Best Keyboard and Mouse Combos for Gaming.

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johndinh575

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Jul 31, 2012
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Hi, I'm looking for gaming keyboard and mouse. For the mouse, I am a claw grip user and I play mostly Counter Strike Source, TF2, and Quake now and then. As for the keyboard, I'm looking for a mechanical keyboard with no more than 10-15 macro keys. Sure they can have lots of profiles. The bottom line is I'm looking for a claw grip mouse, and a mechanical gaming keyboard. I can spend a max of 120-150 on the keyboard and a max of 70 on the mouse. I will be buying my parts of Newegg or Amazon. Please help me! Thanks in advance.
 
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I would recommend the Razer Deathadder, and the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate.


BlackWidow: http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-keyboards-keypads/razer-blackwidow-ultimate-2013

DeathAdder: http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-deathadder

I have both, and they are very nice. I did a lot of research before buying them, and most people like them. The DeathAdder is very comfortable and has a good sensor. The BlackWidow is basically a well designed mechanical keyboard. It has 8 or so macro buttons on the left.
 
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I have looked into those two and the only thing that concerns me about those are the fact that razor has bad build quality. Razor products are more for style than durability and use, in my opinion.
 
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Well, assuming that you want 2 buttons on the side of the mouse as well, one of the best ambi design+sensor combos on the market is the Zowie AM which I'm actually using at the moment. It's a pretty good clawing mouse unless you're used to clawing an ergo mouse and rest more of your palm on the back, in which case I would suggest the EC2 eVo (which is slightly smaller than the EC1 and lends nicely to clawing for right handed ergo claws). The Logitech G400 has a very reliable sensor and is an ergo but is slightly larger so that's a matter of your hand size.

All of the aforementioned have zero-accel/zero-prediction sensors which lend them very nicely to Quake and CS specifically. The only reason I didn't mention the Deathadder is because it's a very large mouse and people who claw it usually come to a compromise with its physical size, but it's always an option with a zero accel/zero prediction sensor as well.

As far as keyboards go, really any mechanical that isn't from Razer or Steelseries can be considered a good gaming mechanical. Just become familiar with which switch type you think that you would prefer (Reds, Blacks, Blues or Browns) and look at brands like Filco Majestouch, Das Keyboard, Deck (borders out of price range, expensive brand for led backlights lol), Ducky, and Leopold amongst others. If you want a board with fullsize keys but compact overall build (for peripheral or mouse pad alignment comfort) the Noppoo Choc Mini 84-key model is also very popular.

Just avoid keyboards labeled as "gaming" specifically if you're really interested in the highest build quality. The only labeled gaming mechanical that anyone really recommends is the Corsair K series which are pretty nice keyboards, but your 120-150 price point opens up some very nice niche brands like the ones I listed above.
 
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You'll probably get plenty of responses on hardware forums to a statement like this post that would read like, "I have razer blackwidow for 10 months now no issues" and so on. And a lot of people do have blackwidows that work for all intents and purposes, but you don't have to look very far to find TONS of people having to return the keyboard for poor quality control, and poor design, abnormal key seating causing keys to rub, and so on. Aside from the Deathadder, razer's quality control is abysmal.
 
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I have never heard of those mice. lol. But the keyboard advice is extremely helpful. I looked at the Cosair K90 keyboard, looked pretty nice. The only thing I don't like about that board is how it has so many macros.
 
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Well, I've also owned the Razer Orochi and Razer Lycosa, and neither of those broke. I've only had my BlackWidow and Deathadder for around 2 months or so, but I had the Orochi and Lycosa for well over a year with no problems. I sold them to my friend, and they still work to this date.

Not denying they have quality problems, but me and my friends have never had a bad experience. I have 2 friends with the BlackWidow, and my cousin has the Lycosa and Deathadder.
 
