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I think a hardware section on this website is a great idea, here is a few ideas on mousepads and mice I use! First lets talk mouse pads... I've been through a few.. few more then a few. I Use a moderately low sensitivity (~50cm/360) so the size of the pad is important, bigger the better. In my opinion mouse pad friction should be very consistent, IMO the actual speed of the surface is not as important as its overall consistency. Starting your mouse movement (static friction) and continuing a movement (kinetic friction) ideally would be equal, though this is not possible, I believe the closer they feel the more consistent and reliable the pad will feel. Adding to that is how the pad material lets your hand/arm slide over it. Some pads in my experience really grab to your hand/arm (Possibly not as much of a problem if your have very dry hands, moisture is the root cause of the problem). Here's a few I've recently used: (RED = honourable mention), (GOLD = My top pick) - Logitech 640 - 450x400, 3mm thick. This pad is a well made, smooth textured consistent glide retaining lots of control. It shares a lot of similarities with the Zowie GSR, although personally I find this pad doesn't deal with humidity as well and can stop your hand gliding uniformly. - ASUS ROG SHEATH - 900x440, 3mm thick. Perfectly flat and VERY fast. Friction is very consistent on the mouse unfortunately this is one of them pads that really tends to lock on to my hand when it gets sweaty, making it feel less consistent overall. - BenQ Zowie G-SR - 480x400, 3.5mm thick. Perfectly flat with a somewhat *inconsistent surface speed. *Static friction is really quite high, highest I've tested, coupled with a fairly fast *kinetic friction speed, resulting in a fairly inconsistent experience. On the positive side it's very well made, perfectly flat with a silky smooth high quality feeling texture that allows your hand to glide as well as the mouse. I still rate this pad highly if you get used to the unusual glide. - Steelseries Qck+ - 450x400, 2mm thick. Perfectly flat and moderately fast surface speed. Friction is quite balanced on this pad making it feel consistent and reliable. Adding to that my hand has little trouble moving over this pad i rate these pads highly. - Razer Gigantus - 455mm square, 5mm thick. Originally i tested this pad and it had what felt like a lumpy under surface (was like an air bubble that seemed to move around. I wrote this pad off and called it a day. Well i decided to give it another go and to my disbelief the 'lump' is nowhere to be found. Perfectly flat and with similar mouse feel to the Qck pads. Qck possibly a little bit faster. Friction also feels really consistent and reliable. Overall i notice little difference between this and the Qck and rate it highly. - Steelseries Qck HEAVY - 450x400, 6mm thick. Read Qck+ but thicker. Despite people saying it uses a different cloth, I've compared them both and they are identical cloths. IMO its a tad too thick. - Fnatic Focus G1 XXL - 487x372, 3mm thick. Perfectly flat and second only to the ASUS ROG in terms of surface speed. Friction seems consistent however alike the ASUS (all 'glossy' pads???) as soon as your hand gets a bit sweaty it starts sticking to the pad. - Roccat Taito 2017 900x330, 3mm thick. I played with this pad only for a short time. It's not tall enough for me, so I'm trying to source the 370mm tall version (not available in Australia, yet . What I can say though is it really feels like a faster steel series pad. Friction seems consistent and in the short time I used it I never had any problems with it gripping to my hand! When I get the larger version I'll update. - Steelseries Qck Extended - 900x400, 4mm thick. Read Qck+ but thicker and wider! Despite people saying it uses a different cloth, I've compared them both and they are identical cloths. This pad is the best thickness out of the range coupled with extra room! - ARTISAN Ninja FX Zero XL (SOFT foam) - 490x420, 4mm thick - What can i say, this pads quality is #1, sits perfect flat out of the box. Sub-surface stitched edges, perfectly flat / uniform base, consistent feeling cloth with little friction. Negatives? Firstly the cloth texture is fairly coarse, the coarsest texture of any pad I've tested, something you can adjust to fairly quickly but worth a thought, noticeable if your coming from a pad like the smooth Zowie GSR, it's not a huge problem but the GSR certainly allows your hand to glide better. Now for my deal breaker, the foam. For me, it's too soft, this is the only pad I've ever had which will cause the mouse to really DIG IN by applying 'excess' pressure to the mouse, i talk more about this on pages 4 & 5. - ARTISAN Ninja FX Zero XL (MID foam) - 490x420, 3mm thick - READ ARTISAN Ninja FX Zero XL (SOFT foam) then consider that the foam issue is now gone, this base is great and I've had zero issue with it. My favorite pad right now! - HYPER X Fury X 'speed' - 450x400, 3mm thick - First of all lets correct and change the name - HYPER X Fury 'control', it's not faster than the standard Fury X, it's slower. The texture and glide are 'smoother' but it's noticeably slower. Static friction is on the higher end but seems fairly consistent with the general glide and feel of the pad. The smooth texture allows your