What DPI Should I Use?

The best DPI for a mouse is anything from 400 to 1600; what decides how your aim feels is eDPI, so pick a DPI for your screen and desk and tune sensitivity around it.

Any DPI from 400 to 1600 is a good choice; what you feel in a game is DPI multiplied by in-game sensitivity, called eDPI, so the DPI number on its own matters far less than people expect. Pick a DPI that makes the desktop cursor comfortable on your screen, then set sensitivity so your eDPI lands where you want it. If you have no preference, start at 800 DPI.

The rest of this page explains why that is the answer, compares 400, 800, and 1600 directly, shows the eDPI ranges pros actually use in each game, and covers the cases where DPI does make a real difference: desktop use on high-resolution monitors, very low sensitivities, and sensor accuracy. If you do not know your current DPI, measure it with the DPI analyzer before you change anything.

Why DPI alone does not decide how your aim feels

DPI is how many counts the sensor sends for every inch the mouse moves. The game multiplies each count by your sensitivity setting to turn your view by a small angle. Double the DPI and halve the sensitivity, and every inch of hand movement still turns you by the same angle; the two settings are a pair, and only the product counts.

That product is eDPI, and it is the number that lets you compare two players or two setups. A Counter-Strike player at 400 DPI and sensitivity 2.2 has an eDPI of 880; another at 800 DPI and sensitivity 1.1 also has 880, and they turn at identical speed. This is why pro settings lists look chaotic on the DPI column and tidy on the eDPI column.

The physical measure behind eDPI is cm/360, the distance your mouse travels for a full turn. It depends on eDPI and on the game's internal scaling, which is why a Valorant eDPI of 280 and a CS2 eDPI of 880 feel the same. The eDPI calculator shows both numbers for your settings and places them against the typical pro range for your game.

400 vs 800 vs 1600 DPI

These are the three values almost everyone ends up on, and the differences between them are smaller than the arguments about them suggest. With sensitivity matched, all three produce the same turn speed; the table lists what actually changes.

	400 DPI	800 DPI	1600 DPI
Desktop cursor at 1080p	Slow; many players raise Windows pointer speed, which hurts games	Comfortable at the default pointer speed	Fast; fine for large or high-resolution screens
Desktop cursor at 1440p and 4K	Too slow for most people	Usable at 1440p, slow at 4K	Comfortable at 1440p, usable at 4K
Counts per inch	400, so slow micro-movements can skip pixels at very low sensitivity	800, smooth at every common sensitivity	1600, smoothest for very low sensitivities
CS2 sensitivity for 880 eDPI	2.2	1.1	0.55
Valorant sensitivity for 280 eDPI	0.7	0.35	0.175
Apex Legends sensitivity for 1600 eDPI	4.0	2.0	1.0
Who uses it	Long-time CS players, many pros by habit	The most common choice among players and pros	Players on high-resolution screens and those who want one DPI for desktop and games

The practical reading: 400 DPI has no advantage over 800 beyond habit, and its main cost is a sluggish desktop cursor that tempts people into raising the system pointer speed. 800 is the safe default. 1600 is the right call if you have a 1440p or 4K monitor and want one setting that works everywhere; just divide your sensitivity by two when you move up from 800.

Above 1600, the benefits run out for most people. Modern sensors remain accurate at 3200 and beyond, but the in-game sensitivity has to drop to tiny fractions that some games round, and the desktop becomes twitchy. Mice advertising 20,000 or 30,000 DPI are advertising a sensor specification, not a recommendation.

What DPI and eDPI do pros use in each game?

Pros spread across 400, 800, and 1600 DPI, but their eDPI clusters tightly within each game. The ranges below are the typical professional eDPI bands used by the eDPI calculator on this site, with the in-game sensitivity that hits the typical value at 400 and 800 DPI.

