced as low as $50 here in Egypt and hopefully it is in stock.[/strike]

I still need you to assume that you're the one and you need to decide about all of these.. which one would you pick..?

UPDATE: I just called on local stores, the CM Storm Recon mouse is out of stock.. doh.
 

brady121294

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This is a hard one. Of those mice all of them are Laser, aren't they? I know the Logitecg G400s (newer G400) uses an optical sensor, I've used one but I had a weird scroll wheel issue.. But it was a decent mouse, you might be able to find it for sale. It might be worth seeing if you can get a Razer Deathadder 2013 (The green one) as it has an optical sensor, I bought it for a present on xmas and it's held up very nicely for my nephew... But of those I'd go for the M8000X, it looks the comfiest in my opinion.
 

neoroify

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The only optical mouse of all those listed is the A4Tech V7MA which is a brand that I don't actually trust.. I think will have to resort to ordering the mouse through mail which will take weeks to arrive and cost a damn fortune (probably double the price due to customs)

I am still looking around for substitutes..
 

neoroify

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Here is a small comparison between how precise Avago ADNS-9800 sensor (CM Storm Advance II) is and an unbranded optical sensor (a cheap $6 mouse)

Cheap mouse (optical):
Max DPI: 2000
Speed: Very bad (0.07 meter/sec); Polling rate: 125 Hz (note: loses track of high speed snaps/movements)
Precision: 99.5%
Smoothness: 4.6% Good


Sentinel Advance II (laser):
Max DPI: 8200
Speed: Excellent (4.56 meters/sec); Polling rate: 999 Hz
Precision: 99%
Smoothness: 22.3% Bad

Tests were made by Enotus Mouse Test on the highest mouse settings with the maximum windows sensitivity and on another test with 6/11 windows sensitivity (for 1:1 pixel movement ratio)

My list will be recreated, I figured out both Gigabyte procuts use the Avago ANDS-9800 sensor.. therefore I am not really going to look at any laser mouse.

Update: I am left with only one option, the A4Tech V7MA.. Since it is cheap I guess I wont be that mad if it wasn't as performing as I think it will be.

Once I get it I will definitely update this thread with a brief review on how it is versus the CM Storm Advance II (which is equivalent to: Roccat Kone Pure -- Logitech G600 -- Steelseries Sensei MLG -- Tt eSports Level 10M and much more) since they all use the same sensor..
 

brady121294

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Wow 125Hz polling rate lol! Honestly I'd suggest you just shop around in hopes to find an optical one for a decent price. If you have ebay, I'd start there :)
 

neoroify

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Update: I am left with only one option, the A4Tech V7MA.. Since it is cheap I guess I wont be that mad if it wasn't as performing as I think it will be.

Once I get it I will definitely update this thread with a brief review on how it is versus the CM Storm Advance II (which is equivalent to: Roccat Kone Pure -- Logitech G600 -- Steelseries Sensei MLG -- Tt eSports Level 10M and much more) since they all use the same sensor..

The V7MA is an optical mouse with a speed of up to 4000 DPI, hopefully that is true DPI and not an interpolated one like those reported on all mice with the Avago 9800 sensor..

P.S.: The 125 Hz optical mouse is a non-branded one that costed barely $6 (actually an unknown brand, MediaTech)