# 800dpi vs 4000dpi, what to expect?



## CH@NO (Aug 14, 2010)

Hi.

Currently I use a standard optical mouse that has 800dpi and I wanna upgrade it to a Microsoft Sidewinder X8 that has up to 4000dpi.

Taking out the obviously advantages of the Sidewinder like the buttons and the wireless features....

What differences I'll see in the real world (gaming) from going to 800dpi to 4000dpi?

THX for the help.


----------



## Kreij (Aug 14, 2010)

More accurate mouse tracking. Useful if you are a FPS God.


----------



## Anarchy0110 (Aug 14, 2010)

You have to get use to that high DPI number. Better control also means the crosshair will move a longer way


----------



## CH@NO (Aug 14, 2010)

Kreij said:


> More accurate mouse tracking. Useful if you are a FPS God.



I'm more like an average gamer, I like the FPS games but certainly I'm not a God.

So based in your experience, will be useful to make the upgrade or not?


----------



## hat (Aug 14, 2010)

Higher accuracy is achieved at a higher DPI level with a lower sensitivity. For example, 4 sensitivity at 1000DPI would be equal to 1 sensitivity at 4000DPI, but the 1 sens/4000 DPI will be smoother.

If you have a mouse like mine, you can quickly adjust the sensitivity level. I normally run at 3200DPI, but if I'm flying a plane in BF2 for example and someone's giving me trouble, I can tap into my reserve at 4000DPI and pull off quicker, tighter turns.


----------



## CH@NO (Aug 14, 2010)

Faith[ROG].Anarchy said:


> You have to get use to that high DPI number. Better control also means the crosshair will move a longer way



what is crosshair? (I think it's the "aim" of the weapon in the screen, but I'm not too sure, sorry for the question but english is not my native lenguage).


----------



## Kreij (Aug 14, 2010)

Crosshair is the reticule you use for aiming (like in my avatar). Best thing to do is try the different settings to see what dpi works best for your playing style.


----------



## Anarchy0110 (Aug 14, 2010)

CH@NO said:


> what is crosshair? (I think it's the "aim" of the weapon in the screen, but I'm not too sure, sorry for the question but english is not my native lenguage).



Of course I mean the aim in your gun while you're playing


----------



## CH@NO (Aug 14, 2010)

Faith[ROG].Anarchy said:


> Of course I mean the aim in your gun while you're playing



THX for clarifying, then I think a made up my mind, I'll upgrade my current mouse to the Sidewinder X8.


----------



## Anarchy0110 (Aug 14, 2010)

I'd go with around 1600-2000 dpi for FPS, 
First, my monitor is wickedly small
Secondly, it's ridiculous to go 3000-4000+ DPI. Try to use mouse with custom DPI settings
Thirdly, I play RTS and sometime FPS for relax so don't need high DPI
I'd go with DeathAdder 3.5G, Naga, Logitech G500 or Steelseries Kinzu 
Oh BTW try to afford a gaming surface if you can


----------



## a_ump (Aug 14, 2010)

yeah, higher DPI is more accurate, and also makes your mouse move alot faster


----------



## NdMk2o1o (Aug 14, 2010)

a_ump said:


> yeah, higher DPI is more accurate, and also makes your mouse move alot faster



I surf at around 1600-2000 DPi now as I cant stand using a "normal" 800 DPi mouse since.


----------



## hat (Aug 14, 2010)

3200dpi here, mouse sensitivity at 5/10 in Windows.

3200dpi is my base setting for everything, I adjust sensitivity levels accordingly. I have the additional 800dpi in reserve, but I can also drop down to 1600 or even 800dpi for things that I can't control the sensitivity on otherwise (BF2 commander screen, for example), or for on-the-fly easy adjustment for sniping and such.


----------



## epicfail (Aug 14, 2010)

its all about what you get use to i use 5700 and default windows sensitivity.
and it doesnt feel to fast for me, but i lower my sensitivity ingame quite a bit. to be more accurate only ingame sensitivty though


----------



## Frederik S (Aug 15, 2010)

Non whatsoever unless your sensitivity is extremely high and your screen has a high resolution. 

As long as the sensor provides more positional information than your sensitivity requires you are good. If you exceed that you will get erratic tracking. Most sensors perform best at their maximum setting so you should always try to achieve your preferred sensitivity at the max DPI setting. If that is not possible then you will have to make a compromise.


