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The GIGABYTE FORCE M63 Raptor is a medium size mouse. If you unsure what the average hand size is, you can check out the following link (TheAverageBody) for more information. Since this mouse is relatively small, you have couple of options on how to hold it. You can either use it with your fingertips or with a claw grip. The whole mouse is supported by Teflon feet which make it slide on multiple surfaces.
Dimensions of the GIGABYTE FORCE M63 Raptor are 4.6 inches by 2.8 inches which, as you can see is rather small. This mouse is oriented towards right handed users however, if you are left handed you can still take advantage of all of features with some customization from the software. On the top and the sides of the mouse I found some rubber pads that help with the the grip of the mouse. If your hands get sweaty from a long time use these rubber grip pads will help. With the FORCE M63 you have ability to set 5 different profiles and with each profiles you can set up to four DPI settings.
The Default DPI adjustment buttons are next to the scroll wheel. What I found odd is that when you change the accent color of the mouse, the scroll wheel doesn’t change color. It continuously glows a blue color. As I have mentioned earlier, you can adjust the weight of the mouse with supplemented weight set. The weights go into in to a popup compartment on the bottom of the mouse. Total amount of weight could be added is 21.3 grams bringing total maximum weight to about 107 grams.
Taking apart the GIGABYTE FORCE M63 was a little tricky. There are a few screws are hidden underneath the Teflon tape. The left and right click buttons are by Omron D2FC-F-7N(10m). Omron 10m switches are a mid grade switches which designed to provide a long lasting performance. However, they are a bit louder when comparing them to the side buttons. The small square buttons are very quiet but they are not designed for use often.
The optical sensor in this mouse is an ADNS a3090. Avago a3090 is a High Performance Optical Sensor that provided superb tracking. This particular sensor is capable of sensing high speed mouse movements (up to 60 inches per second and acceleration up to 20g) while providing precision and smoothness. Lift-off distance with the default firmware stops tracking after two CDs height (about 2.4 mm) The mouse has two PCB boards. These two boards are connected by a ribbon cable that locks in place.
The top PCB board contains the 8-bit micro controller by SONIX SN8F2288. This particular micro controller has low power consumption and a 12K-word Flash ROM. All of the settings are stored on this micro controller so you can take your mouse and use it on any computer and still retain your settings. Top side buttons are by TTC Series 159. TTC switches are very similar in design to Omron switches however they vary in quality. TTC switches will still provide good performance however from the price perspective and quality they are not to par with Omron.
DPI switches are a little bit softer and quieter to press than side buttons. The scroll wheel encoder is smooth with a stiffer micro switch compared to the main Omron left and right switches. Overall assembly on the PCB board is very neat with a lot of specific marking regarding the placement of particular buttons.
The GIGABYTE FORCE M63 Raptor connects via a USB 2.0 cable. Cable is braided but not stiff and its very much manageable and is about 1.8 meters or 5.9 feet long. It is also worth to mention that the USB 2.0 connector is gold plated for better conductivity. The only accessory that comes with this mouse is the set of weights. These weights comes in a little circular container for easy transport.
