Which dpi for gaming?

The higher the number, the more precise the sensor is because it can detect higher dots per inch. Naturally, it would mean that the highest DPI is the best for gaming, but that would not be right.

There are many aspects to factor in when deciding the DPI of your mouse, such as its weight, size, size of your hand, mousepad, grip style, in-game sensitivity, and more. At the end of the day, you should select the sensitivity that feels the most natural to you and build your muscle memory by sticking to it.

Mouse technology has come a long way in the past few decades. The standard used to be mechanical mice which changed to optical, and mice with laser sensors are the norm today.

Manufacturers today advertise their mice by showing off how advanced their sensors are, as they can reach up to 30,000 DPI, which is incredible but pointless as no gamer is using it.

Even though it comes down to personal preference, a higher DPI is better for gaming than a low DPI for several reasons. A higher DPI reduces your mouse's input lag and makes it more precise.

After all, even if the benefits are small, in competitive games, every millimeter matters.

First, you need to find your preferred sensitivity, which includes the combination of your mouse DPI and in-game sensitivity, called EDPI (Effective Dots Per Inch). The EDPI is calculated by multiplying your DPI and in-game sensitivity.

For example, if your DPI is 1000 and your in-game sensitivity is set to 2, your EDPI is 1000x2=2000.

Hence, having your mouse DPI set to high but your in-game sensitivity to low and ultimately having the same EDPI will benefit you. Your mouse's sensitivity will still feel the same while reducing input lag and making it more accurate.

Continuing with the previous example, setting the DPI to 2000 and in-game sensitivity to 1 will keep the EDPI the same, with some added speed.

Secondly, the polling rate of your mouse is another factor that needs to be considered when setting up your device. Polling rate is the frequency at which your mouse reports its position to the computer, and the higher it is set, the faster your mouse will respond to your movements.

Most mice have a polling rate of 500 to 1000 Hz. If it is set to 500 Hz, the total delay in the input will be 2ms, which will be halved if the same is set to 1000 Hz.

Having it set to the highest setting is recommended. Some gaming mice have a polling rate of as high as 8000 Hz, minimizing the total delay to 0.125 ms.

Note: This article reflects the writer's subjective opinions.

So, you might be wondering how important your DPI is in the grand scheme of things.

Worry not. In this article, we will:

Let’s dive in!

DPI stands for Dots Per Inch.

It is actually a misnomer, but more on that later. Still, even a bit ill-fitting, the name says it all. Your mouse DPI measures how many pixels (“dots”) you can move the cursor on the screen per one inch of your hand movement.

In other words, it’s a measure of the relation between how far your cursor moves on the screen and how far the mouse moves on the surface.

Here’s an example.

So, let’s say your DPI is 800. That means that if you move your mouse one inch, your mouse cursor will move for 800 pixels on your screen.

Or let’s take higher DPI levels, like 1600. Again, you move your hand one inch — but now your mouse cursor will move 1600 screen pixels! Even though your hand movement stayed the same, your mouse moved further on-screen.

What’s the main point of this high vs low DPI comparison?

It’s all about mouse sensitivity.

You’ve probably noticed how manufacturers have been trying to one-up each other when it comes to gaming mouse DPI. A lot of the marketing strategy seems to rely on impressive numbers, surpassing even 20 000!

But, does bigger equal better in this case?

Here’s a secret:

It doesn’t. As you might’ve guessed, it's all just part of a marketing ploy designed to dazzle you with big numbers.

You need to find the best mouse sensitivity for maximum utility. So, nothing too low, and nothing absurdly high either.

Luckily for you, we did the research.

This is a loaded question.

That’s why we’re going to suggest some starting points. They will lead you to your own grand discovery of what’s the best DPI for gaming.

First things first:

Sensitivity does not equal accuracy!

Let’s say you try to play your usual CS:GO round but with a much higher mouse sensitivity than the one you’re used to. You will just 360-no-scope yourself out of the screen like a confused helicopter. It will feel like you’re trying to aim with a slippery bar of soap. Not pleasant!

That’s because mouse DPI for gaming is only one part of the picture. Your experience also depends on:

Let’s talk a bit about each of these.

