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A mouse pad might seem unnecessary these days, especially when optical mice will work on just about any desk surface. But a good mouse is critical for serious gamers — a level, consistent surface optimized for smooth, accurate movements might be just what you need to stay ahead of the competition. 

Gaming mouse pads come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are pretty standard, designed to fit under your best gaming mouse, and that’s it. Others are enormous, and can easily pad the space under your best gaming keyboard and more. Some might even be bigger than your desk, so double-check those dimensions before you buy. 

Many gaming mouse pads also feature RGB lighting, which might seem a little frivolous — but you’re adding a peripheral anyway, and it doesn’t hurt to have it coordinate with the rest of your rig, right? But all RGB isn’t the same, so if pretty lights are a priority, you’ll want something with bright, consistent colors and enough RGB zones to create seamless effects.

We’ve tested dozens of mouse pads over the years. These are the best gaming mouse pads, whether you want something for just your mouse or your entire desk.

The quick list

The Best Mouse Pads You Can Buy Today

Best Mouse Pad for Most People

If you don’t need RGB (does anyone need RGB?), the SteelSeries QCK Heavy is an extra-thick, non-RGB cloth mouse pad that comes in three sizes. SteelSeries also makes a standard QCK mouse pad that’s one-third as thick as the QCK Heavy, but we feel the slight extra cost is worth the extra durability and more stable surface you get with the QCK Heavy.

Both the QCK Heavy and the regular QCK feature a micro-woven cloth surface that makes for easy but precise sliding, and are hand-washable. Decoration is light — a small SteelSeries logo in the bottom left corner is the only thing that might distract you from your game. The mouse pad has a non-slip rubber base that keeps it firmly rooted to your desk — it didn’t budge no matter how hard our reviewer moved their mouse. 

The only minor gripe with the QCK Heavy is that it’s so thick that it can take a bit of extra time to flatten out when you first take it out of the box. This isn’t too much of an issue if you don’t plan on moving it a lot, but be careful not to keep it rolled up too long when traveling. We suggest placing a heavy book or weight on top of it overnight before the first use. 

Both the QCK Heavy and the QCK should fit most desks, thanks to the various size options. Our reviewer tested the large size (17.7 x 15.7 x 0.24 inches / 450 x 400 x 6 mm), but the QCK Heavy also comes in medium and XXL, while the regular QCK comes in small, medium, large, 3XL, 4XL, and 5XL. 

Best RGB Mouse Pad

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If you’re looking for RGB, the Razer Firefly V2 has it in spades. This ultra-colorful mouse pad has a whopping 19 customizable zones and its bright LEDs visibly outshine the competitors (despite the relatively thin lighting strips).  

The mouse pad has what Razer calls a “micro-textured” plastic surface that’s fit for competitive gaming. It feels slightly rough and enables speedy mouse movements, but it easily gathers fingerprints and smudges. The Firefly V2 is only 0.12 inches (3mm) thick, but its rubber base prevented any movement during our tests. It has a cable catch, which might seem like a small detail, but it successfully kept our mouse’s wire in check. 

RGB tweakers have full reign over the 19 lighting zones through Razer Synapse 3. You get brightness controls, seven presets (including a reactive one that works with supporting Razer mice), and you can sync the lighting with other Razer peripherals and devices. We also appreciated the toggle to “switch off lighting when the display is turned off.” The software’s Chroma Studio is where the more advanced customization occurs, with numerous effects layers and the ability to control effects’ cycling speeds, duration, and intensity — but its complexity means it takes longer to master than simple apps. 

Best Budget-Friendly RGB Mouse Pad

If you don’t want to spend much on a mouse pad but you also don’t want to give up flashy RGB, the Cooler Master MP750 (M) features RGB lighting and can usually be found for $20 – $35, though the price fluctuates. According to Cooler Master,  the finely textured cloth offers a “slick texture and smooth maneuverability,” but while it was sufficient for the average game session during our testing, it didn’t otherwise feel particularly special. It does, however, have a spill-resistant coating: we spilled water on it and the large droplet rolled off and was easy to clean up with a tissue. It also features a detachable cable for when you don’t need RGB. 

The MP750 (M)’s RGB border shines pretty brightly. A handy button lets you cycle through static colors without opening software. Unfortunately, black stitching interrupts the RGB frame, and we’re a little worried about getting things (such as jewelry) caught between the loops and causing damage. 

Since there’s only one RGB zone, there’s not that much to do in the Cooler Master Master Plus software. There are four lighting modes — Color Cycle, Static, Breathing or off — and five speed settings via a toggle. Static and Breathing modes offer a color picker, but it wasn’t always accurate. For example, we tried to make  a peach/white breathing effect, and ended up with a white-ish purple flickering. The MP750 also comes in large and extra large versions.

Best Hybrid Surface Mouse Pad

The Razer Strider Chroma has a hybrid surface — harder and slicker than a cloth mouse pad, but with enough texture for controlled, precise movements. It’s the best of both worlds, perfect for gamers who need both speed and control, and it’s water-resistant and easier to keep clean than most cloth mouse pads.

The Razer Strider Chroma only comes in one size — extended, which is large enough to hold both your keyboard and mouse without covering your entire desk. The Strider Chroma has a thick, no-slip rubber base and looks fantastic on your desk with seamless edges (no visible stitching) and 19 zones of bright, Chroma-infused RGB lighting that can be customized in Razer’s Chroma Studio with different colors and effects (including audio-reactive effects). 

The main downside to the Strider Chroma is its price — with an MSRP of $130, it’s practically like buying a keyboard or a mouse. But it’s so beautiful it just might be worth it.

Best Hard Surface Mouse Pad

If speed is your top priority, a soft, cloth mouse pad is not for you — and even a hybrid mouse pad will slow you down. You need a hard, smooth, low-friction surface made of plastic, ceramic, aluminum, or glass, like our favorite hard surface mouse pad, the Razer Atlas. 

The Atlas is Razer’s first tempered glass mouse pad, and it’s entirely analog — no RGB, no Razer Synapse, nothing. Its smooth, matte surface is micro-etched with 2μm texturing that’s designed to work with optical sensors, and features an easy-to-clean oleophobic coating. The Atlas felt amazing and tracked perfectly with every laser and optical mouse we threw at it — though Razer recommends using a mouse with a Razer Focus Pro 30K Optical Sensor, such as the DeathAdder V3 Pro, of course. Its oleophobic coating offered just the right amount of friction (read: none) for maximizing speed without sacrificing precision. 

Our main issue with the Atlas was its size — at 17.72 x 15.75 x 0.19 inches (450 x 400 x 5mm), and made of rigid glass, it’s a little too large to easily fit on the average desk, as it can’t be placed on uneven surfaces, nor are you supposed to put heavy, rough, sharp, hot, cold, etc. objects on top of it. Even just a little smaller would make this mouse pad an easier fit for the more deskspace-challenged.

Read: Razer Atlas Hands-On 

Best XL Cloth Mouse Pad

With how big mouse mats are, it’s important that they don’t just provide your mouse with a good surface to slide around on, but also your wrists with a comfortable surface to rest on. The Corsair MM350 knocks this out of the park. While it does come in a smaller, more pad-shaped size, we’re recommending the mouse mat-sized, XL Extended version here so you can get the most out of that luxurious feel while not being too bothered by the seams at its edges.

While the mat’s surface feels great — almost like a cooling pad — it does come decked out with a battle-damaged gunmetal gray pattern that won’t be for everyone. This is a shame, as it’s easily our favorite non-RGB mouse mat, and folks who are already avoiding RGB might prefer to have a plain version available.

Still, the slick-but-not-slippery surface and large size make it an excellent buy for function alone.

