High dpi mouse players get a lot of flak. Especially since the vast majority of top mouse players use low sensitivity, there are many who support low sensitivity as a superior solution. As a former high dpi mouse player I think I know why.
Mouse Sensitivity
What is mouse dpi? Well dpi (dots per inch) simply put is your hardware sensitivity. The higher the number, the more seemingly "faster" the cursor travels. So 400 dpi would mean that for every inch the cursor travels 400 pixels (dots) across the screen, or at least that's the idea. This is not to be confused with the term mouse sensitivity, which also takes software configuration into consideration. The general rule of thumb is to ensure that there is minimal acceleration, otherwise known as "pixel skipping". There are bazillions of software configurations that can affect mouse sensitivity and cause acceleration, here I will briefly go over three of them:
1. Windows settings: the general rule of thumb is to have "Windows 6/11 off". No this is not a new version of windows, this is referring to windows mouse options. "6/11" means that the bar is set to the 6th tick, and "off" is the acceleration option, marketed as "Enhanced pointer precision". Windows 6/11 off ensures 1:1 mouse movement, meaning that if your mouse is 800dpi then you will experience clean 800dpi movement on screen.
2. osu! in-game settings: this is straightforward. Adjusting the "Mouse Sensitivity" bar sets the dpi multiplier. To be safe, I would only recommend using whole numbers (x1, x2, x3, etc.). Using an odd number might incur uneven pixel skipping, and thus incur unwanted acceleration. Use Raw Input to bypass windows settings if you so wish.
3. Driver Utility Software: this one can be dangerous depending on the driver software. Some drivers can enable acceleration in one form or another. It may be a blatant "Enable acceleration" tick box, or in the case of Logitech driver which enable an extra dpi option which is actually an accelerated dpi setting.
High DPI vs Low DPI
After playing several months with high sensitivity, I switched from 2000dpi to 800dpi. Windows settings, osu settings and in-game resolution of 1280x960 have remained the same. I want to point out that 2000dpi @ 1280x960 is equivalent to 1600dpi @ 1024x768, and 800dpi @ 1280x960 is equivalent to 640dpi @ 1024x768. I am still fingertip, but I now have my wrist lifted and use full arm movement. The first week was hell, arm/wrist pain everywhere, mouse drift was uncontrollable, then after a while the pain went away and the drift became smaller as I got used to this new playstyle. So if you are a high sens fingertip user like I was, you might consider trying this out. I recently changed to 400dpi with 1440x900 resolution (equal to roughly ~341dpi at 1024x768), there is no notable difference in performance between 400dpi and 800dpi. Nonetheless here is a summary:
- No more cursor harlem shake from full-combo nervousness, it is only very slightly now.
- Far less cable resistance due to utilising the strength of full arm to move the mouse.
- A small improvement in aim.
- Mouse drift is less of a problem as wrist is constantly lifted anyway.
- More pp.
I want to point out that there is no such thing as a superior dpi so long as it is not absurdly high like accelerated 8000dpi or something. Lower dpi worked for me, but you might be the type who like to keep their wrist planted, or maybe palm grip. Therefore there is a dpi that is right for you, or in other words, a mouse sensitivity that works best for a particular playstyle. 2000dpi is still a viable solution but only for those who can control the FC nervousness.
Mouse Sensitivity
What is mouse dpi? Well dpi (dots per inch) simply put is your hardware sensitivity. The higher the number, the more seemingly "faster" the cursor travels. So 400 dpi would mean that for every inch the cursor travels 400 pixels (dots) across the screen, or at least that's the idea. This is not to be confused with the term mouse sensitivity, which also takes software configuration into consideration. The general rule of thumb is to ensure that there is minimal acceleration, otherwise known as "pixel skipping". There are bazillions of software configurations that can affect mouse sensitivity and cause acceleration, here I will briefly go over three of them:
1. Windows settings: the general rule of thumb is to have "Windows 6/11 off". No this is not a new version of windows, this is referring to windows mouse options. "6/11" means that the bar is set to the 6th tick, and "off" is the acceleration option, marketed as "Enhanced pointer precision". Windows 6/11 off ensures 1:1 mouse movement, meaning that if your mouse is 800dpi then you will experience clean 800dpi movement on screen.
See List of Windows Sensitivity Options
1/11 = x0.0125
2/11 = x0.0625
3/11 = x0.25
4/11 = x0.5
5/11 = x0.75
6/11 = x1
7/11 = x1.5
8/11 = x2
9/11 = x2.5
10/11 = x3
11/11 = x3.5
2/11 = x0.0625
3/11 = x0.25
4/11 = x0.5
5/11 = x0.75
6/11 = x1
7/11 = x1.5
8/11 = x2
9/11 = x2.5
10/11 = x3
11/11 = x3.5
2. osu! in-game settings: this is straightforward. Adjusting the "Mouse Sensitivity" bar sets the dpi multiplier. To be safe, I would only recommend using whole numbers (x1, x2, x3, etc.). Using an odd number might incur uneven pixel skipping, and thus incur unwanted acceleration. Use Raw Input to bypass windows settings if you so wish.
3. Driver Utility Software: this one can be dangerous depending on the driver software. Some drivers can enable acceleration in one form or another. It may be a blatant "Enable acceleration" tick box, or in the case of Logitech driver which enable an extra dpi option which is actually an accelerated dpi setting.
High DPI vs Low DPI
After playing several months with high sensitivity, I switched from 2000dpi to 800dpi. Windows settings, osu settings and in-game resolution of 1280x960 have remained the same. I want to point out that 2000dpi @ 1280x960 is equivalent to 1600dpi @ 1024x768, and 800dpi @ 1280x960 is equivalent to 640dpi @ 1024x768. I am still fingertip, but I now have my wrist lifted and use full arm movement. The first week was hell, arm/wrist pain everywhere, mouse drift was uncontrollable, then after a while the pain went away and the drift became smaller as I got used to this new playstyle. So if you are a high sens fingertip user like I was, you might consider trying this out. I recently changed to 400dpi with 1440x900 resolution (equal to roughly ~341dpi at 1024x768), there is no notable difference in performance between 400dpi and 800dpi. Nonetheless here is a summary:
- No more cursor harlem shake from full-combo nervousness, it is only very slightly now.
- Far less cable resistance due to utilising the strength of full arm to move the mouse.
- A small improvement in aim.
- Mouse drift is less of a problem as wrist is constantly lifted anyway.
- More pp.
I want to point out that there is no such thing as a superior dpi so long as it is not absurdly high like accelerated 8000dpi or something. Lower dpi worked for me, but you might be the type who like to keep their wrist planted, or maybe palm grip. Therefore there is a dpi that is right for you, or in other words, a mouse sensitivity that works best for a particular playstyle. 2000dpi is still a viable solution but only for those who can control the FC nervousness.