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do youtself a favour and press all these keys at the same time and tell me when they stop registering...
qwertyuiop .... it stopped b4 you got to Y didnt it... now this time press and keep held down qwert and press nmko did any of the last 4 register? yes ? no? this is razers gaming matrix in action... the black widow is supposed to have 6 key polling antighost but in fact is 4-6 because of the optimizing... now on my keyboard i can hit every key in any orrder all the time and they register as my keyboard is decent and has full nkrol antighost. thats full keyboard anti ghost for every key.
for £55-£65 you can get its little brother and get exactly the same key functionality. seriously why do you think razer keyboards are so cheap when they have full variable backlighting and mechanical switches.... they have to be because any 1 who looks at keyboards a little closer would see how poor they are.
currently razer has 2 products i would buy 1 is a headset and 1 mouse... the rest is garbage.
 
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@hexit

and my old ibm model m has only 2kro (if you believe the post on hardforums.) i used one for years in fps, strategy and mmo without any gaming issues.

ideally you want nkro but it is not required by far.

i just bought the razer mechanical keyboard since i was out a keyboard and it is commonly found in the area. the switches feel fine but it refuses to use a standard usb to ps/2 connection and that is not acceptable. the additional keys on the left side are also not in a good place as the bottom one is way too close to the control key and can get pressed accidentally. the keys feel tigher spaced then normal as well. overall build quality though seems to be average. not the best but not horrible either. i will probably return it and go with a das or deck board instead as it does not feel like a full sized keyboard (if you consider i came from a model m)

the razer deathadder mouse however, is a nice mouse for the price. the rubber surface texture is something of a nightmare but if you get past that fact it peforms rather well.
 
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model M is a PS2 keyboard, iirc, which makes it a NKRO by default.

also, in regards to rubbery finish on razer mice, I personally like it a lot because my hands get sweaty a lot; a regular plastic mice tended to get slippery, razer one doesn't have such problem. But if you're paranoid about finger prints and sweat smudges then yes, it's a bit of a pain.
 
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Why are you using PS/2? Any particular reason?
 
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not true m8 a lot of dome membrain ps2 keyboards are 6krol a few aint, older more expencive 1s but in general most are 6key.
mine is special in that it offeres full nkrol of the usb. which is currently only a feature of 3 usb keyboards i know of... there may be more but i only know of 3.
 
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Probably for full nkro if he's using a kb that has usb+PS2 connections (usually done through double usb with a usb=>ps2 adapter).

@Antizig, PS2 doesn't always equate to full nkro, but full nkro almost always equates to PS2 through at least an adapter. I can think of maybe one keyboard with actual full nkro that retains that property while using solely usb.
 
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I am currently interested in the Das keyboard and Rosewill. They both have good builds, and have the Blue switches, which I think are fine for my use. Could I get some opinions on these? Also what mouse/gaming mouse would pair with these keyboards?
 
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Whatever mouse you find comfortable that has a renowned accurate sensor is the mouse that goes with those keyboards.

I can't speak for the Rosewill since I've never touched one, but the Das has a high quality build. In my experience (it's my main keyboard) the keys all depress evenly and the depression force is uniform across every key. The same cannot be said for all mechanicals, as lower build quality can lead to buttons that feel loose, mushy or crooked. The only thing that I would change about the Das if I absolutely had to change something, would be the mirror finish on the face surface (the top that surrounds the actual keys). It attracts fingerprints relatively easily if you're gaming, although I don't actually touch the face of the keyboard when I'm typing regularly and it is designed as a typists keyboard, so I accept that I'm using it somewhat outside the bounds of its design and the smudges are the result of that. Since I'm not anal retentive about things like that in any case, it's not an issue for me. The keys on my board are all evenly marked and appear clean, untarnished and unfaded after prolonged use. It shows no actual signs of age in any way. It has full NKRO when you plug it in through a USB-PS2 adapter and so all in all I would say that it is as top of the line as any other keyboard if you prefer Blue switches (or Browns in the "silent" model).

On a side note, I will say that I appreciate it having no backlights aside from a very faint light for caps numlock and such. I don't keep my keyboard on a lower sliding tray, and so backlight LED's to me are a constant distraction in my lower field of vision. When I'm sitting and using the Das, it has no ambient light of any kind coming out of it which I appreciate the most when I'm gaming in a dark room, since I don't need to see the keys to know what I'm pressing, and I don't want a strange blue glare constantly pulling my eyes downward while I'm playing.

That's as much as I can tell you about it.
 
