Poll Results – What’s the best DPI for a gaming mouse?

A while ago I opened up a poll to determine what you as gamers think is the best DPI for a gaming mouse. There’s a lot of debate about dpi, with some gamers having very strong positive and negative feelings about some of the higher DPI mice such as the Razer Lachesis and Logitech G9.

So, after 301 votes, here are the results.

Looking at the chart it’s obvious that there are two big winners here, but to some (including me) the overall winner may be surprising. The dpi rating chosen as the best for a gaming mouse was  by far 3200dpi or more, with 103 votes (a significant 34% of the total votes cast). I certainly wasn’t expecting such a convincing win for this highest dpi rating, particularly when you consider that most of the mice that fall into this category (Lachesis, G9, Cyborg) are amongst the most expensive.

In second place is the middle ground of 1601 to 2000dpi with 79 votes (26% and my own choice). This group represents a lot of mice, including Logitech’s G5 and G9, Razer’s Deathadder and Copperhead, and many others. Significantly, it also includes the mice that are capable of higher DPI but where the players have turned down the sensitivity to a more controllable level. I was expecting this to be the winner, partly because it’s the middle ground but also because the mice that are capable of this DPI tend to be more affordable.

In third place, some way behind with just 29 votes, is the higher rating of 2001-2400 dpi, while the other  lower ratings follow closely behind.

If this poll proves anything, it’s that a lot of gamers clearly consider a high level of dpi to be a good thing. Whether or not this is because they really want to play with that level of sensitivity from their mouse, or just because the newer, better mice have these ratings is not clear from this simple poll. However, mouse manufacturers can take comfort knowing that there is definitely a market for mice such as the upcoming 5600dpi Razer Mamba and 5000dpi Logitech G9x.

So what are your thoughts on the results of this poll? Is this just n00bs getting sucked in by marketing hype, or experienced gamers starting to see the light of high dpi?