This begs the question: If your PC is so great, why would you settle on your mouse? Stop using that $20 Microsoft piece of junk and graduate to the big leagues. There's a whole world out there of powerful peripherals that can to take your game from zero to hero.

We've rounded up the five best mice on the planet (and four awesome alternatives), so that you'll never have to research words like "cursor acceleration," "lift distance" or what CPI means...unless, of course, you're into that kind of stuff.

When it comes to gaming mice, there's no one single "standard" rat that everyone uses. There are too many grip styles and aesthetic preferences out there to elect one must-own product.

But, if every PC gamer on the planet had to elect a single mouse based on a democratic vote, the gaming world would elect the SteelSeries Sensei as the all-around winner. It's light, but not so light that it lifts up when you move it. MMO players will scoff, but with just four macro and a single CPI shift button, the Sensei has just enough customization options to feel versatile without covering every square inch in extraneous functions. It's cheap, too. The wired version will only run you $80 on Amazon. If you're looking for a wireless alternative and can afford an extra $70, check out the SteelSeries Sensei Wireless.

The Logitech G502 is the Intel Core i7 of gaming mice. It's powerful...maybe a little too powerful. Case in point: its DPI range that goes from 100 to 12,000.

While this level of sensitivity eres on the side of unwieldy, some first-person shooter fanatics generally like a higher CPI to do 180-degree rotations without moving their mouse the length of the mouse pad. If you're not one of them, you'll be sure to like the additional weight options thanks to 3.6g washers and smart customization software.

Mice are judged on the same set of criteria - feature set, design, performance and last, but far from least, is comfort.

Designing the most ergonomical peripheral can be a trial of patience, so when one arrives on our desks that actually heals our carpal tunnel rather than add to it, we stop to take notice. If you have more hand problems than you have hard drive space, consider picking up the Roccat Kone [+].

Sporting an easy-shift button and up to 6,000 DPI, not only will your squad mates thank you but your hands will too. Don't think the Kone[+] is combat-ready? Check out the Roccat Kone Pure Military, which offers a customizable LED logo and astoundingly low price point of $69 (£59, about AU$74).

Don't freak out - Yes, this is a gaming mouse. Correction: This is a GREAT gaming mouse.

If you lined up every typical gaming mouse on the shelf - everything from Logitech, SteelSeries, Razer and Corsair - they'd look, more or less, exactly the same. Sure, the palm arches would change as would the amount of macro buttons, but I guarantee that unibody design would be consistent throughout every single one of them.

The R.A.T. line of mice from Mad Catz are the black sheep of the bunch. They're not made of a single piece of plastic, but rather several pieces held together by nuts and bolts that allow you to customize everything from the length of the palm rest to height of the arch.The latest mouse from MC is the $79 (about £49, AU$90) featherweight R.A.T. TE - a shining example of what great gaming mice can look like with a bit of "outside of the box" engineering.