High DPI and Low Sensitivity or medium DPI with normal sensitivity?

Hey all, just a question about DPI settings.

Currently my mouse can go up to 5600 DPI, but that's really overkill for me because at normal pointer sensitivity it's really too fast, so I have to lower the sensitivity to get usable.

I find at normal sensitivity and 2000 DPI is usually enough for me.

My question is, should I go wtih a higher DPI and lower sensitivity anyway? does it make the tracking more accurate?
I'm also seeing some detrimental sides to the high DPI/low sensitivity thing, because it seems really slow and tiny mouse movements don't seem to be registering whereas 2000 DPI and normal sensitivity doesn't seem to have this problem.

Anyone have ideas?Thanks.

 

High DPI and lower sensitivity is generally preferable to mid DPI and mid settings; you can get the same real-world sensitivity with either one. For any sensitivity setting, there is a minimum useful DPI to be able to aim accurate to a single pixel, which the vast majority of mice should have no trouble with.

You're actually supposed to keep the Windows sensitivity at the default 6th notch out of the 11 in the cursor speed bar, and adjust DPI and game settings accordingly.

The way Windows works with mouse sensitivity, that 6th/11 notch gives you 1:1 tracking, and using a higher or lower sensitivity basically applies a multiplier to your mouse's "natural" sensitivity. For example, at 3/11 bars, you have a 0.25x multiplier, meaning your cursor only responds once every 4 points of movement. Naturally, 6/11 notch sensitivity with high DPI yields crazy mouse speed, so you'll probably want to use a lower DPI for the Windows desktop. I'm personally comfortable at 1,800 DPI, and I prefer 800 with my large mouse pad.

Frankly, DPI in mice these days is highly overrated; you can calculate the minimum necessary DPI to be able to turn one pixel at a time at a given sensitivity. For example, with a 9-inch 360 (medium-low sensitivity), the minimum useful DPI to be able to aim to an accuracy of one pixel is about 580 DPI. Any less than this, and you'll end up skipping pixels because the mouse doesn't have enough data to send to provide pixel-precise movement at such a sensitivity.

While you may get the exact same sensitivity in inches per 360 degree turn with a high DPI/low sensitivity and low DPI/high sens configuration, the former will be more accurate, because the latter will likely have DPI lower than the minimum necessary for single-pixel precision.

This means that high-sensitivity players benefit more from higher-DPI mice than low-sensitivity players. However, the DPI of most mice these days are still way more than enough for even high-sensitivity players. Take a 3-inch 360 for example; by just about any standards that's pretty high sensitivity. The minimum useful DPI to be able to maintain single-pixel precision is around 1,800. Significantly higher than that of a low-sensitivity player, but still within the scope of just about any gaming-grade mouse these days; even the original 2007 DeathAdder had 1,800 DPI, as does the old-but-good Logitech MX518.

Now let's take it to extremes: a one-inch 360 degree turn. That's pretty insanely high sensitivity; just about uselessly high, actually. A brief flick of the wrist can rotate you around several times. The minimum DPI for such a ridiculous sensitivity is around 5,400, which exceeds the capability of all but the highest-end gaming mice like the Logitech G500 and G700 (5,700 DPI) and the Razer Mamba, Naga, Lachesis and Imperator (5,600 DPI).

So, higher DPI has its uses, although primarily for high-sensitivity gamers, and even low-mid grade gaming mice usually have more DPI than you'll ever need.

tl;dr - the ideal combination is 6/11 Windows mouse cursor speed setting, low DPI on your desktop to your own preference for cursor speed. As for your in-game DPI setting, as long as it exceeds the minimum DPI for your desired sensitivity, you're set, and you can adjust the in-game sensitivity setting to compensate. If you're a medium to low sensitivity gamer, you can use the same relatively low DPI that you use for your desktop for your gaming, as it will still exceed the minimum DPI for maximum precision.

As for polling (or report) rate, that's basically how often the mouse sends data via USB to your computer. Your average mouse does this 125 times per second (125Hz), which yields 8/1000's of a second (8ms) per poll. This means the mouse takes 8ms to respond. Gaming-grade mice are typically capable of 1,000Hz polling, meaning each poll takes only 1ms. Basically, you should always use the highest polling rate your mouse is capable of to minimize input lag. This does have a higher toll on your CPU, but the effect is negligible.

This is an excellent link with some handy tools for calculating your sensitivity in inches (or centimeters) per 360-degree rotation, and your minimum useful DPI for a given sensitivity. The "in-game sensitivity" entry is based on the sensitivity scale for games based on id Tech 3 and its derivatives, including Source. So your sensitivity in Counter-Strike or TF2 or any CoD game will work.

worthless information about your worthless mouse

One last protip: Source engine games (TF2, CS:S, L4D/L4D2) have an option for "raw input" in the mouse settings, which I highly recommend checking. This basically allows the game to read input data directly from your mouse rather than filtering it through Window's settings.

Oh, and whatever you do, make sure mouse acceleration is disabled!

Sorry for the wall of text, but I hope you all find this useful. If not, then that was one hell of a waste of time

 

That was pretty useful thanks.

Problem is my mouse driver (Coolermaster Sentinel Advance) uses Windows sensitivity, it doesn't override it and make a sensitivity of its own.

That means low sensitivity means 3/11 on the Windows bar.

I guess that's why it was missing those tiny mouse movements... 0.25X multiplier might just get rounded to nothing.

So I guess my best course of action is to use a suitable DPI setting with the Windows slider set at 6/11?

EDIT: Actually I see what you mean now.

I was using a single DPI setting for Desktop and Gaming before. I think I'll use 1500DPI for desktop (what I'm comfortable with) and then use low in-game sensitivity and higher DPI in games.

Thanks!

 

^Exactly. Leave your Windows sensitivity at 6/11 and don't change that. Adjust your DPI down to a comfortable level for desktop use, and then you can crank your DPI up in-game and lower the sensitivity, or just lower the sensitivity and use the same DPI for your desktop if it's over that threshold.

And there's nothing wrong with using a single DPI for both Windows and gaming, as long as it's over that minimum DPI to allow single-pixel precision. For example, with my new setup after getting my extra-large mousepad, with Windows sensitivity at 6/11, I've found that 800 DPI is a very comfortable speed for desktop cursor motion. In TF2, for example, I use 1.0 in-game sensitivity, and leave it at 800 DPI. That's about 20 inches of mouse motion for a 360 degree rotation, which is pretty low. The minimum DPI threshold for such a sensitivity is about 260 DPI, which I would very surprised if any mouse these days was incapable of. Leaving it at 800 is fine, in my case, since it's still well above that threshold.

Like I said earlier, DPI requirements get higher at higher sensitivities. My current 800 DPI is more than enough for a 20-inch 360, but if I were to crank my sensitivity way up and use a 3-inch 360, then that 800 DPI would be insufficient because the minimum DPI for that sensitivity is around 1,800. If I tried to use such a low DPI with such a high sensitivity, it would result in "jerky" motion, skipping several pixels at a time.