If you believe the hype, it would be crazy to try and be competitive (or even competent) without sinking several hundred dollars into gaming peripherals before firing up your favorite shooter or log in to the World of Warcraft. Depending on the popularity of your favorite game and the peripheral vendor's opportunity to make some money, you might even find a range of products specifically designed to improve your performance in that particular title.
Of course, there are many more gamers than there are people buying all of this stuff, so the question stands: do you need a desk full of high-end extras in order to be a good player? Do you actually get more kills in Team Fortress 2 by having a higher-DPI mouse? Are you a more effective healer in your WoW raids if you have a keyboard with macro buttons? Or is there simply value in owning a more comfortable headset?
Hoping to test the effectiveness of the most popular peripherals, we decided to fire up a handful of our favorite games and connect a number of gaming products from competing vendors. Then, we compared them against each other and against older, "vanilla" peripherals that most people either received for free with their pre-built PC, swiped from the office, or picked up cheap after allocating more funds to obvious performance-enhancers, like video cards.
The beauty of high-end gaming peripherals isn’t so much that you can be the envy of all of your friends (honestly, who’s going to see you wearing a headset with LEDs on it if you game in your basement?) but that you feel elevated. You’re spending a little money on the luxury of high-end, high-quality computer accessories to prove that you’re not just some chump with 50 bucks to blow on a multiplayer title. You’re the real deal, and you’re not afraid to sink a little green into making sure you have the best experience possible and you’re more competitive in-game than the next person (Ed.: sort of like Air Maxes will add 6" to your vertical, right?).
I’m completely guilty of this. I get lured in by shiny peripherals with flashing lights and features that are probably higher-end than I need. I’ve been known to drop an extra $20 on a “gaming” model of a device because of the claims that it’ll improve my performance when I plug it in, for one reason or another. I was a staunch defender of mice with weight cartridges, even though it’s pretty clear that they don’t add much benefit, aside from giving you another way to personalize your experience.
- Introduction
- Getting Started: The Games And Gear
- Logitech's G19: When Gaming Keyboards Matter
- Keyboard: Microsoft's SideWinder X6
- Keyboard: Saitek's Cyborg
- Keyboard: Dell USB 104-Key
- Mouse: Logitech's G9
- Mouse: Razer Lachesis
- Mouse: SideWinder X3
- Mouse: Gigabyte GM-M8000
- Mouse: Dell USB
- Headset: Sennheiser PC 350
- Headset: Razer Megalodon 7.1
- Old School: The Boring Beige Mic
- Gamepad: Saitek Cyborg Command Unit
- Gamepad: Belkin n52te
- Price, Performance, And Conclusion

I had a $10 cheap ass mouse, was the most comfortable mouse I've ever used, but then the cord wore down and it stopped working, and I lack the skills to fix it. Bought a Microsoft Habu, didn't like it at all. Bought a Logitech G5, love it. Bought a steelseries mousepad, OH MY GORSH. My KDR in games (particularly sniping in TF2, where headshots are near essential) nearly doubled. EVERYTHING is so much smoother when compared to my (what I thought was smooth) desktop. It just glides, no more rugged, scratchy mouse movements, it's amazing.
For keyboards, I have a Razer Arctosa, which I bought because I LOVE the flat keys, and the low profile. No need for fancy backlighting or macro keys, I just want it to be easy to type with and the keys to not be curved.
I'd advise ANY gamer who doesn't already have a mousepad to get one.
Should I get it or wait for my next build..... x6? g15?
Mouse : Roccat Kone
Mousepad: Roccat Sota
Headset : Roccat Kave
I had a $10 cheap ass mouse, was the most comfortable mouse I've ever used, but then the cord wore down and it stopped working, and I lack the skills to fix it. Bought a Microsoft Habu, didn't like it at all. Bought a Logitech G5, love it. Bought a steelseries mousepad, OH MY GORSH. My KDR in games (particularly sniping in TF2, where headshots are near essential) nearly doubled. EVERYTHING is so much smoother when compared to my (what I thought was smooth) desktop. It just glides, no more rugged, scratchy mouse movements, it's amazing.
For keyboards, I have a Razer Arctosa, which I bought because I LOVE the flat keys, and the low profile. No need for fancy backlighting or macro keys, I just want it to be easy to type with and the keys to not be curved.
I'd advise ANY gamer who doesn't already have a mousepad to get one.
Are they pretty just about every time.
Full 7.1 sounds, 7000 DPI mouse, 9x 2560x1600 monitors, G(insert number here) keyboard, soft leather chair with fully adjustable tilt, proper desk...
You could have a boring powerhouse, or a crappy computer but with all the fixings. It's nice having the extras.
Totally agree w/you dude. I also have a Logitech G5 with a Steelpad 5L mousepad, it feels like my mouse is gliding each time i game. Flawless!
I can't go back to anything after that combo
Too bad you can't have the g19 display on a saitek chrismas lighting board with keys.
I have a bad habit of spilling beer on my keyboard while playing tf2 and destroying it. So I don't buy expensive keyboards anymore. Which is fine since I use a Logitech G13 gamepad anyway. The thing I noticed about nicer peripherals is that you don't notice too much change when you get them, it's when you have to go back to the ultra cheap stuff that it becomes bothersome. I have a gigabyte ghost mouse, plantronics gamecom headset, an old Q-pad, and my 15 USD Logitech USB keyboard...All of which I am glad to have. If I had to go back to some of the simpler hardware out there, I'd be a little unhappy.
I just wanted to disagree with the part about the very high DPI settings on some of the more expensive not being of much use. I've went from a plain M$ mouse, to a MX518 (1600dpi), to a G5 (2000dpi), to a G9x (5000dpi) and have seen notable gain in speed and control with each upgrade. Going from the $40 MX518 to the $100 G9x is a pretty remarkable improvment. A must say that using a good mouse pad can actually make or brake a high dpi setting.
Obviously one needs to go into the console and fine tune the sensitivity in order to take full advantage of a high dpi setting. I recommend using the 360/inches method to figure out the exact sens you need when upgrading. I'm currently playing at .52 sens/ 5000dpi/ 1000 polling rate with my G9x (this comes out to 5 inches per 360 degree rotation, or 360/5") and I will never go back to my old G5.
After trying many preiphereals, this is the best setup I've found so far
keyboard: Wolf King Warrior $40, or Warrior Extreme $60
mouse: G9x with smaller grip $100
pad: Razer Destructor $40
headset: Steelseries $80
Are Premium Gaming Peripherals Worth Your Money?
For me, they aren´t. I have a cheap keyboard and mouse from Lifetech and they are more than enough to play Counter Strike Source at a very nice level. I prefer to spent that kind of money on PC parts like CPUs and graphic cards.
Using a cheap hp basic keyboard and noname mic is fine for me too, but I can't live without a proper wireless laser mouse. Since the day I got my first 'cordless logitech mouse' I can't imagine life with a generic noname thing. It just wouldn't work.