Windows and in-game sensitivity also factor in since they serve as multipliers. We will talk more at length about them in the next section.

For now, let’s just take a quick look.

Always keep your pointer precision or mouse acceleration unchecked since it can seriously throw off your gaming DPI.

In-game sensitivity settings values are different for each game. So, if you tried to use the same mouse settings for gaming in Overwatch in, let’s say, Apex — you wouldn’t get the same sensitivity!

That also means that the best DPI for Apex Legends won’t be the best when used in any other game. Luckily, there are many calculator tools online that deal with this problem and convert your settings from one game to another.

Let’s say you upgrade from a 22” 1080p monitor to a 27” 1440p one. It will probably affect your mouse sensitivity, and you will need to up it to go with the larger screen. With a bigger screen and your same old DPI levels, it will feel like you need to move your hand significantly more to traverse across the screen with your pointer. And that feeling will only intensify with ultra-wide curved monitors or dual monitors.

To simplify: more pixels = higher sensitivity needed.

Everyone has their distinct playstyle and movements. Some people love higher DPI settings because they like to do everything with a slight wrist flick (beware of Carpal tunnel syndrome, though). Others love to play with lower DPI levels on an oversized gaming mat, with more arm and shoulder movement.

But, that’s not all!

It also depends on the muscle memory you developed for the game. If you change up your long-time mouse settings for gaming, most automatic movements will not work anymore. That’s why it’s best you quickly find out what works for you and stick with it.

It makes sense that what counts as good DPI for FPS might not work for RTS, doesn’t it? Take the following suggestions with a grain of salt. What works for some people won’t necessarily work for you.

In general, whenever someone talks about the best DPI for gaming, treat it with a healthy dose of skepticism.

For shooting precision in FPS, the recommended DPI for gaming is in the lower scope of 400-800. There isn’t a widely accepted optimal range for MOBA games, but this could also be your sweet spot for more control in your clicks.

It’s a different story for MMOs and RPGs since you will depend more on a broader range of movement on maps than precision. For those games, the best DPI is in the higher range of 1000-1600. So, nothing too crazy. The same setting goes maybe even more so for RTS games, where you will need to strategically overlook everything going on.

You might’ve noticed that we haven’t mentioned insanely high DPI settings, not even once. And that’s because you don’t really need them!

Of course, there are always people on Reddit talking about their bizarre gaming setups with 10000+ DPI, which they claim is the best DPI for League of Legends. But you don’t need a lot to achieve the most.

There is a bundle of terms that are often used alongside DPI, sometimes even interchangeably. And we’ve already mentioned that the term DPI is technically a misnomer.

Time to clarify:

CPI stands for Counts Per Inch. The “Counts” are the base units of mouse sensors. So, if you have a 1000 CPI mouse, that means that it registers 1000 counts when you move it one inch. The higher the CPI, the more sensitive the mouse is.

So, what’s the deal with DPI then?

DPI actually stands for printer dots per inch, which refers to the output resolution of printers. The name just kind of got stuck for mice.

CPI and DPI are the same thing, basically. It’s just that CPI is technically the more fitting term for measuring mouse sensitivity, but DPI is the popular one.

Fun fact:

There’s even another cuter term that’s used - mickeys per second.

You might be wondering why we’re talking about sensitivity — again. Remember how we mentioned native and in-game sensitivity earlier? Together with DPI (or rather, CPI), they all act as sensitivity multipliers.

So, if you want to set the best mouse sensitivity, you will need to pay attention to Windows and in-game settings.

Let’s take a closer look.

When you check your Windows mouse sensitivity settings, you will see a slider with 11 notches - all different sensitivity multipliers

You need to set the multiplier to the sixth notch. Any other mouse settings for gaming may result in pixel skipping.

So, remember: 6/11 is the magic number!

What about in-game sensitivity?

It differs from game to game.

Many players like to play with higher DPI levels that they “water down” with in-game sensitivity turned down. The only problem is that if you want to play with a really high DPI, the in-game options probably won’t be low enough.

