Mouse polling rate test

What is mouse polling rate?

Mouse polling rate shows how frequent your mouse reports its movement data to computer, that’s why polling rate is also called mouse frequency or report rate. Like other frequencies mouse polling rate measures in Hz (Hertz).

There is also an index, inversely proportional to frequency, which is also used for almost the same thing, it’s called Report time. It shows time between mouse data sends.

For example, if your mouse has 500Hz rate, that means it sends data to PC 500 times in one second, and that will be 2ms report time.

Not every shop or even manufacturer shows mouse report rate, that's why this rate test is very handy.

How to check mouse rate

To check your mouse polling rate, you need two simple steps:

1. Click Start button
2. Move your mouse in different directions for a few seconds.

Maximum value in Hz is your mouse polling rate.

What mouse frequency is better?

The higher polling rate the more precise is mouse. In general, the more the better.

But after some point there is no big difference between two rates like 500 and 1000. Not much gamers will gain profit of using 1000Hz mouse over 500HZ. Some people even say that 1000Hz mice are less comfort to play with. This may be due to differences in feelings and expectations of different people.

Tu sum up, unless you are an elite pro gamer, you should stick to 500Hz, it’s a golden mean.