Of Mice and Video Cards

[Xanthe]

As the title suggests, I'm working on my new PC (still!) and am having some difficulty deciding on these two components. First off, the mouse. I'm looking for a wireless mouse suitable for gaming. Bluetooth would be preferred as the keyboard I have ordered is bluetooth, but RF will do if there is no other option. USB is out as this will be used in a living room setting.

As for the video card, I am getting a RADEON HD4870X2, but am unsure of the brand to go with. I was set on Sapphire as it has the most positive reviews on NewEgg, but Diamond has a $50 rebate through NewEgg until this Monday. Does anyone have any experience with the Diamond brand regarding reliability, etc?

I'll be sure to post full specs/pics in the ongoing thread once the system is complete for those interested.

[Cephius]

Wireless mice are not optimal for gaming.. mostly because of the possibility of delay/disconnections. On top of that, there aren't many wireless gaming mice - ones that have extra buttons, DPI control, ect - because most serious PC gamers always use wired mice and keyboards. The logitech G6 or G9 are nice wired gaming mice.

Also, the brand for video cards really doesn't matter that much. Each card is manufactured at the same place, in exactly the same way. Only the stickers, marketing, and customer support are different. Go with the cheaper one as long as it isn't from a brand that has bad customer support. Diamond is a reputable brand and should be fine.

[Shuemue]

I have a Sapphire HD4850, very happy with it. I haven't had a Diamond since the days of 32mb cards, but it never broke, so I'd probably take the $50 off

[Epical]

Wireless mice are not optimal for gaming.. mostly because of the possibility of delay/disconnections. On top of that, there aren't many wireless gaming mice - ones that have extra buttons, DPI control, ect - because most serious PC gamers always use wired mice and keyboards. The logitech G6 or G9 are nice wired gaming mice.

Agreed. However, if you really want a wireless mouse, go with the Logitech G7 (RF). It's the wireless version of the G5, which is an excellent (wired) gaming mouse.

Also, the brand for video cards really doesn't matter that much. Each card is manufactured at the same place, in exactly the same way. Only the stickers, marketing, and customer support are different. Go with the cheaper one as long as it isn't from a brand that has bad customer support. Diamond is a reputable brand and should be fine.

I will respectfully disagree with the notion that all have the same reliability. As the OP stated, Sapphire is best brand I've personally had experience with, so obviously I'd recommend them. I would steer clear of VisionTek and Diamond based on testimonials from friends of mine (on numerous occasions), but take that with a grain of salt if you want. I don't have any experience with HIS or PowerColor, but I see them pop up in the test systems in card reviews on sites like Anandtech, Tom's Hardware, and HardOCP.

[Bardicrune]

Also look at the warranties on the video cards. The diamond card only has a 1yr warranty whereas some of the others are warrantied for longer.

[Xanthe]

I'm well aware with the issues regarding wireless connectivity and gaming. When I say gaming, I mostly mean games like FFXI, HL2, Diablo, etc. I'm not a big FPS player so those small latencies don't mean too much to me. And as I said, USB is not an option given my system location.

[Cephius]

I will respectfully disagree with the notion that all have the same reliability. As the OP stated, Sapphire is best brand I've personally had experience with, so obviously I'd recommend them. I would steer clear of VisionTek and Diamond based on testimonials from friends of mine (on numerous occasions), but take that with a grain of salt if you want. I don't have any experience with HIS or PowerColor, but I see them pop up in the test systems in card reviews on sites like Anandtech, Tom's Hardware, and HardOCP.

I don't doubt that your friends have had bad experiences with those cards, but again unless ATI has changed how they make cards, a Diamond/Viper/Sapphire/Powercolor are all the same physical GPU. There shouldn't be a difference in reliability, and I haven't heard any statistics to back up the statement that one brand is more "reliable" than another. Each company has different customer service people and warranties (and more rarely, different cooling solutions or drivers) for sure, but as far as the card goes, it shouldn't be any different.

I just bring this up because the OP shouldn't be dissuaded from buying Diamond if it means saving 50 bucks.

Though, and my ATI knowledge is severely outdated, but I seem to remember only Powercolor and Visiontek being the only 2 companies that offered lifetime warranties on their cards.

[Isiolia]

The GPU may be the same, but some manufacturers do use different cooling solutions or clockspeeds that could influence how well the product performs. When you're talking reference boards, sure, all basically the same outside of support..but that's not always the case.