EDPI stands for Effective Dots Per Inch. Whenever you’re messing around with your in-game sensitivity, you are effectively changing your EDPI.

That’s because your EDPI is your “plain” gaming DPI multiplied with in-game sensitivity.

So, it’s something like this:

The result is your true mouse DPI for gaming, hence why it’s called “effective”. Again, your EDPI value depends on the game you play.

Alright, that all makes sense but what is my mouse DPI right now?

We’ll help you find out.

Let’s start with an easy one — your mouse specs.

You can look on your box (if you still keep it) or simply look up the model online. Your mouse DPI range (or the highest point) should be there.

Another way to do it is with mouse drivers.

Navigate your way through the manufacturer’s website and look for the appropriate driver software for your model. When you install it, find your pointer settings. From there on, finding your DPI settings should be easy. The cool thing is you can customize what each of your fancy sensitivity level buttons does.

Finally, if all else fails, you can use the ol’ reliable online DPI analyzer to determine your current DPI levels.

Here’s the process, step by step:

For this to work correctly, have your native pointer precision unchecked and keep that 6/11 sensitivity setting.

In the end, we can say that gaming DPI as a concept is a bit overhyped. Sure, it’s important, but it isn’t a matter of life and death like some mouse manufacturers may lead you to believe.

In truth:

Aim for somewhere around 1600 DPI. The old wisdom was that lower DPI = better, more control, but this isn't the case, gamers are just used to the DPI they started with. A modern mouse performs better at a slightly higher DPI, 1600 DPI will have lower input latency and fewer pixel skips compared to 800 DPI.

DPI stands for dots per inch or in gaming terms, pixels per inch. DPI determines how far a cursor moves per inch of mouse movement.

400 DPI = 1 inch mouse movement, moves the cursor 400 pixels.

The lower the DPI, the less sensitive your mouse.

Aim for somewhere around 1600 DPI. The old wisdom was that lower DPI = better, more control, but this isn’t the case, gamers are just used to the DPI they started with.

A modern mouse performs better at a slightly higher DPI, 1600 DPI will have lower input latency and fewer pixel skips compared to 800 DPI.

You do want to avoid playing at too high of a DPI, anything past 12000 is likely excessive, but more importantly, some sensors at this DPI accelerate and emulate the dots per inch, causing inconsistencies, it’s not a true raw DPI.

If this feels too fast for you in your OS or in game, adjust sensitivity to accommodate and fine tune your effective DPI.

In addition to DPI, there are sensitivity settings that act as a multiplier to your mouses’ DPI. The first, is Windows native mouse sensitivity setting, this setting should always be set to the 6th notch.

Any higher than 6/11 and you run the risk of skipping pixels on your mouse movements

If 6/11 in Windows is too fast for you to use, you can turn this down, but be sure your games have raw input functionality. Most games now do have a raw input setting that ignores the Windows sensitivity setting.

Also make sure Enhance pointer precision is off, this introduces prediction and acceleration from Windows.

Every game has their own sensitivity setting as well, and their scales are often quite different. A mouse sensitivity calculator is a great way to translate settings from one game you’re familiar with to another.

This is really your true sensitivity. This combines your DPI setting in conjunction with your in-game mouse sensitivity. You can boil down eDPI has a multiplication of these two numbers. You can have a really low DPI but a really high in-game sensitivity to combine for an average eDPI.

Because of how sensitivity works, eDPI is a per game comparable metric, the universal comparison metric is how much distance it takes to make a full 360 in an FPS, measure in Centimetres or Inches.

You’ll see that most pros have a DPI between 400-800 where all gaming mice are going to track perfectly.

All gaming mice have two standard ways to change their DPI. Either through software like Logitech G Hub or Synapse or through a dedicated DPI button with pre-determined steps.

Take a look at our mouse reviews to see how a specific mouse changes DPI.

Polling rates in gaming mice refer to how often a mouse reports back to the computer its tracking. For example, 1000 Hz means that the mouse is reporting 1000 times every second.

You basically want to set this to the highest polling rate the mouse can go with one caveat, if you want to save battery life setting a lower polling rate will give you that.