Categories: Gaming Mouse

What’s The Best DPI For A Gaming Mouse?

Ever since posting my top 10 of the best gaming mice there’s been a very mixed reaction about my choices. In what seems like a controversial decision I placed mostly 3200dpi+ mice at the top, and that seems to have provoked some strong reactions from gamers.

So, it’s time for a poll. What level of dpi do you use on your gaming mouse? Are you a fan of higher dpi and the extra level of sensitivity it brings, or do you prefer lower dpi which brings higher accuracy at the expense of response?

I’ll start things off – I like my mice to fall somewhere between 2000 and 3200dpi. It partially depends on the game – I like the fast movement of higher dpi in a FPS, but I find strategy games are better suited to 2000dpi. So to compromise for the sake of the poll and because I play FPS slightly less than othr ‘slower’ games, I’ll go for 2001-2400dpi.

So come on then, cast your vote and, if you feel like it, leave a comment to explain your choice.

What's the best DPI for a gaming mouse?

  • Over 3200dpi (34%, 103 Votes)
  • 1601-2000dpi (26%, 79 Votes)
  • 2001-2400dpi (10%, 29 Votes)
  • Under 800dpi (9%, 26 Votes)
  • 2401-3200dpi (8%, 24 Votes)
  • 801-1200dpi (7%, 22 Votes)
  • 1201-1600dpi (6%, 18 Votes)

Total Voters: 301

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Chris

Chris is a devout PC gamer who spends way, way too much time sat at his PC either gaming or writing. You can find Chris on Google+

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  • as high as possible and adjustible.
    no point in 5600 if you can't adjust it when you need to be slow moving and nop point in 200 dpi if its adjustible
    but really unless you're super good any more than about 2000 becomes unneeded and then you need to go with how well the things tracks at speed which is where the deathadder is better than anything

  • Yep I agree with almasy.

    Having a high cap DPI is nice, but adjustability is a must. For example, for my FPS's I actually USE my Deathadder on 450 DPI...with an occasional switch to 900 with the side buttons.

    But USING 450 DPI is good for me, although I like the capability to go higher.

  • I'm finding that around 2000dpi is the sweet spot for me. The Deathadder spends most of its time at 1800dpi, with a swap down to 900dpi every now and then, while on the Kone I've only got three settings enabled - 800, 1200 and 2000dpi. I used the Kone at 3200 for a while but found I kept turning it down to 2000.

    @DoA-Neo - hey Chris, still having fun with the Deathadder?

  • if you want a smooth response, you have to calculate the aspect ratio of your desktop and set the dpi to have the same ratio, e.g. 4:3 ratio, x dpi 800 y dpi 600, etc.

  • I personally am a tournament fps player, and i keep my in game sensitivity low to control my movement speed, but use a mouse at 4825 dpi. It allows more percision and smoother movement to allow for quickscopes (im a sniper). If im using an AR however, i will use a lower dpi, around 2800.

  • For me, around 1600-2000dpi should be fairly enough, since I play video games in small monitor and move the mouse rather quickly. So I don't really need high dpi on my mouse

  • I saw that dpi wasn't really that important. It is just said to be hyped that it's better.

    I saw this from many websites.

    I use Microsoft Habu, and 400 dpi seems to be ok and good for making snipes, but it's okay to use other dpi as long you adjust the speed.

  • I play with 5600 DPI on my Razer Lachesis 5600 for optimal precision. To keep the couser controlable though, I turn down the speed of the mouse with windows control panel and with the in game settings of the game I play. Strategy games tend to not always have that feature, and so I will probably turn down the DPI to around 2000-3000.

  • I play at 2500 dpi think its really good for now you will get used to higher dpi if u bump it up do your daily routine and you will soon get used to higher dpi

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