Why does Windows 7 give me a better mouse feeling than Windows Server 2022?

[Heinstar]

Hello, long time lurker here. So for the past year or two, I've been playing Valorant primarily on Windows 7 because it gave me the most responsive and precise mouse feeling. During that time, I've tried bunch of other "gaming OS" for Windows 10, but none of them felt all that much different from the default windows. I've also tried turning off as many services as possible (using blackviper's guide) which helped with the FPS gains, but not the mouse feeling.

Around 6 months ago, Valorant introduced a new feature in their in-game settings called Raw Input Buffer. And after trying it out, I've found that it gave me a more responsive and precise mouse feeling which I deemed satisfactory even on Windows 10. Thanks to Raw Input Buffer feature, the difference in mouse feel between Windows 7 and 10 has become less drastic and noticeable to the point where I wouldn't mind finally letting go of Windows 7 which is too outdated has many hardware compatibility issues.

But recently, Overwatch 2 came out and I've noticed that my mouse feeling just isn't the same when I play this game on Windows 10. When I play Overwatch 2 on Windows 10, the mouse feeling feels significantly less precise and responsive. I often miss shots in Windows 10 that I otherwise would land on Windows 7. This isn't because of the controller bug either, which I've already fixed.

The problem existed in Overwatch 1 as well, which is why I've always been playing Overwatch 1 on Windows 7 because my aim felt so much better on that OS. So the issue isn't strictly with Overwatch 2, but more to do with the developers not adding any feature that's on par to Valorant's Raw Input Buffer which allowed my mouse to feel almost as precise and responsive as Windows 7 on Windows 10 (at least in Valorant). I know that Overwatch has an option called "High Precision Mouse Input" and "Reduce Buffering", but I've already been using those settings for a long time and they're nowhere near as good as Valorant's Raw Input Buffer.

Unfortunately, this less responsive mouse feeling seems to remain unchanged even when I've tried playing Overwatch 2 on Windows Server 2022. I would've expected my mouse to feel equally as responsive as Windows 7 on Windows Server 2022, but turns out that wasn't the case.

So my question is, where could this less responsive mouse feeling be coming from? My guess is that this is due to DWM affecting the input lag from my peripherals such as my mouse. If my suspicion is true, is it possible to turn off DWM in Windows Server 2022 while still being able to play FPS games like Overwatch?

[woodyfly]

Windows 10 has more input lag at its very core, dont really know why, could be DWM. I've tested extensively all the tweaks I could find, no way to make it feel the same as windows 7 (no input lag).

[Slender]

becase no dwm, good old timer and debloated at all.

[1000WATT]

So my question is, where could this less responsive mouse feeling be coming from?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_D ... iver_Model

[Heinstar]

Windows 10 has more input lag at its very core, dont really know why, could be DWM. I've tested extensively all the tweaks I could find, no way to make it feel the same as windows 7 (no input lag).

Does this input lag still exist even in Windows Server 2022? I thought the whole purpose of installing Windows Server 2022 to play games on it was because it has lower DPC latency? Is input lag and DPC latency different things? I've followed Fr33thy's guide and used his registry tweaks to make the server as bareboned as possible (despite the server edition already being debloated). I'm using the desktop experience edition for the server OS though. What if I install the non-desktop experience edition? Would that get rid of the DWM? And is it still possible to play Direct X9 games without the desktop and somehow run the game from the command line?

I'd rather not use Windows 7 for gaming because it's such a hassle to deal with hardware compatibility issues. I was lucky because my hardware wasn't that new (RX5700XT + ryzen 5 3600) so I was able to get most of my drivers working without too much issues. The only problem I've enountered was I couldn't get my second USB 3.0 Port working, so I wasn't able to plug my mouse and keyboard on a separate USB controller.

[woodyfly]

Windows 10 has more input lag at its very core, dont really know why, could be DWM. I've tested extensively all the tweaks I could find, no way to make it feel the same as windows 7 (no input lag).

Does this input lag still exist even in Windows Server 2022? I thought the whole purpose of installing Windows Server 2022 to play games on it was because it has lower DPC latency? Is input lag and DPC latency different things? I've followed Fr33thy's guide and used his registry tweaks to make the server as bareboned as possible (despite the server edition already being debloated). I'm using the desktop experience edition for the server OS though. What if I install the non-desktop experience edition? Would that get rid of the DWM? And is it still possible to play Direct X9 games without the desktop and somehow run the game from the command line?

I'd rather not use Windows 7 for gaming because it's such a hassle to deal with hardware compatibility issues. I was lucky because my hardware wasn't that new (RX5700XT + ryzen 5 3600) so I was able to get most of my drivers working without too much issues. The only problem I've enountered was I couldn't get my second USB 3.0 Port working, so I wasn't able to plug my mouse and keyboard on a separate USB controller.

u wont even be able to install nvidia drivers on non desktop version

[InputLagger]

Windows 10 has more input lag at its very core, dont really know why, could be DWM. I've tested extensively all the tweaks I could find, no way to make it feel the same as windows 7 (no input lag).

Does this input lag still exist even in Windows Server 2022? I thought the whole purpose of installing Windows Server 2022 to play games on it was because it has lower DPC latency? Is input lag and DPC latency different things? I've followed Fr33thy's guide and used his registry tweaks to make the server as bareboned as possible (despite the server edition already being debloated). I'm using the desktop experience edition for the server OS though. What if I install the non-desktop experience edition? Would that get rid of the DWM? And is it still possible to play Direct X9 games without the desktop and somehow run the game from the command line?

I'd rather not use Windows 7 for gaming because it's such a hassle to deal with hardware compatibility issues. I was lucky because my hardware wasn't that new (RX5700XT + ryzen 5 3600) so I was able to get most of my drivers working without too much issues. The only problem I've enountered was I couldn't get my second USB 3.0 Port working, so I wasn't able to plug my mouse and keyboard on a separate USB controller.

u wont even be able to install nvidia drivers on non desktop version

Tried manual installation? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyKrxxXOvQY

[Eonds]

Hello, long time lurker here. So for the past year or two, I've been playing Valorant primarily on Windows 7 because it gave me the most responsive and precise mouse feeling. During that time, I've tried bunch of other "gaming OS" for Windows 10, but none of them felt all that much different from the default windows. I've also tried turning off as many services as possible (using blackviper's guide) which helped with the FPS gains, but not the mouse feeling.

[...]

Windows server has major problems with desktop PC's. Applications such as spotify would crash and setting things within the bcd store fixed it. Windows 7 isn't exactly lower latency but I can tell you there's a major difference in game smoothness. asfaik USB drivers for intel on windows 7 CAN have an extra latency of 1ms due to interrupt packet coalescing (can be changed via rw).

[styhk]

Mouse polling is a lot more stable on Windows 7. Also, I get at least 30% more fps in VALORANT compared to Windows Server 2022...

[assombrosso]

It’s a shame you can’t install faceit on win7