Best XL Cloth Mouse Pad with RGB

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The HyperX Pulsefire mouse mat is HyperX’s first RGB mouse mat in its rectangular XL size, and is easily the company’s best RGB mouse pad for larger desks. At a spacious 35.43 x 16.54 x 0.2 inches, it’s a little too big for some setups, but it’s also a great way to cover as much of your desk as possible if you have the space. And at $50, it’s got a cheaper MSRP than similar rectangular options from the likes of Steelseries and Thermaltake.

Construction is solid across the board here, with a textured cloth surface that gives you plenty of grip without feeling uncomfortable on your wrists and arms. The silicone shielding around the RGB-lit edge also means this mouse pad’s corners aren’t likely to fray anytime soon. Plus, the textured rubber on the mouse pad’s underside means it won’t slip around with your sweeping arm movements while you’re gaming.

The RGB is a little less robust than we’d like. There are only two zones, and while you can select from a wide variety of patterns and colors, there’s no integration with Discord and the list of games with special integration for HyperX’s RGB software is pretty sparse. Still, the mouse pad’s RGB touch sensor is a nice bonus, allowing you to easily cycle through 3 RGB presets without needing to dive into software.

Make sure to measure your desk before getting this mouse pad so it doesn’t end up hanging over the edge!

Best Mouse Pad Accessory

Quick Shopping Tips

Mouse pads aren’t that complicated, but there are some variables to keep in mind while you shop:

• Material: Hard, plastic surfaces are more slippery, so your mouse will glide rapidly with little force from your hand. These are best reserved for more competitive gamers (or at least players with a mouse featuring DPI control). Soft, cloth mouse pads offer more precise pointer control, but may not be as quick as you’d like. You can also find hybrids, which are, well, hybrids. Hard and hybrid mouse pads will wear down skates more quickly than soft mouse pads.
• Size:  Mouse pads start small but come in a few sizes — the largest ones will take up your entire desk. Do you need a gigantic mouse pad? If you play games that require extreme precision and control — such as first-person shooters — you might want to consider a larger pad; precision is generally attained with a lower DPI, and a lower DPI means bigger hand/arm movements. You definitely don’t want to run out of room when you’re lining up a headshot.
• RGB: RGB mouse pads are pretty, but they’re powered via USB. This doesn’t necessarily need to plug into your PC, unless you want to customize the pad’s RGB with software (or have it coordinate with your other peripherals). Also, not all RGB is created equal. The number of RGB zones (not the same as the number of LEDs) will determine how complex the light show can get.
• Cleaning: If you do more than just occasional snacking at your desk, make sure any mouse pad you choose is easy to clean. Smooth, slippery surfaces are easy to wipe down, while cloth pads usually need more care (although some are treated to be spill-resistant). You’ll need to take extra care with RGB mouse pads.

Finding Discounts on the Best Mouse Pads

Whether you’re shopping for one of the best RGB mouse pads or considering a model that isn’t on our list, you may find some savings by checking out our lists of the latest Best Buy promo codes, Newegg promo codes and Micro Center coupons.

Nvidia on Tuesday unleashed a revamped version of its next-generation Grace Hopper Superchip platform with HBM3e memory for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. The new version of the GH200 Grace Hopper features the same Grace CPU and GH100 Hopper compute GPU but comes with HBM3e memory boasting higher capacity and bandwidth. 

The new GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip is based on the 72-core Grace CPU outfitted with 480 GB of ECC LPDDR5X memory as well as the GH100 compute GPU that is paired with 141 GB of HBM3E memory that comes in six 24 GB stacks and uses a 6,144-bit memory interface. While Nvidia physically installs 144 GB of memory, only 141 GB is accessible for better yields.

Nvidia’s current GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip comes with 96 GB of HBM3 memory, providing bandwidth of less than 4 TB/s. By contrast, the new model ups memory capacity by around 50% and increases bandwidth by over 25%. Such massive improvements enable the new platform to run larger AI models than the original version and provide tangible performance improvements (which will be particularly important for training).

According to Nvidia, Nvidia’s GH200 Grace Hopper platform with HBM3 is currently in production and will be available commercially starting next month. By contrast, the GH200 Grace Hopper platform with HBM3e is now sampling and is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2024. Nvidia stressed that the new GH200 Grace Hopper uses the same Grace CPU and GH100 GPU silicon as the original version, so the company will not need to ramp up any new revisions or steppings.

Nvidia says that the original GH200 with HBM3 and the improved GH200 with HBM3E will co-exist on the market, which means that the latter will be sold at a premium given its higher performance enabled by the more advanced memory. 

“To meet surging demand for generative AI, data centers require accelerated computing platforms with specialized needs,” said Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia. “The new GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip platform delivers this with exceptional memory technology and bandwidth to improve throughput, the ability to connect GPUs to aggregate performance without compromise, and a server design that can be easily deployed across the entire data center.”

Nvidia’s next-generation Grace Hopper Superchip platform with HBM3e is fully compatible with Nvidia’s MGX server specification and is, therefore drop-in compatible with existing server designs.

Valve is now selling refurbished Steam Decks, dropping the prices for the devices, which now start at $319. The used Decks will be available both on Steam and, in limited quantities, at GameStop locations.

The company says that “Each Certified Refurbished Steam Deck has been thoroughly tested to the same high standards as our retail units,” though they may have some “cosmetic blemishes.” (Specifically, Valve says these aesthetic issues are small scratches or imperfections on the case — not the screen — that may have resulted from previous use). 

Valve’s site for refurbished Steam Decks claims that over 100 tests are performed on these models, including assessing the battery and checking the screen and controls. Each unit is factory reset and gets the latest set of performance updates.

On Steam, the 512GB model sees the biggest drop-off, at $130 off compared to a new model. It’s $519 compared to a new $649 top-end Steam Deck. Meanwhile, the 256GB version cuts $110 off the price, bringing it to $419. The 64GB starting Steam Deck drops $80 to $319.

Each refurbished Steam Deck has the same one-year warranty as a brand new one (or longer, as some countries have more lengthy warranty requirements). The power supplies, too, are refurbished and may have a bit of cosmetic damage but should work just fine.

GameStop is selling the refurbished Steam Decks exclusively to Pro users. In the US, at least, this is the first time the Steam Deck has been sold at a retail store. On the 64GB and 512GB models, it charges an extra 99 cents, but its 256GB price tag is $10.99 higher than Valve’s. That’s the price of getting to take it home the same day, I suppose. You can see if a GameStop near you has the Steam Deck in stock with GameStop’s store searcher.

Valve notes that the GameStop refurbished Steam Decks are different than its own; “GameStop’s refurbished Steam Decks have been refurbished in their own facilities, and they will come with a different warranty provided by GameStop,” it wrote in an FAQ.  GameStop’s website doesn’t list its refurb process.

Everything else, from the AMD Zen 2 “Aerith” APU to the 1280 x 800 display and 16GB of RAM should be the same. No specs have changed here, just that they’ve been fixed up and reset.

These models may go in and out of stock. The company claims that these units come from returns that have met precise testing requirements, so the availability will depend on how many are returned and which of those can be resold.

Videocardz reports that Sparkle, one of Intel’s AIB partners, is reportedly creating a new lineup of low-profile graphics cards called the Genie series, including low-profile flavors of the Arc A380 and A310. These new cards will target the mainstream consumer market, featuring dual-fan cooler designs.

It might be strange to see new low-profile GPU options in a world where many mini-ITX cases can now support massive triple-slot gaming GPUs. However, many newer and older systems still support the compact PCIe standard. As a result, there is still demand for these low-profile GPUs since these cards provide the only way to increase GPU horsepower with low-profile machines.

