What polling rate means on a mouse

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Seen “8000 Hz” on a mouse box and wondered if it matters? Polling rate is how often a mouse reports its position to the computer. The number is in hertz. A 125 Hz mouse reports 125 times a second, so the computer can be 8 milliseconds behind the hand. A 1000 Hz mouse reports 1000 times a second, so that wait is 1 millisecond. The report is a packet of counts. It is not a picture, and it is not a grade for the sensor.

I leave the Logitech PRO 2 LIGHTSPEED at the 1000 Hz the included receiver already does. Official US price $149.99. The 8 kHz step needs the separate PRO LIGHTSPEED receiver. More mouse guides.

The time between reports is 1000 divided by the hertz. That arithmetic is the whole spec. It is not the full delay from a click to the frame on the screen. The game, the PC, and the monitor add their own waits. A box that prints “1 ms” because the mouse polls at 1000 Hz has named the gap between reports, not the whole chain. A browser polling-rate tester can show how often your browser sees pointer events. That number is the browser, not the firmware. Adding that interval to frame time and refresh is the input-lag budget, still not a click-to-photon clock.

The mouse you buy is still the shape your hand can stay on. This number is a setting you check after that. DPI is the other number on the same box, and it answers a different question.

Examples worth a look

• The mouse I poll at 1000 Hz: PRO 2 LIGHTSPEED. 80 g, HERO 2, LIGHTSPEED. 1000 Hz included; 8 kHz extra receiver. PRO 2 on Amazon · Logitech G
• Wired 1000 Hz I play WoW on: Naga Left-Handed, RZ01-0341. Official 1000 Hz, wired Speedflex. Amazon search for RZ01-0341
• Budget wireless at 1000 Hz: G305 LIGHTSPEED. Official 1000 Hz on the dongle. Amazon search for G305

Set the rate

Polling rate is how often the mouse reports its position. 1000 Hz means once a millisecond. The gap after that is small.

The rate now125 Hz250 Hz500 Hz1000 Hz2000 Hz4000 Hz8000 HzThe PCIt stays smoothIt stutters at this rateThe gamesCompetitiveStory games

Set

1000 Hz

Between reports

1 ms

1000 Hz is the ordinary gaming setting. A higher rate reports more often. The gain after 1 ms is small, and only if the mouse and the port actually run it.

The result is a setting, not a better mouse. 1000 Hz is the rate to leave on for a match. Drop below it when the PC stutters at the higher rate, or when a story game does not need the reports. Rise above it only when the mouse lists that rate on the connection you use, and you can tell the difference in a game you already know. If you cannot tell, you paid battery for a gap you did not feel.

Polling rate is not DPI

DPI is how many counts the mouse produces when you move it one inch. Polling rate is how often the mouse hands those counts over. At 1200 DPI and 1000 Hz, one inch is still about 1200 counts. They just arrive in smaller, more frequent packets than they would at 125 Hz.

Raise DPI and the cursor travels farther. Raise the polling rate and the cursor updates sooner, by a fraction of a millisecond at the rates people argue about. Mixing both changes in one night makes it impossible to tell which one you felt. Set DPI until a swipe on the pad ends where you want. Then look at polling.

The sensor is the camera under the mouse that sees the pad. A higher polling rate does not give that camera a better picture. A mouse that spins out on a fast flick has a tracking problem, not a hertz problem. Shape and tracking are still the reason to return it.

When a higher rate is worth it

1000 Hz waits 1 millisecond. 2000 Hz waits 0.5. 4000 Hz waits 0.25. 8000 Hz waits 0.125. Each step is half the previous gap, and each step is a smaller slice of the delay you can actually notice. The jump from 125 Hz to 1000 Hz is 7 milliseconds. The jump from 1000 Hz to 8000 Hz is under 1. That is why the first jump is the one that matters, and the second is optional.

A wireless mouse spends battery to send those extra reports. Battery claims are usually measured at low polling with lights off, so expect less. The rate also has to be real on the link you use. Some mice offer 1000 Hz on the dongle and a lower rate on Bluetooth. A cable can be the link that carries the high rate. Read the row for the connection in your hand, not the biggest number in the headline.

The port and the PC have to keep up. A busy USB hub, or a laptop that hitches when you turn the rate up, is telling you the extra packets are work. Drop back to 1000 Hz, or to 500 Hz if 1000 Hz is the rate that hitches. A higher number will not smooth a stutter it is causing. That is not a reason to buy the 8 kHz receiver. I still can’t feel a difference above 1000 Hz.

Change the rate in the maker’s software, then play the same scene you already know. Do not retune sensitivity in the same session. If the aim feels the same, put it back to 1000 Hz and leave it. Enhance pointer precision is a different checkbox. Do not clear both on the same night if you want to know which one you felt.

What the listing has to say

Ignore a “low latency” badge until the page states these:

• The polling rate on the connection you will use. A dongle rate and a Bluetooth rate are different lines.
• 1000 Hz on that connection, if the mouse is for matches. Higher is a feature, not a requirement.
• Whether that higher rate needs a cable, a certain dongle, or a port in the PC.
• The battery figure at the rate you will leave on, not only at the lowest rate.
• Today’s price. Confirm the listing.

If the mouse you have already reports at 1000 Hz on the link you play with, and the shape is right, another mouse is a want. Replace it when the shell fights your hand, or when the only rate it offers is 125 Hz and you play games that care. The hertz does not fix a grip. More mouse guides.

Common questions

What is polling rate on a mouse?

How often the mouse reports its position to your PC, measured in hertz. 1000 Hz means it reports 1000 times a second, once every millisecond.

What polling rate should I use for gaming?

1000 Hz. It's the standard for gaming mice and has no noticeable downside on most PCs.

Is 8000 Hz better than 1000 Hz?

Slightly, on paper. It cuts the gap between reports from 1 ms to 0.125 ms, but it uses more CPU and battery for a difference most players can't feel.

Is polling rate the same as DPI?

No. DPI is how far the cursor moves per inch of mouse movement, while polling rate is how often the mouse sends updates.