Gigabyte GM-M8000 Mouse - A GHOST Story
by Gary Key on June 15, 2009 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
We had a very interesting package show up at the front door a couple of weeks ago. No, it was not our new supply order from ShamWoW or even that P55/Lynnfield box we recently reviewed. It was a mouse designed and built by a motherboard company. Specifically, it was from Gigabyte and included a keyboard we will discuss later. Of course, there were a couple of motherboards and video cards in the box but our attention was naturally drawn to the new shiny trinket in the tricked out package.
Normally a mouse would not elicit such excitement but since I change mice about as often the US elects a Democratic president one could easily forgive me for being a bit too eager to give this product a through thrashing. Honestly, I had no idea that Gigabyte even offered mice but after checking out their PC peripheral page, I was impressed with the range of products offered. In fact, Gigabyte offers a total of nine mice ranging from an entry level wireless optical mouse to several gaming mice including our GM-M8000 sample.
The GM-M8000 is part of Gigabyte’s new GHOST gaming series of products. This particular mouse features the AVAGO 6090 Laser sensor featuring adjustable sensitivity from 400 dpi to 4000 dpi, Gigabyte’s GHOST Engine featuring 8KB of onboard memory, GHOST software suite, 16-bit wide data path, five independently programmable buttons, four level on-the-fly DPI adjustment, USB report rate tuning, and an adjustable weight system with 38 grams of metal weights.
It all sounds impressive; the key is if this mouse actually works as advertised. So, let’s find out if this GHOST is the real thing or just another Casper wannabe.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
44 Comments
View All Comments
kzage - Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - link
Good review, I enjoyed it.Socaddict - Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - link
Considering that the G5 is at least three years old, with a two year old revision. I know that they are at similar price points, but in terms of feature set and the like, isn't the G9 a more appllicable comparison, at least in terms of age and expectations.Over here in the UK, theres little difference in pricing between the gigabyte, G5 and G9,
On the subject of being able to install software, then uninstall, the G9 also offers that feature, as you can save profiles, macros, etc to the mouse, and carry only that with you. I've carried my G9 settings across two XP installs, and now on a Windows 7 RC1 install, and its working perfectly, with all the macros I had saved.
XtAzY - Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - link
Can you guys review the Roccat Kone mouse? It looks pretty cool compare to this one and has many good reviews in the European countries.XtAzY - Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - link
Oops forgot the link to the site:http://www.roccat.org">http://www.roccat.org
nubie - Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - link
Interesting. But . . .For $50 you can get a dual-core 45nm 2MB level 2 cache Intel processor. This mouse would need to feed me unlimited cheetos, pizza and root beer to make up the value-for-money.
I have a problem with mouse drivers. I think they are useless. Then again I think any "driver" that needs a widget running after you have set whatever settings it needs (and then never touch the thing again, ever) is a stupid proposition.
Why can't the functionality be embedded in a simple driver that operates within the OS (or in hardware on the Mouse itself). Run the program, set the mouse, delete the program.
Move it to a MAC or Linux or Playstation 3 and it will still keep the settings, no "drivers" necessary.
I am very function over form, it should just work without the crappy blech. I mostly make do with $3 Logitech optical mice, but I don't game or anything else (CG/Photo manip./CAD) 99% of the time. You plug it in, it moves the cursor, scrolls the webpage, selects or brings up a context menu, rinse repeat.
jordanclock - Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - link
The people that spend $50 on a mouse don't spend $50 on a processor (unless they spend four times as much on cooling to overclock it to extreme levels), so I don't think that is necessarily an accurate comparison. I agree with your point about these "mouse apps" that are necessary to get full use of all the features. I am almost positive I read a review of a mouse that does exactly what you describe: The widget program is only run to change the settings of the mouse, then they're saved to the mouse. I can't remember what mouse it was for the life of me, but I do remember wanting to buy it for that reason.overzealot - Monday, June 15, 2009 - link
"Gigabyte also allows dpi on-the-fly adjustments of 800, 1600, 3200, and 4000 compared to 400, 800, and 2000 on the G5."I think this is a bit out of place, considering you can have 1 to 5 sensitivity settings in the range from 400 - 2000 on the G5 (not indicated in article), and similarly programmable settings on the GHOST (as indicated later in the article).
jordanclock - Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - link
But the GHOST has two settings that are higher than the G5 has available. It is completely relevant. Is it particularly useful? That hasn't been objectively determined because we don't know at what DPI value that other limitations become bigger factors.Ecmaster76 - Monday, June 15, 2009 - link
Since everything is slow, it might be a good time to review sound cards, periphreals, etc. Those things are important too.BTW The GHOST logo reminds me of Spawn *a lot*.
JohnMD1022 - Monday, June 15, 2009 - link
1. Do you think it will show up in Best Buy?2. Ive had a couple of wireless mice. They were OK until they failed, or lost synch, whichever came first.
3. What's wrong with wired? My wife hated the CAT 5 cable across the floor, and had to have wireless. Her wired connection never went down.
4. I'm not a gamer, so all the extra buttons are a PITA. I use a Logitech LX3 (and an IBM Model M keyboard). I've used Logitech mice for over 20 years. Give me a fast laser mouse with no extras and maybe I'll buy one.