Sparkle’s new low-profile graphics cards will come with a respectably sized dual-fan, dual-slot cooler design extending to the end of the PCIe connector. The dual-slot design will make the card a bit thicker than single-slot solutions, but the cooler’s short length should make it fit in any case that supports a 16-lane device. Once we get these cards in for review, we’ll know how well their cooling performance is, but expect good performance anyways since Sparkle’s dual-slot cooler design is substantially beefier compared to its industrial low-profile A310 graphics card that is equipped with a much skinnier single-slot single-fan cooling solution.

The new Genie cards also come with three display outputs, including a single HDMI connection and two Mini-DisplayPort connections, making these GPUs an excellent solution for powering several additional monitors.

Don’t expect serious gaming performance out of the Arc A380 and A310. Both GPUs are part of Intel’s entry-level GPU segment featuring just 8 Xe cores and 6 Xe cores, respectively. We’ve covered Arc’s A380 several times before, but if you haven’t heard of the Arc A310, it is a newish entry-level GPU option Intel quietly launched late last year. The A310 is even less powerful than the A380, featuring a cut-down ACM-G11 die with 6 enabled Xe cores, 4GB of GDDR6 memory, and a 64-bit memory bus. It is essentially Intel’s version of the GT 1030 but with a much newer GPU architecture and AV1 encode/decode support. (Albeit it is faster as well.)

The only unfortunate news is that Sparkle did not announce any release date for these GPUs. Hopefully, the Intel AIB will release these cards sooner than later, but there’s no guarantee.

Enthusiasts know that three of the most important criteria for choosing the best gaming monitors are speed, contrast and resolution. All will affect price, so how can one find the best bang for the buck? Where’s the sweet spot where performance and price are most advantageous?

Of the three major panel technologies, IPS, VA and OLED; VA offers the most contrast for the least money. IPS can provide stunning contrast when paired with a Mini LED backlight, but it is expensive. OLED has the greatest dynamic range of all with its infinite black, but it is also expensive. A VA panel can deliver a great picture for relatively little money.

AOC offers a few VA monitors in its budget line and one of the latest examples is the CQ27G3Z. It’s a 27-inch curved monitor with QHD resolution, 240 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, HDR, wide gamut color and retails for less than $400.

AOC CQ27G3Z Specs

The CQ27G3Z doesn’t have much in the bells and whistles department, but like any good budget screen, it delivers it where it counts. The picture is excellent thanks to a VA panel with around 4,000:1 native contrast. It’s curved tightly at 1000R to create a more immersive effect. I put that in the realm of individual preference when talking about any 16:9 aspect curved monitor. There is some slight image distortion with a tight curve in this screen size. But for games, it delivers an enhanced experience.

Color is wide-gamut, with over 86% coverage of DCI-P3. You can find larger gamuts for a little more money, but the extra color is also an enhancement. Accuracy is decent with calibration and there is a usable sRGB mode.

The most significant value-add is the CQ27G3Z’s 240 Hz refresh rate. There aren’t a plethora of 240 Hz QHD screens out there, and most of them are premium displays. AOC is undercutting the competition with a price of $375 at this writing. You also get Adaptive-Sync with FreeSync from 48 to 240 Hz and G-Sync compatibility, as confirmed by my tests. The CQ27G3Z has not been certified by Nvidia.

Additional features are sparse. You get a frame counter and an aiming point. In addition. blur reduction via backlight strobe can be used in lieu of Adaptive-Sync. The full 240 Hz can be enjoyed over the two DisplayPort 1.4 inputs with HDR at QHD resolution, while two HDMI 2.0 ports support 120 Hz operation with VRR for consoles. There are no USB ports or speakers, nor is there LED lighting. But you get a solid package with everything needed for high-performance gaming for less than $400.

Assembly and Accessories

The CQ27G3Z comes from its crumbly foam in three parts. The panel snaps on after attaching the upright to the base with a captive bolt. The panel mount has a 100mm VESA pattern with fasteners included. The power supply is internal, so you get an IEC cord plus DisplayPort and HDMI cables.

Product 360

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The CQ27G3Z is attractively styled with simple molded shapes and a smooth curve across the back. Red trim signals its gaming intent, but no additional LED lighting exists. The front bezel is nearly frameless on three sides, with 7mm borders on the top and sides and 23mm on the bottom. The red trim is also visible from the front, with accent strips and a hole in the upright for cabling.

The stand is lightweight and solid with a 5.1-inch (130mm) height adjustment, 40 degrees swivel to either side and 5/23 degrees of tilt. There is no portrait mode. Movements are firmer than the CQ27G3Z’s light weight suggests. Build quality is definitely above the price point here.

The input panel is well stocked with two HDMI 2.0 and two DisplayPort 1.4. You’ll need the latter for full 240 Hz operation with HDR and Adaptive-Sync. The HDMI ports support 120 Hz with HDR and VRR for consoles like the PS5 and Xbox One. There are no internal speakers, but you can plug headphones or powered speakers into the 3.5mm audio jack.

OSD Features

The CQ27G3Z’s OSD is controlled by four keys which you’ll find across the bottom right part of the panel. They are a bit clunky compared to the joysticks found in many of the latest displays. The ribbon-style menu is the same one I’ve used in AOC monitors for the past ten years. It’s intuitive and divided into seven sub-menus.

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The Luminance menu controls brightness and contrast, offers seven picture modes, three gamma presets, a dynamic contrast option and HDR modes that appear when an HDR signal is present. I don’t recommend the dynamic contrast as it clips highlight and shadow detail. The CQ27G3Z has plenty of contrast already. The HDR modes are Display, Game, Movie and Picture. The default and best option is Display. It has the best color accuracy but also presents one downside, edge enhancement. I’ll discuss that more in the hands-on section below and in the HDR tests on page five.

In Color Setup, you can adjust the white point with presets or RGB sliders. Also here is the sRGB mode, which has a fixed grayscale. It correctly renders the sRGB gamut if you want to use it for SDR content or color-critical tasks.

Picture Boost is something unique to AOC monitors. You can create a window on the screen, size and move it, and adjust its brightness and contrast independently of the rest of the image. It’s handy for highlighting areas of the picture.

OSD Setup has the expected options but also includes the DisplayPort version and a break reminder. This is a timer that pops up on the screen when it’s time to stop fragging and get a drink or snack.

The CQ27G3Z adds a PIP option; not all AOC monitors have one. You can size and move the window and swap between two video sources.

In Game Setting, you’ll find additional game modes, which are picture presets. Hint, leave this off lest you become lost in the many possible combinations of picture and game modes. The Standard mode from the Luminance menu is all you need. Also here is a three-level overdrive, FreeSync toggle and the frame rate counter. If you’d rather use a backlight strobe for blur reduction, that’s also here with 20 intensity settings. As you increase the value, the screen gets darker, and motion becomes smoother as the pulse width changes. It works well with almost none of the phasing artifacts common to backlight strobes. It is a viable alternative to Adaptive-Sync and overdrive, especially when speeds exceed 200fps.

In the Extra menu, there is an off timer, factory reset and basic signal information. You can also change inputs here or by pressing the leftmost control key.

AOC CQ27G3Z Calibration Settings 

In the CQ27G3Z’s default Standard picture mode, grayscale is a bit green in tone, with visible errors in the brighter parts of the image. Gamma is slightly dark on its number 1 setting, which is fine for a high-contrast panel like this. I achieved much better grayscale with a few tweaks of the RGB sliders in the Color Setup menu. More importantly, color accuracy and contrast are improved as well. My recommended settings are below.

In HDR mode, the default mode, Display, offers the best color accuracy but also adds visible edge enhancement. You can avoid this by selecting the Game mode, which introduces some clipping in the red primary. I’ll explain this with charts on page five. Ultimately, I preferred the look of the Display HDR mode.

