What Does Polling Rate Do? [125 VS 500 VS 1000 Polling Rates Explained]

First person shooting games can be really interesting to play. However, if your mouse has input lag, you can get hit before you can give a response. Tracking the mouse should be important and this is what a decent polling rate of your mouse can do. Polling rates define the motion of your gaming mice. 

When you are playing any action game and there is a lag in clicks, you’ll miss out on headshots. Here’s a complete guide about what does polling rate do. You can simply scroll down to know more about this.

What is the Polling Rate?

Polling rate is actually the communication of two devices- your mouse and your CPU. It basically helps to track the position of your cursor while you are moving around with your mouse.

In short, it is responsible to translate your movement while you are playing a game. A higher polling rate allows your mouse to be more responsive than any lower polling rate. This may vastly improve your performance while you are playing a game.

It allows you to get fast results so that you can create a big difference while low polling rates could create more input lag. This is why having controls with your gaming mouse can prove to be so vital while choosing.

What Polling Rate Do I Need?

Polling rate can create a direct impact on the input lag. As a result, it becomes important for you to keep a track on these results. Many modern gaming mice do come along with more than 1000 Hz while some of them do come with a 125 Hz. The difference is quite big. Surely, having settings that can change your polling can be very important.

Now the type of work you do will decide how much polling rates you need. For example, gaming mice come with a higher polling rate by default. At the same time, any regular optical mouse comes with standard polling rates.

This is mainly because such mice are not designed for gaming and it can be used for drawing or for any of your regular tasks in hand.

Do You Need A High Rate For Gaming?

Choosing a mouse for gaming has to be completely different than that of any regular mouse you use. It is mainly because gaming can be of different types.

You can either play action games which require more of mouse precision or for other games that require decent gaming controls. Thus, it all depends on what you would love to do with your mouse. In simple words, a higher polling rate would mean that the mouse is more responsive.

It will also reduce the input lag. So a slight movement of your mouse can move the cursor widely. If you are running the game at high end specifications and your CPU is not getting stressed at all, you can be comfortable with it.

However, keeping in mind all the factors, most of the default gaming mouse is set at around 1000 Hz. You can be sure to use this setting to play action games.

125 Vs 500 Vs 1000 Polling rates

Usually, there are four different types of polling rates available as per manufacturers. They are 125 Hz, 250Hz, 500 Hz and 1000 Hz. However, using full features may always tempt you to go for bigger settings. Let’s have a look at the impact of polling rates when it comes to tracking.

·         1000Hz = 1 ms

·         500Hz = 2 ms

·         250Hz = 4 ms

·         125Hz = 8 ms

The usage of polling rates completely depends on what type of work you will be doing and what the specifications would be.

Some games are manufactured with old engines. As a result, using fast polling rates could never be ideal. Some modern games require more precision and accuracy to play these games. Here, you will require a faster integration of polling rates.

What Is The Best Polling Rate For Fortnite?

Fortnite is always a dynamic game. However, it comes with different levels and different ammunition. You need to be precise about choosing one. If you are using a shotgun, having high polar rates could be ideal for you.

At the same time, if you have lower polling rates, it could be better for a long range of guns. Thus, choosing the right polling rate will completely depend on what you use and what you want it to be.

According to multiple surveys, most of the people playing Fortnite Pro would love to stick between 500 to 1000 Hz. If you do not want to keep chopping and changing in between this game, you can always rely on 1000 Hz.

How To Check Your Mouse Polling Rate?

Different manufacturers have different procedures that allow you to check your mouse polling rates. For an example, if you have Logitech Mouse, you can simply download the Logitech gaming software and then check your mouse polling rates.

If your mouse does not come with any polling rate checker, the only possible option will be to go and test it on your own. For such, you can take the help of any mouse rate checker from the internet. Simply open up any checker tool and start checking. Move your mouse sideways and vertically for ten seconds. It will give you the accurate data of mouse rate.

Does Polling Rate Really Matter?

It’s almost impossible for any normal person to pick out a polling rate. Even 2 ms delay could be enough to make fractional changes in your mouse cursor. The importance of polling rates is visible when you play an action game and aim to shoot.

However, if you keep on missing your target even after aiming at it, it’s mainly because your cursor is moving away. Even the slightest of deflection can matter the most if you have high polling rates. In short- yes, polling rates do matter when you are playing games.

Are Higher DPI And Polling Rates Better?

A lot of people do get confused between a DPI and polling rate. They both are different subjects. However, the relation between dpi and polling rate does matter. Some manufacturers believe that excessive dpi can make the mouse cursor uncontrollable in nature. This is why having a higher dpi could not be the best option.

However, if dpi is too low, it will take seconds for the mouse to track properly. You would not want this as well. A perfect balance of dpi and polling rates do matter. Probably this is the reason why most manufacturers do prefer to keep dpi of a mouse with 500 Hz and 1000 Hz.

Does High Polling Rate Cause Lag?

To be fair, this completely depends on what your CPU is capable of and the coordination with your mouse. In short, polling rate can always create a lag if there is a mismatch. Consider if you have a 500 Hz mouse, the display rate will be around 60fps.

When you work with a 1000 Hz mouse on the same CPU, the display rate will come down to 10 fps. This is why lowering the polling rate should be a top priority if you are playing games with high dynamics.

However, today technology is much improved and you should not experience much lag even if you are using a 1000 Hz mouse.

[What Does Polling Rate Do?] Conclusion

Getting the right balance between polling rate and your type of work should always be an important consideration. It’s best to keep your polling rates between 500 Hz to 1000 Hz needless of what type of work you do. You may find a lot of optical mice having lower polling rates, but for a gaming mouse, it’s important that you keep a proper balance.

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