Discorz wrote: ↑29 Mar 2021, 06:37
Is the difference
visually noticeable between 1000 and 2000+Hz polling rate on 240Hz monitor? Is it smoother?
I know I can't tell the difference down to 500Hz, 250 starts to get slightly choppy and 125 in very noticeable.
It depends on the frame rate of your game, the refresh rate you've configured, how fast-GtG your monitor is, which sync/display technology you use (VSYNC ON, VSYNC OFF, G-SYNC, ULMB/DyAc/strobing).
But yes, with some combinations of settings, 500Hz-vs-1000Hz-vs-2000Hz becomes visible to me.
Even 2000Hz vs 8000Hz is visible at 240Hz, albiet only marginally (1000Hz-vs-2000Hz is the biggest difference), but only if you're not gimping your mouse to 400dpi.
If you're playing low frame rate VSYNC OFF, the difference is not generally noticeable.
General rules of thumb that lifts the blurfog/stutterfog hiding low-poll mouse microstutters:
- Displays at higher refresh rates (e.g. 360Hz-vs-240Hz-vs-144Hz)
- Enabling tech that smooth stutter (e.g. enable VRR or VSYNC ON framerate=Hz)
- Enabling tech that reduce blur (e.g. ULMB, DyAc, etc)
- Higher DPI setting, low in-game sensitivity (Mouse settings, 1600dpi instead of 400dpi)
If you're a 400dpi or 800dpi mouse user you won't notice as much. But if you use 1600dpi or 3200dpi, then mouse 500Hz vs 1000Hz becomes much more visible. Many gamers who use Razer 8KHz Vipers now like the look-feel of 1600dpi or 3200dpi in certain newer-engine games that supports high-DPI very well. High dpi + low in-game sens = really plays better at higher poll rate. Many gamers report high-DPI feels fine in games like Valorant, unlike say CS:GO. It depends on the game engine if subpixel dpi is properly preserved (e.g. moving 1dpi = turning visibly subpixel) in the game engine's processing. Configuring 400dpi means a slow 1/8" mouse movement over one second can yield only 50 positions (50 frames per second). L
Low dpi (400dpi) can sometimes sabotage frame rate of slow mouseturns in your game engine, into a steppy-steppy stutter (e.g. scanning with your scope). That's why lots of gamers see improvements of "high DPI + low sens" during scope scanning (sometimes sensitivity is separately adjustable for scope scanning than for mouseturns). When we're dealing with 360Hz monitors, high DPI keeps mouse slowturns very TestUFO-smooth rather than grainy (steppy-steppy effect).
One problem is many game engines feel odd (bad smoothing effects) during high-DPI-low-sens operations, so YMMV. However, more and more esports are beginning to standardize on 1600dpi+ (At least for newer games) rather than the usual 800dpi standard. This is where 500Hz-vs-1000Hz-vs-2000Hz becomes even more important.
That said, 1000Hz-vs-2000Hz mouse poll on a 360Hz monitor is more noticeable than 500Hz-vs-1000Hz mouse poll on a 144Hz monitor.
I usually keep my mouse at 8000 Hz all the time, except configure Razer to automatically lower DPI in games that choke at 8000Hz (some games work better at 2000 Hz or 4000 Hz). Razer Synapse utility can automatically change DPI.
Remember, to preserve your muscle memory during poll rate changes (Windows cursor moving exactly the same speed at 500Hz, 1000Hz, 2000Hz, 4000Hz, 8000Hz), you must configure:
When you do this, changing poll rate of your Razer 8KHz doesn't change mouse pointer speed in Windows. (Only changing DPI does). To preserve your muscle memory in all apps you can divide sensitivity every time you double DPI. This will help preserve your mouseturn speed (1600dpi mouseturns at same velocity as 400dpi or 800dpi), provided the game engine is capable of proper subpixel mouse dpi mathematics. (subpixel turns just look like motion antialasing). Some older engines (e.g. CS:GO) seems to have some potential issues with ultra-high-DPI operation, but is not an issue in others.
The winning test is that a good aimtrainer should feels the same at 3200dpi at 1/8 sensitivity feels identical to 400dpi at full sensitivity. (Or whatever sensitivity setting you use, divide it by exactly 2 every time you double DPI). This is the hallmark of a good mouse + good drivers + good software. No odd smoothing/interpolation if done well (remember: games can add smoothing/coarsenesses by accidental math rounding effects, even if drivers don't do smoothing). The bonus is that your mouse slowturns feels TestUFO-smooth TestUFO-precise, rather than grainy steppy-steppy feeling. So high DPI low sens in a good subpixel-dpi-precise game engine means you can have your cake (precise fast flicks) and eat it too (precise slow scans).
Obviously, your mileage may vary -- 800dpi still feels good in CS:GO for many esports and may be having some math rounding errors at high-DPI-ultralow-sens operation. Very old engines (source engine) were designed for 1000 Hz mice that were only available up to 1600dpi or barely beyond.
Now with mice supporting 8000 Hz and 20000dpi, it is beyond the mathematics precisions of some game engines, probably even including CS:GO which allegedly/reportedly doesn't feel good at 6400dpi. But some newer game engines do subpixel dpi just fine.
In proper newer modern game engine, moving 1/8" can already properly smoothly do 360 frames per second of 0.1 pixel movements (antialaised subpixel movements), meaning you generated 360 unique frames for a slow 36 pixels/sec scope scanning movement! Valorant can do that today, for your ultraslow precise scope scanning from a sniper position. edpi "precision" is not necessarily an integer -- it's floating point subpixel -- in some newer games, unlike older games.
The ancient 800dpi standard ideally should slowly become obsolete in game engines of the future, with proper
subpixel edpi processing mathematics. More games need to have 800dpi and 6400dpi(1/8sensitivity) feeling identical speed & identical feel for fast flick movements, while giving untold benefits for slow movements. This is also mandated in the proposed
High Definition Mouse Extensions API specification that I'm currently shopping around to mouse manufacturers.
Yes, yes, 400dpi or 800dpi should still be a choice (some esports athletes like the steppy-steppy slow movements to filter out handshake), but we should not accidentally hamstring 6400dpi-fractional-sens with integer edpi instead of subpixel edpi!!! More numbers of newer games should be able to properly do 0.1 or even 0.01 pixel mouse movements per frame (antialaised subpixel motion), if users want that. The tech is here today already in newer software.
My point, is that low-dpi is shooting yourself in your feet mouse-motion-quality-wise (sabotaging the fluidity/framerate of slow mouse turns) but I understand some game engines don't do subpixel dpi well (CS:GO feels odd at 6400dpi+8000Hz operation for example -- but that's not the mouse's fault). That's just life. There are situations where 400dpi sometimes make 1000Hz-vs-8000Hz worthless, while 3200dpi makes 1000Hz-vs-8000Hz night-and-day (especially for 360Hz). You gotta match game engine+mouse+drivers+settings well.