Gaming and Hands-on

When considering the CQ27G3Z for daily productivity, I had expected some image distortion given its 1000mm radius, which is tighter than most curved screens. I was pleasantly surprised that I could barely notice a difference. It helps that the screen is 16:9, so you won’t be moving document windows out to the edge of your peripheral vision. After a few hours of use, I concluded that the CQ27G3Z is as useful for work tasks as any other 27-inch flat screen. So, don’t let the curve dissuade you.

The curve is undoubtedly welcome for gaming. Though I would choose a 21:9 monitor over a 16:9 one for play, the CQ27G3Z’s curve clearly enhances the experience. I had no trouble finding a good position for the screen since the stand has plenty of height. I could keep it vertical and have my eyepoint in the center, the optimal setup for curved display gaming.

Once I had spent a few hours playing Doom Eternal and Call of Duty WWII, I found the CQ27G3Z to have excellent feel and response. 240 Hz is clearly smoother than 165 or 144. And with reasonably low input lag, I could keep my aim true and consistent. Stopping on target was easy, and I had no trouble making out fine detail in distant objects thanks to the 109ppi pixel density.

The HDR experience was average compared to all the monitors I’ve experienced, meaning that contrast and color were very good but not at the level of a premium screen. That’s no surprise given the CQ27G3Z’s $375 price tag. When that is considered, it’s a champ. The HDR image popped nicely with clear detail at all brightness levels and nicely saturated color.

During the SDR tests, I noted that calibration is required for best results. The default image is a bit flat, thanks to grayscale errors. But if you plug in the settings above, you’ll see a much better picture.

Video processing delivered an average experience with one positive exception that I’ll note in a moment. Adaptive-Sync worked perfectly on both FreeSync and G-Sync systems. The overdrive is a bit weak because it doesn’t completely remove black trail artifacts from moving objects. But in most cases, this issue did not distract from gameplay. I also noted a better-than-average use of backlight strobing when I tried the blur reduction. Like most monitors, it requires you to turn off Adaptive-Sync but at 240 Hz, but this isn’t a big deal. The CQ27G3Z’s backlight strobe is much better than average because the phasing artifact common to this feature is almost entirely invisible. AOC’s MBR option is one of the best examples of blur reduction I’ve seen.

Test Takeaway: The CQ27G3Z delivers high frame rates with solid video processing and low input lag. Its HDR image is of average quality for the price, but it’s nice that the support is there. Aside from a weak overdrive, it is a good gaming monitor and well-suited for daily tasks. 

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: How We Test PC Monitors

MORE: How to Buy a PC Monitor

MORE: How to Choose the Best HDR Monitor

Nvidia has introduced three high-performance professional graphics cards based on the Ada Lovelace architecture for workstations as well as a server-grade grade professional board that can be used both for remote graphics and light AI applications. The introduction completes transition of Nvidia’s ProViz family of high-performance products to its latest Ada Lovelace architecture.

To address performance-demanding professional graphics applications, such as computer aided design and digital content creation, Nvidia add three new products: the RTX 4000 20GB, the RTX 4500 24GB, and the RTX 5000 32GB boards based on the Ada Lovelace architecture. In addition, Nvidia is rolling out its L40S datacenter board with 48GB of memory.

The new Nvidia RTX 4000 20GB workstation graphics card largely mimics the RTX 4000 SFF product released several month ago, but it uses a full-height PCB albeit comes with a single-slot cooling system and is rated for 130W. The part is powered by the AD104 GPU with 6144 CUDA cores that is clocked higher compared to the SFF variant and thus delivers up to 26.7 FP32 TFLOPS of compute throughput, which is comparable to compute performance of Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 4070. This board will offer higher performance than the RTX 4000 SFF for the same price of $1,250 in September.

The green company is also rolling out its Nvidia RTX 4500 24GB featuring the AD104 GPU with 7,680 CUDA cores that offers up to 39.6 FP32 TFLOPS of compute performance, which is on par with the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. The ProViz graphics card is equipped with a dual-slot cooling system with a blower fan and is rated for up to 210W of power. The product is set to be available in October for the price of $2,250.

Yet another graphics cards that is being rolled out today is the Nvidia RTX 5000 32GB based on the severely cut-down AD102 graphics processor with 12,800 CUDA cores that delivers compute performance of 65.3 FP32 TFLOPS. This unit is positioned to sit below the flagship RTX 6000 Ada and the whopping performance difference between the two parts implies that over time Nvidia might offer a solution that will sit between these models. In the meantime, Nvidia will have its RTX 5000 32GB for $4,000 and RTX 6000 48GB Ada for $6,800.

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The new workstation boards will be used by companies like Boxx, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Lambda in their upcoming workstations this fall. In addition, these boards will be available from Nvidia’s resellers, such as Arrow and Ingram from such AIB suppliers as Leadtek, PNY, and Ryoyo,

But as there are professionals who use remote workstations, Nvidia is also rolling out its L40S Ada datacenter card that uses the AD102 GPU with 18,176 CUDA cores that delivers a whopping 91.6 FP32 TFLOPS, which is in line with performance of the RTX 6000 Ada. The L40S Ada will be first used in Nvidia’s OVX servers used for graphics AI, and video processing, but eventually they will likely end up in different machines as well. While the L40S Ada is clearly a datacenter product with a passive cooling solution, it still has display outputs, so it can be installed into a workstation assuming that there is enough airflow inside or a special blower attached to the board. 

“As generative AI transforms every industry, enterprises are increasingly seeking large-scale compute resources in the data center,” said Bob Pette, vice president of professional visualization at NVIDIA. “OVX systems with NVIDIA L40S GPUs accelerate AI, graphics and video processing workloads, and meet the demanding performance requirements of an ever-increasing set of complex and diverse applications.”

We don’t blame you if you’ve never heard of the Radeon RX 580 2048SP. It is a China-exclusive SKU, after all, and far from being able to compete with the best graphics cards. However, a Chinese manufacturer has breathed new life into the five-year-old Radeon RX 580 2048SP.

AMD China released the Radeon RX 580 2048SP in 2018, so the Polaris 20-based graphics card is a bit long in the tooth. While the Radeon RX 580 2048SP sounds cool because of the model name, it was, in essence, a rebranded Radeon RX 570 8GB with a moderately higher boost clock. The Radeon RX 580 2048SP may seem like a dud, but it sells pretty well in the Chinese market, so manufacturers still love it after all these years.

Kinology, a Chinese vendor, has given the Radeon RX 580 2048SP a new twist. Kinology isn’t an official AMD partner. Like many other Chinese companies, it’s likely just a local outfit that relabel and resells OEM graphics cards. Kinology (via realVictor_M) has released a particular Radeon RX 580 2048SP with an upgraded memory subsystem to 16GB of GDDR5. For comparison, the regular Radeon RX 580 2048SP is only available with 4GB and 8GB configurations. Kinology’s model has triple or twice as much memory, depending on which SKU you compare it to.

Although Kinology gave the Radeon RX 580 2048SP more memory, the company used slower GDDR5 memory chips. The vanilla Radeon RX 580 2048SP uses 7 Gbps GDDR5, which across a 256-bit interface, provides 224 GB/s of memory bandwidth. In contrast, the Kinology Radeon RX 580 2048SP employs 6 Gbps chips, limiting the bandwidth to 192 GB/s. It has more memory, but the bandwidth takes a 14% hit.

Besides the memory, the Kinology Radeon RX 580 2048SP has nothing else to offer. It still uses the 14nm Polaris 20 silicon with 2048 shaders that boosts 1,206 MHz, so it’s somewhat lower than AMD’s reference 1,284 MHz boost clock. From a performance standpoint, the Radeon RX 580 2048SP is slower than the GeForce GTX 1060. The Kinology model is 170W, 20W higher than the regular model, probably due to the added memory chips. The Kinology Radeon RX 580 2048SP still employs a single 6-pin PCIe power connector.

