When you go shopping for a gaming mouse, you will see two terms advertised broadly – the DPI and Polling Rates. Both of these terms and the features they bring are mainly advertised for gamers. For a normal user, a mouse with the basic DPI would serve them fine, but gaming mice are advertised with a very high rate of DPI. Some manufacturers also offer controls on the mouse to control the DPI. So, it’s natural for you to wonder what Mouse DPI is, and the best DPI for gaming. FPS gamers are the ones who are the most concerned about this topic. Keep reading and we will answer all your questions including why DPI matters for FPS gaming.
What are Mouse DPI and Polling Rates? Mouse DPI Explained
To understand DPI it’s crucial that you understand how a modem mouse functions. If you lift up your mouse, you will see it emit light. When the mouse is down this light bounces off the mouse pad and hits the camera in the mouse enabling the camera to take hundreds of pictures. As you move the mouse these pictures are sent to the computer, which the computer translates in real-time and depicts the movement of the mouse to the cursor.
DPI stands for Dots Per Inch, it’s how the mouse judges the distance. The higher the DPI the quicker the mouse will move from one end of the screen to the other. A high DPI is not necessarily a good thing. In fact, a very high DPI will make it difficult for the player or the user to control the mouse with pinpoint accuracy. Even the smallest movement of the mouse will have the cursor move from one end of the screen to the other.
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A low DPI is better than a very high DPI any day as you have much more control. You will have to move the mouse across a larger physical area to move the cursor from one end to the other. A balance between the two is what you should aim for.
Most of the time, DPI is a personal preference and can vary from one user to the other. For the purpose of gaming, DPI is even more crucial, which we cover in the next section of the post.
Does Mouse DPI Matter in FPS Gaming?
In FPS and Battle Royale games, you are pitted against other players, and pinpoint accuracy is extremely important. It can mean the difference between a kill and getting killed. You would want a DPI setting that allows you to reach another player at the end of the screen, but the cursor does not go out of control and you can still headshot.
When you are using the scope of a sniper in FPS games, you would want a low DPI as a large movement of the mouse will move the scope only slightly, but the same cannot be said when you are off the scope. Most gaming mice these days provide you with quick buttons that allow you to set 3-4 different types of DPI to suit your momentary need.
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DPI is at the hardware side of things, meaning it has to do with your mouse, but Windows operating system also allows you to control the sensitivity of the mouse. With this setting, you can control the movement of the mouse even when using a high DPI mouse.
To access the settings > press the Windows key on the keyboard > type Mouse settings. At this location, you will find a bunch of mouse settings including the Cursor speed.
When talking about the mouse and the cursor speed, another key thing to note is the resolution or size of the monitor. If you are using a high-resolution monitor, a high DPI mouse will make it easier to navigate. A low DPI mouse will mean that you will have to lift the mouse multiple times to perform clicks at various ends of the screen. So, these are the reasons why DPI matters in FPS gaming and in general as well.
What is the Best DPI for Gaming?
If you go over Reddit, there are all kinds of debates about the best DPI for gaming and this is a highly debatable subject as the DPI setting is based on a personal preference. A setting that might suit one user may throw the cursor out of control for the other.
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However, we have gathered some general consensus about the best DPI for gaming.
- Best DPI for FPS Games – for FPS games, the best DPI can range from 400 to 600. But, I know people (a lot of people who go as high as 800 and are quite good.) Incidentally, some popular professionals play at 400 DPI. Shroud, FalleN, and pashaBiceps all relied on 400 DPI at a certain time. If you are curious, they all used similar in-game sensitivity in CS: GO, which ranges from 2.2 to 2.5.
- For MMOs and RPGs, the ideal DPI can be much higher as you need to move across the environment. Anything from 1000 DPI to 1600 DPI is considered good.
While 1600 DPI is more than enough for most games, products in the market offer a lot more, as much as 16,000 DPI Sensor, which is not necessary really. So, that the end of our article, we hope you now know what the Mouse DPI is, the best DPI for gaming, and how much DPI matters in FPS gaming.