Game	Typical pro eDPI range	Typical value	Sensitivity at 400 DPI	Sensitivity at 800 DPI
Counter-Strike 2 / CS:GO	600 – 1100	880	2.2	1.1
Valorant	200 – 400	280	0.7	0.35
Apex Legends	1000 – 2000	1600	4.0	2.0
Overwatch 2	3500 – 6500	5000	12.5	6.25
Call of Duty (MW / Warzone)	3000 – 6000	4500	11.25	5.63
Marvel Rivals	3000 – 6000	4500	11.25	5.63
Fortnite	32 – 80	50	12.5%	6.3%
Rainbow Six Siege	2400 – 8000	4000	10	5
The Finals	18000 – 32000	25600	64	32

Fortnite expresses sensitivity as a percentage and the eDPI convention for that game treats the percentage as a fraction, so 800 DPI at 6.3% counts as 50 eDPI; the eDPI calculator applies that convention when Fortnite is selected. The eDPI numbers differ enormously between games only because each game scales sensitivity differently; the hand movement behind them is similar, roughly 30 to 50 cm per full turn for most tactical-shooter pros.

Two conclusions follow. First, the DPI column is missing from this table on purpose: it does not predict anything. Second, if you want a starting point for a game, aim for the typical value in its row and adjust from there, rather than copying any individual pro's DPI.

Which DPI for which type of game?

Game genre changes the sensitivity you want, not the DPI you should use. The table shows sensible eDPI targets by genre and the DPI that pairs with them conveniently.

Game type	Suggested DPI	What to aim for	Why
Tactical shooters (CS2, Valorant)	400 or 800	Lower eDPI, long cm/360 of 35 to 55 cm	Precise, small flicks and holding angles reward a slow turn
Fast arena and hero shooters (Overwatch 2, Apex, CoD)	800 or 1600	Mid eDPI, 25 to 40 cm/360	More tracking and 180-degree turns, less time holding still
Battle royale with building (Fortnite)	800 or 1600	Mid to high eDPI	Building and editing need quick cursor movement on top of aim
MOBA, RTS, and strategy	800 to 1600	A cursor that crosses the screen in one comfortable motion	Speed across the map matters more than fine angle control
Desktop, office, and creative work	800 at 1080p, 1200 to 1600 at 1440p, 1600 to 3200 at 4K	Comfortable cursor at the default pointer speed	More pixels need more counts to cross the screen

If you play across several of these, keep one DPI and let each game's sensitivity do the work. Switching DPI between games means every other game's sensitivity is suddenly wrong, and it is the most common way people lose a setting they liked.

When DPI genuinely matters

There are three situations where the DPI value itself, not just the eDPI, changes the outcome.

Very low sensitivity. At 400 DPI with a very low in-game sensitivity, a single count can turn the view by more than a pixel at your resolution, so slow, careful movements step rather than glide. Raising DPI to 800 or 1600 and lowering sensitivity by the same ratio keeps the eDPI identical while giving the game finer steps to work with. This is the one solid technical reason to leave 400.

Desktop cursor speed. The operating system does not have an eDPI; the cursor moves one pixel per count at the default pointer speed. A 4K screen is 3840 pixels wide, so at 400 DPI you need nearly 10 inches of mouse travel to cross it. Changing the Windows or macOS pointer speed to compensate scales every count and can skip pixels, which is why the fix belongs in the DPI setting and not the slider.

Sensor accuracy at the extremes. Older or cheap sensors become less accurate at their highest stages, and a few drift at their lowest. Most current gaming sensors are accurate from 400 to several thousand DPI, but this is easy to test: measure two different stages with the DPI analyzer, and if one stage's result deviates from its nominal value far more than the other, avoid that stage.