The Kinology Radeon RX 580 2048SP sells for $83 on JD.com, which isn’t a bad price. The faster Radeon RX 580 starts at $129 in the U.S. market, so the Kinology Radeon RX 580 2048SP’s price tag gets a pass.

TSMC in collaboration with partners Bosch, Infineon, and NXP, on Tuesday unveiled plans to form a joint venture and construct a chip fabrication facility near Dresden, Germany. The joint venture named European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC) will own a fab that will produce chips for automotive, industrial, and IoT applications using TSMC’s 12nm, 16nm, 22nm, and 28nm-class process technologies starting from late 2027. 

The planned ESMC fab is expected to have a production capacity of around 40,000 300-mm wafer starts per month, though TSMC does not disclose whether by a wafer it means a wafer processed on a 28nm node, or a 12nm process technology. By modern standards, a fab with a 40,000 WSPM is not exactly a large production facility (GlobalFoundries’ Fab 1 in Dresden has capacity of well over 100,000 WSPM), but since this particular fab will be used almost exclusively for German and Austrian automakers, industrial equipment producers, and IoT companies, it should be just enough to meet their demands in the latter half of the decade.

 “This investment in Dresden demonstrates TSMC’s commitment to serving our customers’ strategic capacity and technology needs, and we are excited at this opportunity to deepen our long-standing partnership with Bosch, Infineon, and NXP,” said Dr. CC Wei, CEO of TSMC. “Europe is a highly promising place for semiconductor innovation, particularly in the automotive and industrial fields, and we look forward to bringing those innovations to life on our advanced silicon technology with the talent in Europe.”

Meanwhile, the fab will use TSMC’s mature technologies, such as 28nm and its various specialized derivatives, including 22nm low power fabrication process. TSMC has been trying to urge automakers and other customers to transit their long-living designs to its 28nm-class nodes for a couple of years now and cease using legacy 45nm, 65nm, 90nm, and older nodes. Now that there is a 28nm-capable fab in Europe, they will certainly be more inclined to do so. In addition, the fab will be capable of processing wafers on TSMC’s FinFET-based 16nm and 12nm production nodes that are gaining popularity among automakers today.

The new fab is meant to ensure a consistent chip supply for German and Austrian automotive giants in the second half of the decade. There is a catch though. Complex system-in-packages for self-driving and infotainment will define value of autos in the coming years. And yet, automakers like BMW, Mercedes, Stellantis, and VAG — which are investing heavily in proprietary silicon for their autos due in the coming years — will have to produce their SoCs and SiPs either in Taiwan or the U.S. if they go with TSMC. Alternatively, they will have to use Intel’s fab near Magdeburg, Germany, to make their leading-edge processors.

“Infineon will use the new capacity to serve the growing demand particularly of its European customers, especially in automotive and IoT,” said Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon Technologies. “The advanced capabilities will provide a basis for developing innovative technologies, products and solutions to address the global challenges of decarbonization and digitalisation.”

The ESCM fab is slated to start constriction in the second half of 2024 and begin production in late 2027. TSMC will operate the fab.

As far as ownership is concerned, TSMC is poised to command a majority 70% stake in the venture, whereas the remaining partners —Bosch, Infineon, and NXP— will equally share the remaining equity, each securing a 10% stake. Investments in the fab are expected to be around €10 billion with €5 billion rumored to come in subsidies from from the German government and under European Chips Act.

Right now at Best Buy, you can find the Asus Zenbook 14 Q410 for one of its best prices to date. It has a recommended price of $799 but is currently marked down to $499. It’s not clear for how long the $300 discount will be made available.

This deal is notable for its 13th Gen Intel processor and 2.8K OLED touchscreen display. For a laptop with these specs in this price range, it’s definitely worth a look whether you’re in the market for something casual or a little beefy for media purposes.

Under the hood, you’ll find an Intel Core i5 13500H processor which can reach up to 4.7GHz. It’s accompanied by Intel Iris Xe graphics which outputs to a 14.5-inch touchscreen OLED panel with a resolution of 2880 x 1800px. For storage, users get a 512GB internal SSD to take advantage of which connects using a PCIe 4.0 interface. This is alongside 8GB of LPDDR5-4800 for memory.

The Zenbook 14 Q410 has an integrated mic and 1080p webcam for video conferencing. A 3.5mm jack is also available for audio peripherals. As far as ports go, it has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two HDMI ports, two Display Ports, a USB Type-A 3.2 port and one USB Type-C port. It’s powered by a 10Hr battery and is supported by Asus with a limited 1-year manufacturer’s warranty.

To get a closer look at this deal, check out the product page for the Zenbook 14 Q410 over at the Best Buy website.

Robert Hallock, who has been with AMD for over 12 years, has joined Intel as the new Senior Director of Technical Marketing. Hallock will focus on AI for consumer processors as part of his new position.

Hallock joined AMD in August 2010 and had been with the chipmaker until September 2022. Hallock started as a Product Marketing Manager and slowly climbed up the hierarchy ladder until he became the Director of Technical Marketing, a position he had held for two years and three months.

“After a restful sabbatical, I’m excited to announce my next adventure! Today I joined Intel Corporation as Senior Director of Technical Marketing, where I’ll be focusing on AI for consumer processors.

I’ve always been happiest working on the next big thing in Client, and spending some time on AI is surely that. The PC is never boring, of course, but AI sure seems like an unusually unique moment. It’s not often an all-new category of accelerator shows up, after all.

We are—all of us—on the cusp of transformative performance improvements for speech, text, music, images, video, and more. There’s a fantastic team at Intel working to make those everyday experiences better, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it!” wrote Hallock in his LinkedIn post.

Hallock had always been on the technical end of marketing AMD’s products. So it wasn’t surprising that Intel hired him as the company’s Senior Director of Technical Marketing. Hallock was a beloved figure in AMD’s fanbase as he was very active on social platforms, including Reddit, Discord, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter). He often provided helpful insight on the technical aspects of AMD’s platforms, helped users with platform-related issues, and offered valuable information that sometimes isn’t public.

Intel’s holding its annual Intel Innovation event from September 19 to 20. The chipmaker has confirmed that the company will present its highly-anticipated Meteor Lake processors at the event. Intel will also present a new roadmap with a heavy emphasis on AI so that we may see Hallock in his first Intel event very soon.

If you just want to free your desk of wires, any wireless mouse will do. But a great wireless mouse is more than just a convenient, clutter-free tool for interfacing with your PC. The best wireless mice combine heavily-researched ergonomics and finely-tuned productivity improvements to give you something that feels like a natural extension of your arm and still makes you more efficient. 

Productivity mice are different from gaming mice. You may not need a high-polling-rate, low-latency mouse for work, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of other factors to consider when picking the perfect productivity mouse, such as multi-device control, built-in Bluetooth, speedy scroll wheels (and tilt wheels), and lengthy battery life. 

This list focuses on productivity mice, but if you’re looking to improve your game you can check out our list of best gaming mice. And if you’re serious about desk decluttering, pair the perfect pointer with one of the best wireless keyboards for ultimate freedom.

The quick list

The Best Wireless Mouse You Can Buy Today

Best Wireless Mouse for Most

The Logitech MX Master 3S isn’t the cheapest mouse on this list, but it’s worth every penny because it will make you more productive if you make use of all its features. The 3S combines a comfortable, sculpted design with helpful features such as an electromagnetic scroll wheel, a separate thumb wheel, and a ton of customization options. It can also use the Logi Flow software to switch its connection seamlessly between three different devices — even carrying clipboard contents with it.