----------



## MilkyWay (Aug 15, 2010)

Going from 800 to 4000dpi you would see a difference easily noticeable.
Its better because its smoother and more sensitive for faster response but 3200dpi is just about normal these days. If its too sensitive just turn down the sensitivity, adjust to your needs or learn to use the mouse differently.

You only have to move the mouse slightly when its more sensitive instead of like a few people i know that treat my mouse like their dell office jobby (yeah right across the desk then pull it back with a slam, yeah i freak out everytime). I say to people can you even use a mouse properly and they say well ive gotten on fine so far, then i say well you *can* drive a car only in 3rd gear but you wouldn't would you?


----------



## Mussels (Aug 15, 2010)

Frederik S said:


> Non whatsoever unless your sensitivity is extremely high and your screen has a high resolution.
> 
> As long as the sensor provides more positional information than your sensitivity requires you are good. If you exceed that you will get erratic tracking. Most sensors perform best at their maximum setting so you should always try to achieve your preferred sensitivity at the max DPI setting. If that is not possible then you will have to make a compromise.



^ exactly what he said.


----------



## Anarchy0110 (Aug 15, 2010)

Of course higher DPI means better precision and control. After changing DPI you should switch your sensitivity to suite your needs with that high DPI  That will give the best performance


----------



## Mussels (Aug 15, 2010)

Faith[ROG].Anarchy said:


> Of course higher DPI means better precision and control. After changing DPI you should switch your sensitivity to suite your needs with that high DPI  That will give the best performance



it also means higher speed, which doesnt really matter.


The point should be more like this: as long as its got enough DPI to keep up with the speed you want, it will be smooth and happy.

try setting a high speed on an 800 dpi mouse, and it will go choppy and weird.


----------



## Anarchy0110 (Aug 15, 2010)

Mussels said:


> it also means higher speed, which doesnt really matter.
> 
> 
> The point should be more like this: as long as its got enough DPI to keep up with the speed you want, it will be smooth and happy.
> ...



Currently having a Logitech G1 (800 dpi of course), just do what you've said a few months ago 
Result: I shoot M4A1 in CS 1.6 about 30% worse, AWP about 60% worse than regularly I can with an optimum playing condition


----------



## m1dg3t (Aug 16, 2010)

Definately make the switch! I use a high res 37" display (1920 x 1080) and trying to use anything with less than 2k DPI is just simply horrible. I even found quite an improvement when using it on my 17" LCD as compared to a mx518. I prefer my G9 over the M$ sidewinder but end choice is your's of course  Also invest $10 - $20 on a mouse pad to get the most out of your investment 

I play mostly FPS game's but even regular use is vastly improved, i will never use a low res mouse again.


----------



## DrPepper (Aug 16, 2010)

hat said:


> Higher accuracy is achieved at a higher DPI level with a lower sensitivity. For example, 4 sensitivity at 1000DPI would be equal to 1 sensitivity at 4000DPI, but the 1 sens/4000 DPI will be smoother.
> 
> If you have a mouse like mine, you can quickly adjust the sensitivity level. I normally run at 3200DPI, but if I'm flying a plane in BF2 for example and someone's giving me trouble, I can tap into my reserve at 4000DPI and pull off quicker, tighter turns.



Thanks for that my mouse is finally useable at 5600dpi


----------



## 1Kurgan1 (Aug 16, 2010)

Kreij said:


> More accurate mouse tracking. Useful if you are a FPS God.



Eh, I hold my own quite well, I now have a 5600dpi mouse thats adjustable, but I got my BC2 reputation on a 800DPI logitech that I bought off newegg for $9.



Mussels said:


> try setting a high speed on an 800 dpi mouse, and it will go choppy and weird.



I always ran my 800 dpi mice at almost maxed out speeds and never noticed any skipping.


----------



## Frederik S (Aug 16, 2010)

Not correct. 1 sens / 4000 DPI equals 4 sens / 1000 DPI. As long as you are under 50% windows sensitivity you are getting 1 to 1 tracking.

The only difference between the two is where the information is discarded, with the lower DPI the onboard controller of mice does all the discarding whereas with the lower sensitivity the OS does it. The results is the same unless the game or windows uses some form of acceleration. 

The higher sensitivity is just wasted normally because you can only move 1 dot at a time having 0.X of a dot makes no sens unless you are using acceleration on an advanced driver suite that uses the extra information to increase the precision of the acceleration calculations, however, there will still be rounding errors due to the fact that the system is based around integer values.  

The best tracking is achieved by turning off acceleration both in-game and in windows.


----------

