Gigabyte M6980 Review

Gigabyte M6980 Review

Manufacturer: Gigabyte
UK Price (as reviewed): £28.99 (inc VAT)
US Price (as reviewed): $39.99 (ex tax)

There’s possibly no device as personal as a mouse when it comes to PCs. Most people can agree on which graphics card or CPU is the best, but the debate over which mouse is best for whatever task you’re performing is never ending. This means that new mice are released every month, and the M6980 is Gigabyte’s latest effort. There’s no mention of the Aivia gaming brand that Gigabyte recently launched, but that's possibly a bonus.

Despite its reasonable price, the M6980's scroll wheel rocks as well as rolling and clicking, so you can scroll horizontally or just have another couple of buttons for secondary weapons or frequently used actions.

Behind the chunky, tactile wheel is a DPI button to switch between three sensitivity settings, and behind that is the Ghost button. Pressing this button cycles between the three pulsing backlights, showing which of the three profiles (customised via the Ghost software) is currently in use.


The Ghost software continues to be a strength of Gigabyte peripherals, as it’s attractive, intuitive and powerful. You can easily assign button functions, program highly complex macros (complete with mouse commands and definable pauses), adjust the sensitivity of the laser sensor and change the scrolling speed of the wheel - the maximum sensitivity of 2,000dpi will be fine for all but the twitchiest of gamers. You can then save your settings and profiles to the 8MB of on-board memory.

With mice, function is nothing without form, and the M6890 delivers reasonably well on that front. The body of the mouse is moulded and tilted to be very comfortable in the right hand (lefties should look at the left-handed Razer DeathAdder), and there are scoops carved from both sides to allow your hand to wrap around it.

The thumb scoop is covered with a large patch of ribbed rubber for grip, while the ridge of the mouse is covered in a velvety coating to make it feel more tactile in the hand. However, the shiny plastic of the rest of the body feels cheap, even if this isn’t particularly noticeable during use. The M6980 doesn’t support your little finger, but then mice that do this cost double the price.


The underside of the M6980 doesn’t have any Millennium Falcon smuggling compartments for weights, nor switches to enable weird functions. There are four fairly large pads that enable the mouse to glide smoothly across surfaces, and it weighs a reasonable 106g. However, the 1.8m USB cable isn’t braided, so it could snag on desk edges. Meanwhile, the USB connector is gold-plated for extra bling.

Conclusion

Our time with the Gigabyte M6980 was mainly positive – the basics of a good gaming mouse are all present, including powerful and easy-to-use macro creation, sensitivity adjustment and a comfortable shape. The non-braided cable might put off some people, as might the lack of little finger support, the maximum sensitivity of 2,000dpi and the relatively low number of buttons.

However, these compromises are easy to forgive on a sub-£30 mouse. The M6980 is a solid choice for gamers on a tight budget, and has a few tricks over mice such as the Razer DeathAdder too.

• Design
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• -
• -
• 8/10

• Features
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• -
• -
• 8/10

• Value
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• -
• 9/10

• Overall
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• -
• -
• 8/10

Score Guide

Specifications

• Connection Wired (not braided)
  
• Material Plastic, rubber
  
• Buttons 5, scroll wheel (with rocking)
  
• Sensitivity 100-2,000dpi (three settings)
  
• Extras 8KB on-board memory, macro function