The MX Master 3S’s scroll wheel is one of its most impressive features: It lets you toggle between a smooth or ratcheted feel with the press of a button — or automatically, based on how fast you spin it. A second thumb wheel on the left side lets you perform tasks such as zooming in and out of documents, scrolling horizontally in spreadsheets, and raising and lowering your system volume.

The mouse has six configurable buttons (seven if you include the scroll wheel’s click), which you can set to do different things in different apps. So, for example, you could have the side buttons perform forward and back functions in your browser but act as Pg Up and Pg Dn in a word processor. 

The MX Master 3S has two noticeable improvements over its very-similar predecessor, the MX Master 3. The sensor now goes all the way up to 8,000 DPI, which means that you can get much faster movement, a boon if you have multiple monitors to move your cursor through. And the right and left click buttons have quiet switches which will be barely audible to your coworkers or housemates. 

Read: Logitech MX Master 3S Review 

Best Wireless Ergonomic Mouse

The Logitech Lift is an ergonomic wireless mouse designed for users with small- to medium-sized hands — it’s not for everyone, but it’s nice to see an option for users who might not find the larger Logitech MX Vertical comfortable to use. The Lift also comes in both right-handed and left-handed versions, making it one of the only ergonomic mouse options for left-handed users (though while the right-handed version comes in pink, white, and graphite, the left-handed version only comes in the latter). 

The Lift has a vertical design, which puts your hand at an “optimal” 57-degree angle — also known as the “handshake angle.” This angle is more natural than the typical horizontal angle mice normally have, but this design does lift your hand away from your desk. If you’re used to a regular mouse, it may take you some time to get used to this new position (and you may never get used to it, especially if you work with very precise movements — it’s harder to be precise when your hand is further from the desk). 

The Lift is a productivity mouse; it works with Logitech’s Logi Options+ software and includes Logitech’s productivity features such as Logitech Flow, which lets you switch between three different PCs. Logitech Flow isn’t perfect — there’s a small delay between devices, but it’s an excellent feature for people who switch between a laptop and a desktop, or a laptop and a tablet. 

The Lift’s vertical design makes it less-than-ideal for precision tasks, such as gaming — gamers who want an ergonomic mouse should check out the incredibly comfortable Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro. 

Read: Logitech Lift Review 

Best Budget Vertical Mouse

The Lenovo Go Wireless Mouse is a cheaper take on the vertical mouse layout than the Logitech Lift and the Logitech MX Vertical, with a price that ranges from $30 – $50 depending on sales (which Lenovo frequently has). Despite this, it’s got a strong luxury feel thanks to the comfortable, stylish cork side finish, and it also has many of the Lift’s and MX Vertical’s strengths.

These include the natural, 57-degree “handshake position” angle and the many programmable buttons. There’s one fewer button here than on the MX Vertical, making for a total of 6, but the DPI is much more customizable than on Logitech’s mouse. Here, you get to set 3 specific numbers from 800 to 2400, and you can still swap between them on the fly with a single button press.

Another bonus here is that this mouse only requires one AA battery, as opposed to 2. It’s not a huge savings, especially since the purported battery life is 18 months long, but you’ll more easily be able to recharge this mouse by digging through your junk drawer.

Maybe the most unfortunate change here is to the side button placement. Rather than being in the divot where your thumb rests, like on the MX vertical, the side buttons here instead rest on the mouse’s top edge. You’ll have to strain your thumb to reach them, which hurts this device’s otherwise strong ergonomics.

Best Premium Productivity

Often, gaming gear is a cheap way to get your hands on a mouse with professional-level features. Razer is known mostly for its gaming peripherals, but it’s also been dabbling in the productivity sphere by taking features it’s known for in its gaming products and translating them to a line specifically for productivity.

Enter the Razer Pro Click Mini. This mouse is the second productivity focused pointer from Razer, and features quieter switches and a smaller footprint than the first. But unlike other productivity focused mice, it’s also got a high max DPI (12,000), a 1,000 Hz polling rate, 7 programmable buttons, and 2.4GHz wireless connectivity. Plus, it’s got 5 onboard memory profiles and you can remap buttons, including the 4-way tilt wheel with both infinite and ratcheted scrolling, in Razer Synapse. 

That makes this an especially powerful contender for the office, with lots of versatility and highly responsive input, although its sleek gray and white exterior and comfortable ergonomics mean it’s still at home in your boss’ line of sight.

It’s a bit of a shame that it uses AA batteries instead of being rechargeable, especially since those batteries do make it a touch heavier. But with a purported 465 hours of 2.4GHz battery life and 725 hours of Bluetooth battery life, it’s easy to just stuff this in your bag and forget about it for months on end.

Read: Razer Pro Click Mini review 

Best Budget Mouse

What even is a “best mouse,” anyway? Don’t you just need a way to point your cursor without too much delay and without hurting your hands? If this sounds like you, the Logitech M510 will be your new best friend. Its no frills design makes it one of the most inexpensive mice on this list at $20, while its 2.4 GHz connectivity keeps it lagless. Meanwhile, its comfy, ambidextrous body should fit nicely into most hands and its two side buttons are accessible across palm, claw and fingertip grip styles. Its software, Logitech Options, is also robust enough that you can easily get more advanced with it later on, once you’ve started to see the light of fancy mice.

You can set the DPI up to 1000 with Logitech options, for instance, although it’s somewhat obliquely presented as a “pointer speed” slider that refuses to give actual numbers. You can also swap the left and right mouse button functions, easily view battery life and map any number of functions to 5 of the mouse’s buttons. These include keystroke assignments, common functions like copy or paste and even a “gesture” toggle that works with mouse movement to open up even more mappable actions. What’s even better is that you can set the mouse to have different profiles per application.

These Logitech Options features aren’t unique to the 510, but it’s good to know that you can still access them even if you go for the most basic of Logitech’s mice. Speaking of basic, this mouse glides well with its 4 rubber feet and boasts a 24 month battery off its two AAs. At 0.28 pounds, it’s also easy to lift and travel with.

All around, this is a great starter mouse, although its ambidextrous design leaves it with a somewhat underdeveloped thumb rest and it doesn’t have special features like an infinite scroll wheel. 

Best Small Mouse

The Microsoft Modern Mobile Mouse is a thin little credit card of a pointer that presumes that the most comfortable form factor for a mouse is to have as little mouse in your hand as possible. This makes it great for travel and style, especially with its 8 available colors and Bluetooth connectivity. At 78 grams with batteries installed, it’s easy to carry around with you and push around a table. At the same time, its sleek rectangular exterior makes it difficult for certain grip types to handle it, and it doesn’t come with extra buttons or too much configurability.

With just a left button, a right button and a scroll wheel that can’t tilt to the side, this mouse isn’t meant for more than basic work. The scroll wheel’s push-in button can be remapped to input a key combination, open the screen snipping tool or even input a macro, but that’s the most advanced usability you’ll get out of this mouse. Otherwise, all its software will let you do is swap the left and right click, change how fast the wheel scrolls (and in which direction) and adjust your DPI.

The max DPI is higher on this mouse than what you’ll find on other productivity focused entries, though. The minimum DPI is 400 and the maximum is 1800, which means you’ll be able to easily track your cursor across all sorts of resolutions and monitor sizes. 

There’s no doubt that the mouse’s lightweight nature lends it a certain level of comfort, as it doesn’t take much force to use, although it can feel bulky in the hands thanks to its rectangular shape. That’s a bit odd given how small the mouse is, and it doesn’t help that palm grip users don’t have much of a body to rest their palms on.

Still, this is a good mouse for Bluetooth devices, casual use, travel and those who prefer lightweight and small accessories that stay out of the way. It also looks good. But its functions are limited, and it’s not the most comfortable for all types of users.

