wired vs wireless keyboard/mouse

[Midwayman]

Latency from click, or movement of mouse to the screen, after going through the engine, drivers and rendering is usually over 50ms. An added 2-5ms from going wireless is hard to tell a difference, even at 144hz. I certainly cannot. If you think about competitive play, you can add another 50-200ms of latency from the internet and then there is the monitor's input lag as well, ranging from 10-50ms.

Wireless has come a long way, and it certainly isn't a big issue anymore.

Right. My point is that if you're bothering to eliminate all the sources of lag, you might as well eliminate that 2-5ms. By itself its not a lot, but if you do that in a lot of places it adds up. However if you're not at that level, the difference isn't a big deal.

FWIW the controls to photons lag can be much much less than that. Blur busters was was using a setup with a LED wired to the mouse button, and a high speed camera with both it and the screen in view. They were able to measure response in under 10ms.

A really good monitor can respond in about 6-8ms. 2-3ms is the difference between excellent and just good in gaming monitors. If you're not buying gaming ones you can get into 30ms response ranges pretty easy.

Anyhow, mostly it doesn't matter, but if you're bothering with a high end rig, its worth going wired to make the most of it.

 

[bystander36]

Right. My point is that if you're bothering to eliminate all the sources of lag, you might as well eliminate that 2-5ms. By itself its not a lot, but if you do that in a lot of places it adds up. However if you're not at that level, the difference isn't a big deal.

FWIW the controls to photons lag can be much much less than that. Blur busters was was using a setup with a LED wired to the mouse button, and a high speed camera with both it and the screen in view. They were able to measure response in under 10ms.

A really good monitor can respond in about 6-8ms. 2-3ms is the difference between excellent and just good in gaming monitors. If you're not buying gaming ones you can get into 30ms response ranges pretty easy.

Anyhow, mostly it doesn't matter, but if you're bothering with a high end rig, its worth going wired to make the most of it.

Once you add in all the sources of latency, including your internet connection (more than all other sources added up), the difference is so small that you will not be changing the outcome of competition, and let's face it, most of us aren't competitive players anyway.

If you are wondering what way to go, it most likely won't matter to you. And if you are certain going wired is needed, then you wouldn't be here asking.

 

[Elcs]

Surely the greatest lag is human reaction time anyway. 268ms across 22 million clicks (www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime/statistics)

When I was much younger, 15 or 16, and competing against good standard men and women via LAN I never noticed an issue with my wireless ball mouse and I think that the lack of tail made my movements smoother and easier to make despite the old surface sensing technology 😉

Later on in the month I think I'll do a bit of a test (Currently have something that's taking all of my time). XX number of 'click when the dot appears' kind of reaction test with my G700 in wired mode and the same number in wireless mode and take an average.

 

[Midwayman]

You guys are looking at lag in the wrong way in the context of a game. Sure 30ms or so difference in lag isn't huge in the context of total lag, but it also enough to determine who shot first some of the time. How many times have to been left with one bullet worth of health in a firefight? Would the outcome have been different had they fired 30ms sooner? Maybe.

Mouse lag is one of the last things I'd worry about, but like I said if you're bothering to eliminate sources of lag, why leave a couple MS on the table? As for "if you need to ask, you don't need to be told" there are plenty of good gamers who aren't tech people. F1 drivers don't wrench their own cars.

 

[Aikouka]

One advantage with wireless is you don't have a cord that can affect your aim. One disadvantage is the need for charged batteries. It sucks if it dies on you when you need it.

Well, the one nice thing about the G700 (that you used) is that it can be both wired and wireless. I own two G700 mice, and I use it wired on my desktop and wireless on my Gaming HTPC. One other interesting "feature" is that the mouse can be used on two different machines with ease as the cord can be plugged into a different machine from the USB wireless adapter.

 

[Sabrewings]

No issues with my G700s. I leave it set at 1000Hz polling rate at all times. Can't tell the difference when I switched from wired to wireless. The benefits are well worth it.

 

[bystander36]

You guys are looking at lag in the wrong way in the context of a game. Sure 30ms or so difference in lag isn't huge in the context of total lag, but it also enough to determine who shot first some of the time. How many times have to been left with one bullet worth of health in a firefight? Would the outcome have been different had they fired 30ms sooner? Maybe.

Mouse lag is one of the last things I'd worry about, but like I said if you're bothering to eliminate sources of lag, why leave a couple MS on the table? As for "if you need to ask, you don't need to be told" there are plenty of good gamers who aren't tech people. F1 drivers don't wrench their own cars.

Do you really think it is adding 30ms of latency? I did a bunch of tests using that human response test, and I actually had slightly average times on the wireless mouse. I highly doubt there is 30ms of latency attached to it.

Latency has a tendency to cause me nausea, and I have no increased nausea due to my wireless mouse.

And if it polls at 1000hz, do you really think it could be adding that much latency?

 

[Stuka87]

I find wireless stuff (especially bluetooth) to be completely useless in gaming. The amount of latency induced is really annoying, especially in FPS games.

So wired only for me. Currently using a Razer Blackwidow Ultimate Stealth keyboard and a Razer Imperator mouse.

 

[Midwayman]

Do you really think it is adding 30ms of latency? I did a bunch of tests using that human response test, and I actually had slightly average times on the wireless mouse. I highly doubt there is 30ms of latency attached to it.

No, that's a sum the differnce in hardware based latency from a good setup to a run of the mill setup with a wireless mouse. If you haven't bothered with the rest, wireless isn't likely to matter much.

 

[bystander36]

No, that's a sum the differnce in hardware based latency from a good setup to a run of the mill setup with a wireless mouse. If you haven't bothered with the rest, wireless isn't likely to matter much.

Then you are exaggerating at the least. Just state the difference the wireless mouse makes, not everything else.

 

[RockinZ28]

Why not test the G700 in wireless, and then wired? It functions as both.

I'd do it with mine, but it's in a box somewhere until I'm moved.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I don't know of any mechanical wireless keyboards.

 

[AMD64Blondie]

Wired mouse and keyboard for life.

(Still happily clicking away on a wired PS/2 1991 IBM Model M.)

My mouse is a Corsair M65.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

depends on how serious you are about your gaming. competitive guys try to get any advantage they can even if it's minimal. When they're at that level any bit counts. if you're playing in leagues or one of those match gambling sites, you know other players are trying to get a similar advantage.

BBC is going to cover the LOL world championship so it can be serious business.