2019-07-01_PC_Gamer

THE FINDINGS

With the data gathered, what’s now
clear is that even more important than
having ‘pro’ gear and settings is being
familiar with your own. My personal
performances were slightly better
across the board, but well down on my
usual performances with kit I use every
day, and with settings I’ve honed to my
personal taste. This in itself doesn’t pull
the rug out from under the peripherals
market – the comfort and aesthetics of
a good keyboard, mouse and headset
are vastly more important than their
bearing on your performance. But it
does mean that if you’re attributing the
fact you haven’t made it to the pro
leagues yet on your setup, you’ve got
some tough questions to ask yourself.

7

21

20

32

15

34

17

34

23

28

20

35

18

34

17

17

15

24

24

30

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

Round

RIGA- Kills Deaths

CS: GO – DUST 2

DE ATHMATCH

RIG B- Kills Deaths

1

8

0

64

2

16

0

21

4

10

0

55

0

60

1

17

1

6

0

84

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

Round

RIGA- Kills Position

PUBG –

EURANGEL

RIG B- Kills Position

18

7

17

4

8

4

10

1

11

3 7 3 7 4 8 4

15

1

9

6

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

Round

RIGA- Kills Assists

QUAKE – UNRANKED

TDM CHAMPIONS

RIG B- Kills Assists

Competitive Gaming Rigs

FEATURE

I FEELGENUINELY

MORECONFIDENTIN

MYMARKSMANSHIP

AT1 20 HZ

Never mind – onto PUBG. I notice
two things about the pro setup
straight away: firstly that Break uses
mercifully similar mouse settings to
mine, and secondly that the game’s so
much more readable at minimum
graphics
settings and
ultra draw
distance. I feel
genuinely more
confident in my
marksmanship
at 120Hz, and
that’s reflected

by what I’d deem to be four decent

rounds. And one total bust, but

you get those with battle royale

games, don’t you.

Moving onto the B rig for five

more games (landing every time at

Prison to minimise

variables again)

what hits me the

most is sound. I

didn’t feel like I

was benefitting

from the virtual

surround in CS:GO,

but here in Erangel

I feel lost with only some tinny

speakers to tip me off when an

enemy draws near.

Perhaps it’s psychological, but

combat feels much harder at 60fps

too. Interesting.

Finally, Quake Champions. The

fastest, most unforgiving online

shooter out there. The Big Kahuna. I

enter cYpheR’s mouse settings,

whack the graphics down, and let rip

on five unranked team deathmatches.

I’m slaughtered. Once again, the pro

mouse setting is very different to my

usual feel, far less sensitive and

requiring great swathes of movement

across the mouse mat. The audio

sounds great and everything, but it’s

not stopping me haemorrhaging

points. Once again though, I’m struck

by how much more readable the

game is with lighting effects dialled

right down, and how noticeably

smooth it feels at 120Hz.

Of the three games, Quake

Champions feels the most unwieldy

on my B rig. Perhaps it’s the sheer

number of inputs per second, but my

ancient mouse and keyboard just

can’t keep up.

I feel a step behind the duration of

my five matches. For the first time in

this experiment – perhaps ever – I

actually miss the precision of

mechanical keyboard switches.

LEFT: Quake puts

mouse polling rates

and key press

recognition under

the microscope.