heneverthere’stechnologyinvolvedina featof
skill,we’reboundtowonder.IfyouslidintoLewis
Hamilton’sMercedesF1car,wouldyouwinraces?
Andif yousatunderthebrightarenalightsin
thegamingchairofanesportspro,usingtheir
exactframerate,refreshrate,mousesettings,and
precisemousepadfrictionlevels,wouldyou
suddenlybecomeS1mple?
Thetacitimplicationfromgaminghardwareand
peripheralmanufacturersis thatyoujustmight.We’ve
beensoldeverythingfromgamingmicetosoundcards
onthebasisofgaininganadvantageoverthe
competitionfordecades,andthat’sonlybeen
amplifiedbyesports’mainstreamascendancy.In 2019
it’sderigueurtofillyourdeskwithRGB-emittingkit
thatallpromisestoupyourgame,butthosepromises
oftengounchecked.
There’snodoubtthatattheelitelevel,tiny
variablesmatter.Thedifferencebetween60Hzand
144Hzmightverywellbethedifferencebetween
beingcarriedaroundonyourcheeringallies’
shoulders,andhavingthementeryourbedroom
carryingbarsofsoapinpillowcases.
Butfora journeymanmultiplayergamerwho’s
happyjusttobreakevenonhisK:D(hithere),is
thereanysenseinit?
Wearyofmyownshortcomingsinonlineshooters,
I decidetoundertakea deeplyscientificexperiment.
AnA/Btestfortheages,anErinBrockovicmomentin
PChardware,a...okay– fine.I sitandplaygames
usingdifferentkitandthenrecordmystats.
THETEST RIGS
FirstI needtoestablishthevariables,
andframerateis thelogicalstartpoint.
Asanyprogamerwilltellyou,more
framesis alwaysbetter.Withthisin
mind,it feelsonlyrightthatmy
esports-levelrigshouldharnessthe
RTX 2080 Ti’sheft.FortheB setup,a
GTX 1070 witha framecapat60fps
usingNvidiaInspectorwilldothejob.
Nextupis themonitor.Theusual
criteriagooutofthewindowhere–
resolutionand
colour
reproductionaren’t
thatimportantto
performance.
Whatmattersis
refreshrateand
responsetime.A
panelwitha
refreshrateof
120Hzoraboveletsyouv-syncatframe
ratesbeyond60,basicallyshowing
moreinformationtoyoureyes.How
muchofthatinformationtheycan
actuallyprocessis upfordebate,but
againyou’llseeprogamersadvocating
higherrefreshratesininterviews.Asfor
responsetime,measuredin
milliseconds,it’sa measureofhow
quicklytheindividualpixelscanchange
colourandthuskeepupwiththerapidly
refreshingimage.InmyA/Btest,a
120Hzpanelwitha purported3ms
responsetimeis hookeduptomypro
gamingsetup,whilea perfectly
respectable60HzIPSmodelwith10ms
responsetimeis hookeduptotheB rig.Nextupit’saudio,andforthepro
gamingrigI’musingtheSteelseries
ArctisProWirelesswithvirtualsurround
soundturnedon.FortheB rig,I digout
a realmuseumpiece– someCreative
speakersfromtheearly’00s.Deeply
averageaudio.
A mechanicalkeyboardanda
gamingmousewitha crazysensorare
no-brainersfora pro-gamingrig,soI’ve
optedfora LogitechG Prokeyboardand
G703Lightspeedmouse.Sincemost
progamerwikipagesfeaturepretty
detailedbreakdownsoftheirmouse
settings,I’mcopyingthesettingsofone
ofmyfavourite
players:S1mplein
CS:GO, Breakin
PUBG, andcYpheR
inQuake
Champions. For
theB rig,mytrusty
oldPackardBell
membrane
keyboardcirca
1998 comesouttoplay,resplendent in
sweat-tingedbeige,alongwithan
Intellimousethat’solderthanmost pro
players.Finally,I’mslappingthe visual
settingsdowninalltheabovegames to
maximisevisibilityandperformance.RIGHT:Theprokitis
comfortable,but
whenit comesto
performance,the
jury’sout.
W
Competitive Gaming Rigs
FEATURE
YOU’LL SEE PRO
GAMERS ADVOCATING
HIGHER REFRESH
RATES IN INTERVIEWS