Subbax wrote:

Am I being thick? So monitors for 4k gaming are usually a bit lacking or overly expensive. What is stopping me from buying a 32" 4k TV with a decent refresh rate and just sticking that on the end of the pc? Please note I have done zero research. I will do some later but you pc cats might already know. Ta!

Not much if you're not a multiplayer mental. I use a Steam Link for couch gaming and it's great.

The trick is to never go over 60hz in the first place.

So I'm moving into heavy research mode and this is a great video for those of you considering buying a new gaming laptop (particularly the new RTX models).

I have the GPD win 2 which is more powerful as I need offline play on my commute.
Very well made machines

PC Master Race allows controllers, shirley?!

What mouse are you using boris?

Dunno about others, but getting a better keyboard (noice mechanical) made a remarkable difference to my comfort while playing, reducing fatigue and frustration. The biggest difference though, comes from having a mouse with a good shape, light weight, and proper optical sensor with no acceleration or other issues.

Most keyboards these days are pretty shit, keypresses are typically only registered at the bottom of the keystroke, meaning you have to keep pressing down a lot which is uncomfortable over a long time. Most of the medium-expensive gaming mice have really good sensors now, though there are many that still have quite awful sensors that give all sorts of issues. I remember back in the day when I was trying to play Stalker with a cheap mouse and keyboard, and having a terrible time with it. The mouse had some bad negative acceleration that made it very difficult to be accurate and get the headshots you need to in that game. Playing it more recently made me realise how bad the tools I had previously were.

Apart from the input devices the setup can also be very important, ensuring that "Enhance pointer precision" (acceleration) is turned off in the Windows mouse settings is pretty essential. And a big deal is getting the sensitivity just right, particularly for FPSs, the default setup with most modern high-dpi mice will be very sensitive and quick, needing only a few inches. Great for browsing and such, but probably not so good for FPS where having a lower sensitivity means you need to move the mouse further for your view to shift a distance which makes it much easier to be more accurate. You will need a big sized mousepad for that though, much bigger than the usual little A3 sized thing that most have.

Another thing that makes a big difference to me is having a really compact keyboard layout, like a 60% or 75% (or smaller actually..). This means your mouse arm can be more straight ahead of you and has a bit more room, and your left doesn't have to be way over to one side. Basic ergonomics. Few games use a numpad, and you can get a seperate USB one if needed anyway.

None of this needs to be really expensive at all though, and if you consider the amount of time we spend at a computer, getting good peripherals is something I would say is very much worth it. Let me know if you would like any recommendations.

Aye most laptop keyboards are probably fine these days, and if it's from Steelseries it should be fine. If the mouse model is recent then it should be fine also. Apart from that I would certainly try my tips regarding disabling acceleration, adjusting look sensitivity in-game down, and using a larger mouse pad. Overwatch is a great thing to git gud with.

Oh and err the FPS that you are running at really makes a difference with mouse and keyboard compared to using a gamepad. Anything less that 60 FPS with a mouse is a truly miserable experience, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a refresh rate nut, there's something to do with the mouse control that doesn't translate at choppy frame rates, but a controller will be fine in the same situation.

b0r1s wrote:

SG sounds weird, but I’ll give it a try.  @Gurt I’ve bought a very good laptop with a SteelSeries keyboard and bought a SteelSeries mouse. The keyboard isn’t mechanical as I went for portability above a big chunky kB. I don’t really want to plug in a keyboard as I want to be able to move around with it. It could just be I’m old and shit.

Do it. You can map other buttons to trigger, thumbstick press (for say, duck), and additional mouse buttons. Try just moving about and shooting and worry about the specifics later. Try it with something like Team Fortress 2 and see how you get on.

b0r1s wrote:

Cheers Gurt. I never considered acceleration as an issue. Generally getting around 80+ FPS in Metro so think mouse will be fine. Have got a nice Corsair mouse mat, just need to get it back from the fiancés where my desktop is.

Yeah, the disabling Window's opinter precision thing is a classic tip, one that most people new to PC gaming won't know about sadly. Now that I'm used to no acceleration with a mouse I find it quite weird and uncomfortable to use a computer with it enabled, though I do have it on for my thinkpad, as a bit of acceleration is a little more necessary for the trackpoint and touchpad. If you want to test for acceleration then all you have to do is get the mouse up against a surface, then move it to one side then back again at varying sides, it should always return to the same point.

This is the mouse mat I use, though it's more of a deskmat -



I find I definitely use all the space I can. I think my 360 distance (the horizontal distance I need to rotate my view all the way around back to the same point in an FPS) is around 30CM. Apparently most 'pros' have a similar sort of distance, some a little more, a little less. A good gauge is to get the game sensitivity so that a quick flick left or right will turn you about 180.

Honestly though acceleration and poor sensor performance will fuck your shit up, and make you think you are shitter with M&K than you actually are. Worth checking out IMO.

Oh yeah, I have a decent Zowie FK1+ mouse that I don't have a use for atm, was using it a workplace but that is no more. Good for those with large hands. £15 plus a couple of quid for postage.

@b0r1s I was is the same situation when I got myself a shiny new gaming laptop. With time and practice I was able to use as mouse okay, but using a keyboard for movement /reload /jump /abilities just wasn't happening.

I used the controller / mouse combo with some success (it doesn't feel half as odd as you'd think) and that's my go-to for multiplayer shenanigans, but for single player FPS's I just use a controller.

I'd say give m&k a bit more time and definitely give mouse and controller a go, but there's no right and wrong here. Use whatever you're most comfortable with, and if that's a controller then that's absolutely fine.

New Divinity game on the way. Not an rpg but an x-com style game. "Multiple platforms" too so could mean Switch as well.

Cheers Stormy and Kow. Gonna have another bash at the keyboard and mouse.

Yeah that's some kind of overlay, could be the Epic launcher's, could be some other piece of software from the laptop's manufacturer, something in Windows, or perhaps an Nvidia thing. Just have to go through various settings pages to find out I guess..

Cheers, I couldn't see it in Steam and it wasn't the Windows Game Bar thing.