How to pick a mouse DPI (400 vs 800 vs 1600)
DPI matters less than most players think, but picking the right value still avoids sensor interpolation and lines up with modern polling rates. Here is how to choose between 400, 800 and 1600 DPI — and why Sens Converter always asks for it.
DPI is how many counts your mouse sends per inch of motion. Higher DPI means more granularity per centimetre, but the gap between 400, 800 and 1600 is usually smaller than forum arguments suggest. This guide lays out how to pick a DPI that suits your sensor and your hand — and why Sens Converter always asks for it on every conversion.
What DPI actually changes
For modern optical sensors (PixArt 3360 and newer, Logitech HERO, Razer Focus Pro) the sensor is native-accurate at 400, 800, 1600 and sometimes 3200. Outside those, some sensors interpolate. DPI does not change your in-game turn speed by itself — your cm/360° is sens × DPI × yaw — but it does change how many pixels your crosshair moves per mouse count, which affects micro-adjustments.
Common pro choices
- 400 DPI: CS2, Apex, Overwatch 2 — the default for low-sens arm aimers (s1mple, shroud)
- 800 DPI: Valorant dominant — the most common competitive choice in 2025–26
- 1600 DPI: rising, favoured by some high-refresh wrist aimers and high-DPI tac players
- 3200+ DPI: mostly productivity, rarely useful for aim
Polling rate matters more than DPI
Before worrying about DPI, set polling rate to 1000 Hz or higher. 1000 Hz at 800 DPI gives you 800 counts per inch reported 1000 times a second — plenty of granularity for any aim style. 4000 / 8000 Hz polling is increasingly common on Razer, Lamzu and Endgame Gear hardware; it lowers input latency more than raising DPI does.
Changing DPI without changing feel
If you want to move from 400 DPI to 800 DPI without changing your aim, halve your in-game sens. Sens Converter's eDPI calculator is the easiest way: punch in your current sens and DPI, read your eDPI, then divide eDPI by the new DPI to get your new sens. Same eDPI = same feel inside one game.
The one pitfall: Windows pointer speed
Windows pointer speed should be at the exact middle notch (6 of 11) and Enhance Pointer Precision must be OFF. Any other combination scales your raw DPI by an extra factor that no converter can fully account for, and your measured cm/360° drifts from what Sens Converter reports.