Best Travel-sized Ergonomic Mouse

The Microsoft Arc Mouse is a more ergonomic take on the Microsoft Modern Mobile Mouse that nonetheless loses some functionality in the pursuit of greater comfort. It feels great in the hands, so much so that it might convince you to abandon a claw grip for a palm grip instead. However, its hair-trigger button (which doesn’t physically distinguish between left/right click zones) and its lack of scroll wheel means it’s not for everyone.

At $80, the Arc Mouse is more than three times the cost of the Modern Mobile Mouse, but is still affordable compared to other ergonomic mice on this list. It also carries over some of the benefits of the Modern Mobile Mouse — an uncomplicated, lightweight body, multiple color options, and easy portability (it can bend flat to fit into bags with no issue). 

It’s also got the same weaknesses as the Modern Mobile Mouse — and then some. Most noticeable and egregious is the lack of a scroll wheel or separate left and right click buttons. Taking the Modern Mobile Mouse’s lack of buttons a little further, the Arc Mouse opts to have one clickable touchpad for its input. Clicking the left side works as a left click and clicking the right side works like a right click (although you can swap these), while an optional three-finger-click option can serve as either a middle click or a keyboard combination of your choice. This can take some getting used to at first, as you find where the boundaries between the different options are, but it generally works. 

Instead of a scroll wheel, the mouse wants you to flick your finger to scroll. This results in stilted scrolling that requires a lot of extraneous flicks, even on the highest sensitivity setting. Not only do you lose precision with this, but you also lose comfort, which goes against the point of the mouse.

Also a little disappointing is that bending the mouse flat also turns it off, so you can’t use it in this shape if you prefer. Further, the mouse is not built for fingertip or claw grippers. 

Some people will love this mouse, either as a main pointer or as a backup while traveling. It’s a niche pick, but so are most ergonomic mice.

Best Trackball Mouse

The Logitech Ergo M575 Mouse is the hero your strained wrists have been waiting for. With it, you won’t need to move them at all. Just lay your hand on your mouse once, and you’re all set for eight hours straight without needing to move it again (aside from getting up to go to the bathroom). Of course, your thumb will be getting a workout the whole time.

That’s because this mouse uses a trackball to move the cursor. It’s not a new approach, but at $50 and with 2.4GHz and Bluetooth support, the Ergo M575 is more advanced than what you would have gotten in the ‘90s.

Using it will take some practice, of course, but it feels like a dream in your hand. It completely eliminates strain from repetitive motions, and the wide body perfectly contorts to my hand shape. Again, it does require my thumb to do a lot of movement, but if there’s anything decades of gaming has taught me, it’s that my thumbs are pretty resilient when it comes to carpal tunnel syndrome. The rest of my hand, not so much.

Of course, speaking of gaming, not being able to move the mouse’s body itself does come with some struggles. For instance, while this isn’t our best gaming mouse list, let’s not kid ourselves. You’re probably not constantly swapping between a gaming and work mouse with your home setup. If you were hoping to use this mouse to moonlight in games, think again. While its trackball can reach a DPI of up to 2000, it’s harder to do controlled flicks or steady tracking with it. Not common use cases on the job, but very common in games.

Clicking-and-dragging also takes some rewiring at first, as I’m not used to using both my thumb and my index finger when doing so. It took a bit of thought to remember to let go of my index finger when I was done dragging, but not my thumb. Similarly, it can be hard to precisely highlight text with a trackball.

Most of these issues, aside from the mouse not being well-suited to games, are easy enough to fix with practice. And once you do, your wrists will thank you. Your desk might thank you too. While the M575 is a bulky mouse, it also paradoxically has a small footprint because you don’t need to move it when using it. It doesn’t even need a mousepad, making it great for people with small desks or keyboard trays.

Like the Logitech M510, the M575 is compatible with the Logitech Options software, which lets you remap its three extra buttons, check battery level, swap the left/right click and adjust DPI. The customization on offer here is fairly robust, and allows you to set a button to open programs, control media, enter certain key combinations and the like. Plus, you can set the mouse to use different settings depending on which program you have open.

If you like trackball mice, this is one of the best modern options available.

Best Mouse for Multiple Devices

At first glance, the Logitech Triathlon M720 mouse doesn’t appear to offer much for its $40 price that the more basic, $20 Logitech M510 mouse doesn’t already have. It’s got one extra button hidden away in its left thumb rest, which itself is more prominent than the thumb rest on the M510, plus a switch hidden under the scroll wheel that swaps it between ratcheted and smooth scrolling. But it’s also got one other additional, non-remappable button on its side with a “123” printed next to it. This button is where you’ll find the Triathlon’s unique use case, which is its ability to pair with up to 3 computers at once and swap between them on the fly either with that button or through Logitech Flow.

Logitech Flow is a unique piece of software that allows the Triathlon to easily treat multiple computers like one desktop simply by moving the cursor between their displays. This lets you copy and paste images and files easily, or even just use a laptop as a secondary or tertiary monitor without hassle. Think of it like a software solution for a KVM. All you have to do is pair the Triathlon to each of the PCs you want to use and make sure Logitech Options is installed on each.

In practice, it works almost flawlessly, plus you can add a Logitech keyboard into the mix if you have one. The only major issue is with connectivity standard limitations. To connect to a device, the M720 needs either Bluetooth or a Logitech Unifying Receiver. Since it only comes with a single unifying receiver, you can’t have all of your devices using 2.4 GHz unless you buy individual receivers separately. There’s no issue with connecting multiple Bluetooth devices, however, nor did I have a problem connecting one device via 2.4 GHz and one via Bluetooth.

Less of an issue is that a device’s mouse cursor does not disappear when you move your mouse off of it, which can be mildly annoying if you’re using a laptop as a secondary display.

If you need to quickly move files across devices or just simply do not own a secondary monitor but do have a laptop, Logitech Flow can be a boon to your productivity. But if all you need to do is connect a single mouse to multiple devices and swap between them on the fly, other Logitech mice can also do that.

Take the Ergo M575, which has both 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth compatibility. I easily connected the M575 to one device via 2.4 GHz and one device via Bluetooth, then swapped between them on the fly via the button on the bottom of the mouse that changes the M575’s connectivity standard. It’s a more hack-y solution, and requires you to turn the mouse over every time you want to swap devices rather than using an easy side button, but it does take away one of the Triathlon’s unique strengths.

Nonetheless, the Triathlon is still inexpensive compared to mice like the Ergo M575, and is a good choice if you’re just getting a Logitech productivity mouse and need to use it across multiple devices. It’s comfortable in the hand across all grip styles, easily remappable via the robust Logitech Options software and has access to an always-satisfying smooth scroll wheel.

Tips for Picking the Best Wireless Mouse

• Shape and comfort: Mouse shape and design play a prominent role how effective a cursor-controlling tool it is. An excellent wireless mouse will feel like a natural extension of your arm — not a clunky, cheap-feeling hunk of plastic that hinders productivity. Consider how you grip or hold your mouse to determine where you’ll want more or less height or width. The size of your hands also plays a role in picking the best wireless mouse for you. 
• Bluetooth or dongle: Some wireless mice connect via Bluetooth, while others connect via 2.4GHz wireless using a USB-A (or USB-C) dongle — and some mice offer both. If you’re only going to use your mouse with one PC, consider one that connects via 2.4GHz wireless, especially if you’re going to game on the side —  you’ll get a reliable, lag-free connection this way. If you have more than one device to connect to, a Bluetooth connection will let you connect to multiple devices and switch between them — some even let you switch without manually pressing a profile-switch button. 
• Rechargeability: Mice running on AA or AAA batteries are usually cheaper than their rechargeable rivals, and usually last longer — months, or even years. But they’re heavier and less convenient to travel with. 