[Xanthe]

The GPU may be the same, but some manufacturers do use different cooling solutions or clockspeeds that could influence how well the product performs. When you're talking reference boards, sure, all basically the same outside of support..but that's not always the case.

Unfortunately there aren't any non-reference HD4870X2 boards out there yet. I was hoping to wait for one, but I have yet to see any news and have already put off building for about a month or so. Still taking board experiences until Monday's deadline, then I'll see if any other deals have cropped up. The Logitech G7 is the best RF mouse I've come across for my situation, so I'll probably go with that suggestion. Keep the comments coming by all means though!

[Wintermute]

I've been using a MX510 Corded Mouse for my gaming for 2+ years now, only just started wearing down. Logitech goodness.

Prefer it over the wired G5, but only because early G5 models only have one side button, I believe the new ones have the two side buttons now.

[Epical]

I don't doubt that your friends have had bad experiences with those cards, but again unless ATI has changed how they make cards, a Diamond/Viper/Sapphire/Powercolor are all the same physical GPU. There shouldn't be a difference in reliability, and I haven't heard any statistics to back up the statement that one brand is more "reliable" than another. Each company has different customer service people and warranties (and more rarely, different cooling solutions or drivers) for sure, but as far as the card goes, it shouldn't be any different.

I just bring this up because the OP shouldn't be dissuaded from buying Diamond if it means saving 50 bucks.

Though, and my ATI knowledge is severely outdated, but I seem to remember only Powercolor and Visiontek being the only 2 companies that offered lifetime warranties on their cards.

Oh I know the actual unit itself is nearly identical (if it isn't completely), I was referring to...

The GPU may be the same, but some manufacturers do use different cooling solutions or clockspeeds that could influence how well the product performs. When you're talking reference boards, sure, all basically the same outside of support..but that's not always the case.

This. Different companies have different cooling solutions, and thus, the length of Card A's lifespan may or may not be shorter than Card B and C's. This is pretty much the case with any piece of technology, though, so again, it may not make a difference in the end if you save $50 now and by the time you need a replacement/upgrade, they would've dropped more than that.

[AyzenBahamut]

Take a look at the logitech G9 or the microsoft sidewinder mouse, both are pretty good if you use it for other stuff such as FPS, as you can adjust the DPI settings and weights on them, both are corded but for gaming they are pretty badass.

Personally i just picked up a sidewinder mouse and i like it alot better then the old cordless logitech mouse i had, it has a pretty long cable and a little deal that holds the extra feet and weights you dont use, on the plus side it also serves as a deal that holds the usb cable so it dosent slide all over the place.

[Boyiee]

I went from a wireless mouse to a G5, will never buy anything outside of this series ever again I don't think. Yeah it's wired, but it's leaps and bounds better then any wireless setup I had. I use pretty much every function on it, including the weights.

[Amele]

I don't doubt that your friends have had bad experiences with those cards, but again unless ATI has changed how they make cards, a Diamond/Viper/Sapphire/Powercolor are all the same physical GPU. There shouldn't be a difference in reliability, and I haven't heard any statistics to back up the statement that one brand is more "reliable" than another. Each company has different customer service people and warranties (and more rarely, different cooling solutions or drivers) for sure, but as far as the card goes, it shouldn't be any different.

non-reference boards will frequently use different brands of ram as well, since ATI and nvidia are both in the habit of approving multiple ram vendors of various quality.

add to the fact that the clean process is usually unspec'd (or at least used to be) and that trace material may or may not be controlled, and about the only thing you can guarantee controlled on the board are non-OC reference voltage the GPU chipset and the gross ram timings. - which is alot of things that aren't going to be controlled.

and this doesn't even get into things like manufacturing quality

[Epical]

I went from a wireless mouse to a G5, will never buy anything outside of this series ever again I don't think. Yeah it's wired, but it's leaps and bounds better then any wireless setup I had. I use pretty much every function on it, including the weights.

Threadjack here, but what do you use the weights for? It's heavy enough on its own that I just keep the weight tray empty.

[Xanthe]

Order placed! I decided to go with the Logitech G7 mouse and stick with Sapphire for my HD 4870 X2. Thanks for all of the replies. Assuming my local retailer gets the case in this week as they said they would, I should be building this weekend and have some good pictures and specs to share.