Sensor and Performance

The ROCCAT Burst Core is equipped with the PixArt PMW3331. According to specifications, the 3331 is capable of up to 8500 CPI, as well as a maximum tracking speed of 300 IPS, which equals 7.62 m/s. Out of the box, five pre-defined CPI steps are available: 400, 800, 1200, 1600, and 3200.

CPI Accuracy

"CPI" (short for counts per inch) describes the number of counts registered by the mouse if it is moved exactly an inch. There are several factors (firmware, mounting height of the sensor not meeting specifications, mouse feet thickness, mousing surface, among others) which may contribute to nominal CPI not matching actual CPI. It is impossible to always achieve a perfect match, but ideally, nominal and actual CPI should differ as little as possible. In this test, I'm determining whether this is the case or not. However, please keep in mind that said variance will still differ from unit to unit, so your mileage may vary.


I've restricted my testing to the four most common CPI steps, which are 400, 800, 1600, and 3200. As you can see, deviation is decently low, albeit inconsistent, which is a good result overall.

Motion Delay

"Motion delay" encompasses all kinds of sensor lag. Any further sources of input delay will not be recorded in this test. The main thing I'll be looking for in this test is sensor smoothing, which describes an averaging of motion data across several capture frames in order to reduce jitter at higher CPI values, increasing motion delay along with it. The goal here is to have as little smoothing as possible. As there is no way to accurately measure motion delay absolutely, it can only be done by comparison with a control subject that has been determined to have the lowest possible motion delay. In this case, the control subject is a G403, whose 3366 has no visible smoothing across the entire CPI range. Note that the G403 is moved first and thus receives a slight head start.


First, I'm looking at two xCounts plots—generated at 1600 and 5000 CPI—to quickly gauge whether there is any smoothing, which would be indicated by any visible "kinks." As you can see, the second plot shows such kinks, indicating smoothing at and above 5000 CPI. We can also see fairly low SPI timing jitter.


In order to determine motion delay, I'm looking at xSum plots generated at 1600, 5000, and 8500 CPI. The line further to the left denotes the sensor with less motion delay. At 1600 CPI, there is no difference in motion delay. At 5000 CPI, a motion delay differential of roughly 2 ms can be seen, which doesn't change all the way up to 8500 CPI.

Speed-related Accuracy Variance (SRAV)

What people typically mean when they talk about "acceleration" is speed-related accuracy variance (or short SRAV). It's not about the mouse having a set amount of inherent positive or negative acceleration, but about the cursor not traveling the same distance if the mouse is moved the same physical distance at different speeds. The easiest way to test this is by comparison with a control subject that is known to have very low SRAV, which in this case is the G403. As you can see from the plot, no displacement between the two cursor paths can be observed, which confirms that SRAV is very low.

Perfect Control Speed

Perfect Control Speed (or PCS for short) is the maximum speed up to which the mouse and its sensor can be moved without the sensor malfunctioning in any way. I've only managed to hit a measly 4 m/s (which is within the proclaimed PCS range), at which no sign of the sensor malfunctioning can be observed.

Polling Rate Stability

All four available polling rates (125 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz, and 1000 Hz) look nice and stable. Polling stability is unaffected by any RGB setting.

Paint Test

This test is used to indicate any potential issues with angle snapping (non-native straightening of linear motion) and jitter, along with any sensor lens rattle. As you can see, no issues with angle snapping can be observed. No jitter is visible at 1600 CPI. 4900 CPI is the highest step without smoothing and shows minor jitter, which is further minimized at 5000 CPI, where smoothing is first applied. 8500 CPI shows high jitter despite the smoothing. Lastly, there is no sensor lens movement.

Lift-off Distance

The Burst Core does not offer any LOD adjustment options. The sensor does track at a height of 2 DVDs, but not at a height of 3 DVDs (2.4<x<3.6 mm; x=LOD height). Keep in mind that LOD may vary slightly depending on the mousing surface (pad) it is being used on.

Click Latency

Most computer (and gaming) mice use mechanical switches for the buttons. Mechanical switches need debouncing in order to function as intended, which can add a delay commonly referred to as click latency. Much like recent Razer mice, the ROCCAT Burst Core is using optical switches for the main buttons. Optical switches do not require any debouncing, hence no delay is added. Unfortunately, this also means I'm unable to conduct my usual click latency testing. Using the less accurate and reliable "bump test," I'm able to measure results that indicate a click latency roughly equal to that of the SteelSeries Ikari, which acts as the baseline (+0.0 ms). Please keep in mind that the measured value is not the absolute click latency.