Finding Discounts on the Best Wireless Mice

Whether you’re shopping for one of the best wireless mice or a model that isn’t on our list above, you may find some savings by checking out our lists of the latest Best Buy promo codes, Corsair coupon codes, Logitech promo codes, Micro Center coupons, Newegg promo codes, Staples coupons and Razer promo codes.

Micron on Monday introduced its CZ120 memory expansion modules that comply with the CXL 2.0 Type 3 specification and feature a PCIe 5.0 x8 interface. The modules are designed to expand DRAM capacity and bandwidth for servers that need more high-performance memory to run workloads that require loads of RAM, including in-memory databases and software-as-a-service. Samples of the modules are now available to interested parties.

The Micron CZ120 memory modules are equipped with 128GB and 256GB of memory, which is in line with what typical RDIMMs offer. The expansion modules come in a E3.S 2T form-factor with a PCIe 5.0 x8 interface and are based on Microchip’s SMC 2000 controller compliant with the CXL 2.0 Type 3 standard as well as Micron’s memory chips made using the company’s 1α (1-alpha) DRAM production node. 

From a performance point of view, Micron’s CZ120 CXL 2.0 memory expansion modules provide bandwidth of up to 36 GB/s (measured by running MLC workload with 2:1 read/write ratio on a single CZ120 memory expansion module) and are not significantly slower than DDR5-4800 RDIMMs with 128GB and 256GB memory onboard that offer a peak bandwidth of 38.4 GB/s.  

Modern servers based on AMD’s 4th Generation EPYC ‘Genoa’ CPU with a 12-channel DDR5-4800 memory subsystem feature memory bandwidth of up to 460.8 GB/s per socket, whereas machines powered by Intel’s 4thGeneration Xeon Scalable processor featuring an 8-channel DDR5-4800 DRAM system can boast with a 307.2 GB/s. While in both cases CPUs get ample of bandwidth, there are workloads that need more DRAM and higher bandwidth and CXL 2.0 memory expansion modules are designed for this very purpose.  

Micron claims that the addition of four 256GB CZ120 memory expansion modules to a machine equipped with 12 64GB DDR5 RDIMMs (768GB) can enable a 24% greater memory read/write bandwidth per CPU than servers using RDIMM memory alone, whereas additional memory capacity will enable server to process up to 96% more database queries per day.

“Micron is advancing the adoption of CXL memory with this CZ120 sampling milestone to key customers,” said Siva Makineni, vice president of the Micron Advanced Memory Systems Group. “We have been developing and testing our CZ120 memory expansion modules utilizing both Intel and AMD platforms capable of supporting the CXL standard. Our product innovation coupled with our collaborative efforts with the CXL ecosystem will enable faster acceptance of this new standard, as we work collectively to meet the ever-growing demands of data centers and their memory-intensive workloads.”

Micron has not disclosed when it plans to ship its CZ120 memory expansion modules commercially and how much will they cost. It is likely that the products will be deployed sometimes in 2024 after interested parties validate and qualify them, though some companies may deploy them sooner, whereas other will likely test them for longer periods, depending on workloads.

With the new college year approaching, it’s time to get everything in order for the new term. You need to register for classes, get your clothes and toiletries and grab all the tech gear you need to succeed in your studies and have fun in your downtime. 

When you’re planning your year, make sure you have each of these seven important gadgets / computers.

Desktop or Laptop

While colleges still have computer labs, it’s pretty much impossible to get through a semester without a system of your own. A laptop is the most convenient choice because you can take it to class with you every day. However, a desktop can give you more processing power for your money.

If you’re in the market for a laptop – and for most people that’s the best choice – check out our list of best college laptops, which includes both lightweight productivity systems such as the Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 8) and highly-portable gaming rigs like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and Acer Nitro 5.

When shopping for a college laptop, look for one with long battery life, lightweight, and a good keyboard for typing those papers and taking notes in class. If you get one with a bright screen, you may also be able to use it outside or next to a window on a sunny day.

Here are some current laptop deals:

What about a desktop PC?

Monitor

A separate screen for your laptop such as a larger desktop monitor can be kept in your room and then connected to your laptop or desktop for a more ergonomic working environment and for less eye-straining entertainment if you perhaps wanted to stream some TV whilst relaxing. 

When looking for the best monitors like the large 32-inch Samsung Odyssey G7 make sure to check what kind of connectivity they possess and then it’s just a choice of size and resolution. There’s also the option of going for a smaller portable screen such as the  Nexigo NG17FGQ that can be of a similar size to your laptop screen but give you the ability for a dual-screen setup. Take a look at some of the best portable monitors available.

Here are some current deals on monitors:

Storage

There will be storage on your computer and most universities will provide you with some sort of cloud storage as part of your course. If not, it’s worth getting a free account at least, something like Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar. If you’re like me, then redundancy is second nature, and if you can have multiple backup storage options then you should. Tech can always fail, get lost, or even be stolen, so don’t chance it. 

The other consideration of storage besides data backup is transport. If you need to copy files from one location to another and you have no network or rubbish wifi, then a small portable external SSD like the Samsung T7 Touch or external HDD is a great option, and don’t forget the humble USB flash drive that you can keep on your keyring like the Kingston DataTraveler Max which is super-portable and always on hand when you need it. We’ve listed some of the best of our favorite external SSDs for your consideration.

Here are some current deals on external storage:

USB hubs

A must-have for any desk setup, a USB hub can help you connect multiple devices to your computer or laptop if you don’t have enough available ports on your device. Devices such as mice, keyboards, headsets, and hard drives all take up a valuable USB slot on your machine, and having more is always better. Luckily we have a list of the best USB Hubs that we’ve tested. 

There are an amazing number of different hubs out there with varying combinations of USB ports, HDMI, Ethernet, Memory card slots, and more. Check what ports your laptop or computer already has and note down what kind of ports your peripherals use and how many you need, then match that info to the type of hub you’re looking for. If you’re running out of USB-3 ports maybe go for something like this Sabrent 60W 10 Port USB 3.0 Hub to give you plenty more ports to plug into.

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Speakers

You’re not going to be working all the time and when you do get some downtime and it doesn’t involve a night out, then maybe you just want to relax with a movie or some music. If you have your own space then a small pair of PC speakers is a great idea for letting you watch and listen to your favorite content. A small pair of budget-oriented speakers such as the Creative Pebble Pro can be picked up for under $60. 

If you’re sharing a room or accommodation then speakers might not be an option. This is where one of the best gaming headsets or a pair of headphones might be the best option. A headset would enable you to chat with your friends and family online or communicate with your team in an online game. Go for something with plenty of connectivity like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1, which can plug into almost any device to cover all your bases.

Here are some current deals:

Game Consoles

A gaming desktop or laptop might not be what you’re after, and non-gaming computers are normally a little cheaper and less burdensome on the wallet. But what if you still want to play some games? Then perhaps a handheld console like a Nintendo Switch or Valve Steam Deck might keep you entertained, or if you’re in the market for something with a little more power, then perhaps opt for Microsoft’s Xbox Series X, or Sony’s PlayStation 5. 

You can also pair one of these consoles with the best gaming monitor for PS5 or Xbox. If money isn’t an object then the 27-inch Sony INZONE M9 has a 4K resolution and VRR, making it one of the best monitors for pairing with the PlayStation 5 console.

Here are some current deals:

Accessories

With all the tech you’ll be taking to college don’t forget that bag of leads and plugs, make sure you have all the correct cables, plugs, and leads for all of your devices. Everything wants charging and powering, think about a power strip with a built-in surge protector, spare HDMI or DisplayPort cables, USB or Lightning charging cables for your phone, etc. 

Here are some current deals:

Enjoy the new school year and good luck in your studies.