5 cool PC gaming features we take for granted

While a surgeon can technically cut people open with a steak knife, a scalpel designed for the job works better – and the same is true for gamers and gaming peripherals.

A regular desktop mouse might allow you to game; but a gaming mouse might make it easier to get an extra knife kill. Below are 5 gaming peripheral features which are often taken for granted:

Thumb mouse button

As old as the hills themselves; for nearly as long as there have been gaming mice, there have been thumb side mouse buttons to go with them. Taking advantage of the otherwise dormant thumb, thumb buttons allow gamers to program a range of commands that give them a tactical advantage during games.

FPS gamers often assign the knife key to the thumb button, allowing them to be faster than the guy who needs to move his fingers to get to the keyboard shortcut for knife. Dota players also made use of side mouse buttons to activate item abilities faster than opponents who use keyboard shortcuts.

“Features a thumb button” may not sound as impressive as “1 billion DPI sensitivity”, but it’s the feature that will be more useful when you have to gain a split second advantage over your opponent.

Razer Naga Hex

Programmable macro keyboard keys

A dedicated set of macro keys on a keyboard has made the lives of every MMO player far easier, and is another feature most gamers take for granted. Nothing is more frustrating than pressing a number of keys to get the same effect as the guy who taps a single one; he’s faster than you and can focus on other tasks before you’ve even completed your first combo.

It doesn’t stop there either. Calling lanes in Dota is much faster than typing “top mia” every time one of your opponents disappears into the fog. Typing pre-set commands to team mates in an FPS when you can’t shout at them (while LANning in the same room as your opponents team for example) is a breeze with macro keys.

Cyborg V7 gaming keyboard

Boom mic

If there is one thing call centre agents and gamers can agree on, it’s the importance of a boom mic. Communication is vital in team based games and voice is always faster than text.

While there are alternatives in the form of clip on or desk stand mics, these are added extras that increase cable clutter and aren’t as convenient as one attached to the side of your face.

Without one there’s no way to communicate effectively with your team, no way to yell at noobs, and no way to respond to noobs yelling at you; how terrible is that?

Logitech G35

Overclocking settings

When it comes to adjusting voltage, fine tuning RAM timings, and pushing beyond the 10 percent overclocking barrier, dedicated gaming motherboards are the way to go.

Now while I don’t think gaming motherboards exist, motherboards designed for overclockers do, and they’re marketed under the same umbrella so it’s close enough to brand them one in the same. Gamers don’t realize how important their motherboard is for maintaining that 4.2GHz prime stable overclock – until they have to try it on a budget offering.

Asus Rampage IV Extreme

The look

Last but certainly not least, the look. Gaming peripherals aren’t often mistaken for office equipment. With neon lights, frost white cases, a splash of chrome, and fans of all shapes and sizes, gaming equipment certainly stands out.

While gaudy, over-the-top gaming peripherals are still alive and well, even the more “grown up” looking mice and keyboards have a distinctly “gamer” appearance. The Corsair Vengeance series of keyboards for example, sporting black keys with a brushed aluminium plate, seems very office-like and refined, but the bright red WSAD keys hint that they keyboard is something more than just a typists plaything.

To gamers, the guy who rocks up at rAge with a Logitech M185 sticks out like a sore thumb, though at the office the attorney with a Razer Naga Hex gets more stares.