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Add to SafariWhen comparing Mad Catz RAT 7 vs Steelseries Rival, the Slant community recommends Steelseries Rival for most people. In the question“What is the best gaming mouse?” Steelseries Rival is ranked 9th while Mad Catz RAT 7 is ranked 37th. The most important reason people chose Steelseries Rival is:
The Steelseries Rival gaming mouse has a built in Pixart PAW3310 optical sensor that offers great tracking control.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Reliable; keeps on going through the years
It will still work just as well as the day you bought it.
Pro Incredible flexibility
Many parts of the mouse are adjustable with interchangeable pinkie grips and palm rests to a custom weight system. The mouse is able to literally change its size and weight.
Pro Cordless version available
It also comes in a cordless version, called the RAT 9.
Pro Great tracking
The Steelseries Rival gaming mouse has a built in Pixart PAW3310 optical sensor that offers great tracking control.
Pro Works great on Linux, using the libratbagd software
Pro Satisfying clicks
Steelseries boast of new in house built switches used inside of the Rival. Use reports have claimed that the clicks as "satisfying".
Pro Great accompanying software suite
Steelseries uses a software suite called Engine 3 that is low resource and used to customize their gaming mouse options.
Pro Great value for money
At $59 the Rival gaming mouse has a great balance between build quality and value for money.
Pro Great grip and comfortable
Pro Customizable colors for scroll wheel and palm lights
The Steelseries Rival gaming mouse offers 16.8 million colors with two zone illumination.
Pro Absolutely the best for a gaming mouse claw grip
When You have relatively large hands.
Pro DPI can be doubled with software
The 5000 DPI of the Steelseries Rival can be doubled to 10000 with Steelseries firmware.
Cons
Con Laser (not optical) sensor
Laser sensors are just not that great when compared to optical sensors. Often there is acceleration issues with laser sensors.
Con Expensive for what the internal hardware is
Sadly the components inside of this mouse are pretty cheap, ranging from the switches to the laser sensor. For the price Mad Catz is charging one should expect higher quality components.
Con Forward / back buttons wear easily
The two buttons located on the side of the mouse (sometimes known as the page forward and page back buttons for internet browsers) wear out easily after only a few months of usage. That means that it requires extra force to register a button press, all while receiving no touch (or audible clicking) feedback. Frustrating but the mouse does continue working.
Con Uncomfortable "seam" where your thumb and palm meet
Con Rubber grips get worn out very quickly
Con Rubber grips get slippery with sweaty hands
When using the mouse for long duration's the sweat from the users hands can make the rubber side grips slippery.
Con Cannot turn of lighting without Steelseries proprietary software
The lighting on the device can not be adjusted without the Steelseries software.
Con Labled DPI is incorrect
Steelseries labels the DPI as 6500 for the Rival when in fact it is 5000.