hand to glide easily, however there is a SLIGHT issue with humidity which seems commonplace amongst 'glossy pads' (Read ASUS ROG SHEATH) Unlike the Fury X i tested, the base is very flat and consistent which surprised me as I'd assumed they used the same base material, quality control? the stitching however, does not sit flat around the edges even after a month sitting on a flat surface. Overall i didn't mind this pad after getting used to it. - HYPER X Fury X - 450x400, 3mm thick -To be honest, this pad ALIKE the Logitech 640 suffered from a 'lumpy' under surface, a GREAT disappointment and likely a quality control issue given the fact that the HYPER X Fury X 'speed' did not have the issue. This pad is a slightly faster sibling of the 'speed' version, confusing i know... The texture is more coarse and i believe that's really the only difference, a larger weave of the same material. As we've seen before 'smoother' is not always faster, often less contact points = less friction. I would pick this pad out of the two IF IT HAD A SMOOTH BASE! which it doesn't... AORUS AMP500 - 430x370, 1.8mm thick - This pad is by far the best pad i've tried for tracking, its glide is second to none, my tracking is more consistent with this surface than any other (i've not tested any hard pads), friction is very consistent making micro adjustment very easy and you never get that 'stuck' feeling. I'm more comfortable / consistent at target acquisition on a more controlled surface like the ARTISAN Ninja FX Zero XL (MID foam). honestly that could be simply due to more time on that surface, time will tell but ultimately this pad is tied as My favorite pad right now! X-Raypad THOR - NEW - TESTING!! - Lets talk mice... Listed in the order of receiving them! NOT by performance! - Razer Viper (currently using) - Glorious MODEL O - Logitech G PRO Gaming Mouse HERO - Logitech G PRO Wireless - Steelseries Rival 600 - Steelseries Rival 310 - Razer Lancehead TE - Razer DeathAdder Elite - ROCCAT Kone EMP - Zowie FK1+ - Zowie FK1 - Zowie EC2-A - Zowie FK2 - Logitech G403 wired - Logitech G403 Wireless - Logitech G900 - Steelseries Rival 300 Here's some specifics on my favourites! You can find more feedback on most of the above by looking through the pages of this thread! Razer Viper - NEW, currently testing! I've only just received this mouse, already love it, consider the Zowie FK 1 & Glorious Model o as predecessors to this. They are all similar in shape, but this mouse LITERALLY does everything better. Better balanced, better grip, better cable, better side button placement and an even better shape. The Geometry of this mouse feels fantastic. To top it off this mouse feels extremely well built, no flex or creaking and still comes in under 70g. Glorious MODEL O - Read Zowie FK 1. consider this; it weighs only 67g, better buttons all round, comfort grooves for M1 & M2, better cable, RGB and software allowing DPI steps of 100 and then consider that this shape is slightly better than the FK1, I get no cramping with this mouse and still get a great solid grip. Steelseries Rival 310 - This mouse has a GREAT shape, the geometry allows a very solid grip. the buttons are all very good, great flexible cable and one of the best gliding mouses I've used. The only negative I can pick is the rubber sides, when your hands are dry they offer amazing grip, coupled with great geometry the mouse is literally locked in place. Perfect. Unfortunately after your hands warm up, any moisture makes the grips very slippery and lets this mouse down. Honestly if this mouse had comfort grooves in the M1/M2 buttons and a similar coating/ grips as the Rival 600 (the grips on the rival 600 almost improve as your hands warm up, the rest of the mouse is coated in an anti slip coating, Great!), this would easily be my top pick. Zowie FK 1 - Almost as soon as I picked up this mouse I liked it, a lot. You can get a VERY SOLID grip on this shape and ultimately is why it feels so consistent and reliable, no rubber grips and it doesn't need it, the geometry is good enough. The L&R clicks are stiffer than most and take some getting used to and the side buttons / mouse wheel are OK. Great contact pads, glides well. Great flexible cable and not much to say about the 3310 sensor, works fine, tracks well. Obviously DPI steps are limited to 400, 800, 1600 & 3200. Not really a problem for most. After months of using this mouse the only concern I had was discomfort in my hand as your pinkie finger is generally completely unsupported. Any specific questions feel free!

So basically my Artisan FX Zero Soft finally came in, I bought it due to it being described as just a much much higher end Steelseries QCK+ mousepad. While using it I noticed a few things. First off, my sensitivity feels a lot faster, BUT I still am able to maintain control. Second off, I have more horizontal space to move my mouse. My question is, should I change my sens so it feels like it used to on my QCK, or should I just get used to this new feeling. I imagine that if I just stick with my old sens I'll get the best of both worlds (faster aiming and more control), so what do you guys think? For context, I have 1.5k hours in CSGO, and many more in all sorts of FPS games, all using the same sensitivity (22.8 in per 360). I don't think it would be wise to switch mainly for this reason.