When people build a serious gaming setup the mouse is often one of the first peripherals they get. It makes sense, a mouse is what you use to aim and when you are competing in the virtual world it is important that your instrument is precise and feels great. However, it isn’t all about shape and feel, there are a lot of other things that go into a gaming mouse that can make the difference between winning and losing.
First and foremost, you need a gaming mouse that fits your hand and your wrist. You also need a mouse that moves the cursor at an appropriate speed for your style of play. Some gamers opt for a high DPI (dots-per-inch) to give them precision, but this is really a matter of trial and error.
Another key consideration is polling rate, which determines how many times per second the mouse and computer communicate about cursor position. Higher rates are better, but they can significantly increase system resources required for normal operation.
Other important features are extra buttons and the design of the mouse body. Mice for FPS games often have six or more buttons that can be programmed to perform complex macros. There are even gaming mice that can be configured to have as many as 20 or more buttons for MMOs and MOBAs.
In addition, you want a mouse that has smooth and consistent button clicks. If there is a lot of pre or post click travel it can be frustrating. The weight of the buttons is also a personal preference, but you need to have a comfortable fit in your hand and wrist.
