What is a polling rate?

After seeing what the DPI is in a mouse it is time to show you what the polling rate is in a mouse or also known as Polling Rate. A quick guide that will only take you a couple of minutes to read. Ready to choose the best gaming mouse ? Here we go!

What is Polling Rate

The polling rate of a mouse is the frequency with which it reports its position to a computer. This speed is measured in Hz (hertz). If a mouse has a polling rate of 125 Hz, it reports its position to the computer 125 times per second (or every 8 milliseconds). A speed of 500 Hz means that the mouse will be reporting its position to the computer every 2 milliseconds.

A higher polling rate can decrease the lag that occurs between when you move the mouse and when movement appears on the screen. On the other hand, a higher poll rate will use more CPU resources, since the CPU has to consult the mouse to know its position more frequently.

Polling Rate	Report frequency
125 Hz	8 milliseconds
250 Hz	4 milliseconds
500 Hz	2 milliseconds
1000 Hz	1 millisecond

A mouse that officially supports a higher polling rate will generally allow you to select it from your control panel. Some mice may also have hardware switches to adjust their polling rate while in use.

Many gaming mice can set a polling rate to a high number, such as 600 Hz, or 600 times per second.

Are higher polling and DPI rates better?

IPR and polling rates are a matter of much debate. Everyone has an opinion, and even some manufacturers of gaming mice claimed that DPI is an unimportant specification. An extremely high DPI would cause the mouse cursor to fly across the screen when touched. For this reason, a higher DPI is not necessarily a good thing. The most recommended DPI depends on the game you are playing, the resolution of your screen (it is appreciated in WQHD or 4K resolutions) and how you prefer to use the mouse.

A higher polling rate could be useful, but the difference between 500 Hz and 1000 Hz will be difficult to notice . A higher poll rate also uses more CPU resources, so setting too high a poll rate will only waste CPU resources without any benefit. This isn't necessarily a problem with modern hardware, but it doesn't make sense for manufacturers to release mice with polling rates of over 1000 Hz.

Higher DPI and polling rates can be helpful, but they are not everything .

There is a good chance that you will find yourself dropping the DPI below the maximum value after buying an expensive gaming mouse.

You definitely don't need the mouse with the highest DPI and Polling Rate settings. These specs are not a simple measurement of performance like CPU speed, they are more complicated than that. And there are many other important factors in choosing a good gaming mouse, including things like size, weight, grip style, and button placement.

What do you think about DPI and polling rates? Do you notice the difference between 500 and 1000 Hz? We want to know your opinion!