I don't think much about my mousepad, and you probably don't either. Grab something cheap off of Amazon like the Corsair MM350, or maybe track down some unique art from a designer on Redbubble, and you're off to the races. But your mousepad can significantly change how it feels to play games on your PC.

This is something highly competitive or pro players can immediately tell you, and it's an aspect of PC gaming that SteelSeries wants to draw more attention to with its new QcK performance series. Taking inspiration from niche brands like Artisan and newcomers like Vaxee, the QcK Performance series is a range of mousepads with three different surfaces, all woven with different materials, to provide a unique feel depending on your preferences. And as much as I wrote off the idea that a surface would make much of a difference, I was wrong.

The QcK Performance range offers three different surfaces

But one stands out more than the others

SteelSeries has three different surfaces in the QcK Performance series -- Speed, Balance, and Control. That tells you everything you need to know, but there's nuance to each surface. The Speed and Balance surfaces each have a tight weave for minimal friction, but Speed uses a nylon blend while Balance uses polyester. The Control pad uses polyester, as well, but with a looser weave and higher density. The scale makes sense, but it's a little misleading if you haven't actually felt each of the pads for yourself.

The Speed and Balance pads are fairly close to each other in how they feel, while the Control pad is on a completely different planet. It feels almost gritty, which isn't a bad thing. Even after weeks of use, it didn't irritate my wrists or become uncomfortable. You can very clearly feel the friction under your mouse, though. I'd be able to pick out the Control pad in a blind shootout, no problem. As for the Speed and Balance versions? That'd be tough.

Despite a difference in surfaces, all three of them are the same 3.5mm thick. That's a touch thinner than the QcK Heavy, which is currently the second most popular mousepad according to Prosettings.net. Naturally, the Balance option is the best of the bunch for the largest group of people, but that's a little boring. To really get the most out of this range, I'd actually recommend you look at either the Speed or Control options because they provide a wildly different experience.

Your mousepad surface makes a difference

And it's not a placebo

Over the course of a couple of weeks, I swapped the different mousepads out on my desk every few days, trying to get a sense of the differences between them. But for day-to-day use, not much changed. Sure, the surfaces feel wildly different, but an hour or two after swapping one version out for another, I adjusted to the feel and never gave it a second thought. That's where the QcK Performance series gets tricky. There are big differences in feel, but the practical difference of using each surface in games is more subtle.

Below, you can see some runs I did in Aimlabs using Gridshot. This test is somewhat of a benchmark between having large targets, a static grid that they can spawn on, and a single-shot weapon. Instead of running the tests back-to-back, I did them over the course of a week, using two rounds to warm up each time before I put my results down. And the results are certainly interesting.

My accuracy is in lockstep for the Balance and Control mousepads, but there was quite a big drop with the Speed pad. Theoretically, all of these numbers should be very close together, so a 5% drop in accuracy is nothing to sneeze at. They mirror my experience of actually using the mousepads, too. With the Speed pad, I found myself consistently overshooting targets, especially when the targets popped up on opposing corners of the grid. I felt the least in control with the Speed pad, naturally, which I quickly learned is something I value when playing frantic shooters.

This isn't to say the Control pad is the best and Speed is the worst. That's not how this range works. For me, my mouse, my DPI settings, and how I prefer to play, I did my best with the Control pad. The mousepad is just one part of a larger ecosystem, and it can recontextualize how your mouse feels and how confident you are when swiping across the screen. And that careful interplay is the one area where the QcK Performance range runs into some issues.

Blind personalization

You can't easily find the right one for you

As mentioned, SteelSeries offers three different surfaces, each in two different sizes. You have Large, which measures 490 x 420 x 3.5mm, and you have Extra Large, which measures 900 x 400 x 3.5mm. Basically, Large is a mousepad, while Extra Large is a deskmat. Prices are decent for a premium surface, with SteelSeries asking $40 for the Large and $50 for the Extra Large. My issue is that there isn't an easy way to try all three, and that's a critical part of investing in this range.

SteelSeries has a quiz on its website to guide you in the right direction, but it's only three questions long, and there are three multiple-choice answers for each question that pretty clearly signpost what surface they represent. And, to top it off, you have to enter your email for SteelSeries marketing messages to get your results. You really need to try all three to see which one is best for you, and I'm shocked SteelSeries doesn't have some sort of inexpensive sample kit for interested customers to order.

Easy access to enthusiast-grade gear

SteelSeries didn't revolutionize mousepads with this range, but it took some of the guesswork out of looking at enthusiast-grade mousepads while delivering similar quality. You'll be able to find and buy these in a local Best Buy or Micro Center, which isn't true for niche brands like Vaxee. I'd just spend some good time feeling each surface in person if you can.