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I really appreciate all this help you're giving me. How often do you game with it, and is it any good for gaming? Thanks a bunch buddy. If possible, could you tell me what you think about the Logitch G9X mouse?
 
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Well, I game with it every day that I play a game. It's my main keyboard at home which is to say that unless I spill an irish carbomb on it, it's the only one that I keep for personal use. As for how it is with gaming, that is entirely dependent on how you feel about the switches. I've been a touch typist since I was a little kid and if I'm to be honest I haven't looked down at my keyboard during work or play for who even knows how many years, so having the tactile and audible indication for each keystroke to fall into a rhythm if I'm typing something long is pretty comfortable to me. For gaming, I think it's all a matter of what you're accustomed to when it comes to typing really. Very much in the same way that some professional FPS gamers use cheap mice with inferior sensors not because they have some secret edge, but because they've always used that mouse and when they continue to use it, that's one less thing for them to be accounting for in the back of their mind. Same for the key switches in a mechanical keyboard. If you're comfortable with Blues, you should probably use them since it will not feel foreign to you when you're trying to devote your concentration to your game or your paper or whatever it is that you happen to be doing. If you think that a linear button with no "bump" midstroke would be more suited to your taste, Reds and Blacks exist for that purpose. I've never really bought into the whole concept that "red switches are better for gaming" for any reason beyond the person telling you that is doing it primarily to try to convince themselves that they have an edge. Just use whatever you feel is comfortable. If you have a chance, try to find a local store that has some mechanical keyboards and at least press the buttons to get a feel for what the buttons actually do with different switch types.

As far as the Logitech G9x goes, I don't own one but I've played around with one a bit. It's a shorter mouse than I'm used to, and the laser sensor has a small amount of acceleration (about 5% and you cannot get rid of it with any sort of logitech-associated software, it's just inherent) but a TON of people love the G9x and swear by it, and as far as I know it has above average build quality. I'd never use it because I hate mouse acceleration and if I'm afraid that I have it on my sensor, the placebo effect alone would be detrimental to me probably. But, I'm one person, and there are thousands and thousands and thousands of G9x's in use, so that's not really a significant indictment of it. If it meets the size/shape requirement for your hand and grip type and you think it's appealing, I think that's the most important issue of all. Try to put a hand on one and see how it feels to you with your natural grip.

I think if you put that much thought into shopping for a peripheral, you may not end up with the "super leet" popular gam3r hardware, but you'll end up with some hardware that you'll be happy with for a long time and optimally hardware that you'll never have to give a second thought about, so you can focus on playing your games instead.
 
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exactly buy what you feel is comfy for you... i have the mk 85 and the red keys have taken some getting used to coming from a dome keyboard. the keys are so much lighter to press and can be a distraction at first but after 6 weeks i was fine with it. the addition of O rings under the keys has dramatically improved the clacking as i dont bottom out the keys any more..
1 thing i would say is that i bought the reds for gaming not typing. aand liniar switches are beter for it when you do things like double tap as opposed to the blues. i was gonna get browns as they are clicky but not clicky clacky (yeah i know very professional terminology) but even they deemed alien to me coming from domes. i much prefer the linear stroke due to being brought up on atari and commodore computers. so although there was a period of adjustment it was almost like stepping into an old comfy pair of shoes. now im glad i didnt get the blues or browns. but like cas says they aint for every1. you gotta go with what your comfy using or you will have to adjust.

1 last thing dont be fooled by advertising. recently i have seen adverts like "all the feel of mechanical keyboards with none of the noise. and mechanical like key feel.
they are basically rebranding dome keyboards of the back of the surge in popularity of mechanical keyboards... there not the same feel or performance so dont be fooled...
(when i say performance i dont mean it will help your gaming i mean your fingers dont get tired while typing, i nolonger suffer with pins and needles coz my finger muscles are burning less oxygen because im not having to press keys and keep em pressed down with as much force as i did with a dome membrane key. as a result my muscles aint starving of oxygen so no more hand cramps and ohhhh haaa ngggh shake it out shake it out moments...)...
best you try b4 you buy and get what you like the feel of, its all good us saying buy this and buy that but at the end of the day all we are giving is opinions on what works for us. you must make your own choice and try to stay in budget...

 
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