How to settle on your DPI in four steps

Check your current DPI and sensitivity and work out your eDPI. The eDPI calculator tells you where that lands against the pro range for your game.
Pick a DPI for your screen: 800 for 1080p, 1200 to 1600 for 1440p, 1600 or higher for 4K. If you already use one of these, keep it.
If you changed DPI, convert your sensitivity so the eDPI stays the same. Doubling DPI means halving sensitivity; the DPI calculator handles odd ratios.
Play for a week, then adjust sensitivity in small steps, not DPI. Changing DPI again moves the desktop cursor and every other game at once.

If you decide to move, how to change mouse DPI covers the DPI button and each brand's software, and DPI vs sensitivity goes deeper on why the two settings trade off against each other and where polling rate fits in.

eDPI calculator: turn your DPI and sensitivity into one number and compare it with the pro range for your game.
DPI vs sensitivity: what each setting changes and which one to adjust.
How to change mouse DPI: set the DPI you picked with the button or in the software.
DPI analyzer: measure the real DPI your mouse delivers before you build settings on it.

GameMouse DPIIn-game sensitivity

eDPI

1600

cm/360

26.0cm

in/360

10.2in

Typical pro eDPI in Counter-Strike 2600 – 1100 · typical 880

1600 eDPI is above the usual pro range of 600–1100. Faster than most players; expect less precision on small targets.

Target eDPI (optional)

Type a target eDPI to get the sensitivity you need at your current DPI.

eDPI = DPI × in-game sensitivity. It only compares players inside the same game; use the sensitivity converter to compare across games.

Updated October 6, 2026

Frequently asked questions

What DPI should I use for gaming?

Use 400, 800, or 1600 DPI and set your in-game sensitivity so that DPI multiplied by sensitivity, your eDPI, lands where you want it. The DPI alone does not decide how fast you turn; the product does. 800 DPI is the most common starting point because it works on the desktop at 1080p and 1440p and gives clean numbers in every game.

Is 400 DPI or 800 DPI better?

Neither is better for aim once the in-game sensitivity is matched, because 400 DPI at sensitivity 2 and 800 DPI at sensitivity 1 produce the same turn. 800 DPI gives the sensor twice as many counts per inch, which makes very slow movements slightly smoother and keeps the desktop cursor usable on larger screens. 400 DPI is a holdover from older sensors and lower-resolution monitors, and plenty of pros still use it out of habit.

What is a good DPI for a gaming mouse?

Anything between 400 and 1600 DPI is good for a gaming mouse, and most modern sensors are accurate across that whole range. The mouse's maximum DPI, whether 8000 or 30000, is a marketing figure that has no bearing on which value you should use. Pick 800 if you have no preference and adjust from there.

What is the average DPI for gaming?

Most competitive players use 400 or 800 DPI, with 1600 the next most common, so the practical average sits around 800. What they match far more closely is eDPI within each game: for example roughly 600 to 1100 in Counter-Strike 2 and 200 to 400 in Valorant. Their DPI varies; the resulting turn speed does not vary much.

Does higher DPI make you more accurate?

Not by itself. A higher DPI paired with a lower sensitivity gives the same cm/360 as a lower DPI with a higher sensitivity, and your hand moves the same distance either way. Higher DPI can reduce pixel skipping at very low sensitivities and makes the desktop cursor faster, but raising DPI without lowering sensitivity simply makes you turn faster, which usually hurts precision.

What DPI should I use for a 1440p or 4K monitor?

For the desktop, 1200 to 1600 DPI keeps the cursor comfortable on a 1440p screen and 1600 to 3200 on 4K, because there are more pixels to cross. For games, resolution does not change the right eDPI, since the game turns your view by an angle regardless of how many pixels it renders. Many players keep a high DPI stage for the desktop and a lower one for games, or keep one DPI and let the game's sensitivity do the work.

What DPI do pros use?

The large majority of FPS professionals use 400, 800, or 1600 DPI, with 400 and 800 the most common in Counter-Strike and Valorant. The DPI choice is mostly habit and sponsor hardware; what they converge on is eDPI inside each game. Check the pro eDPI range for your game in the eDPI calculator rather than copying a DPI number.

Should I change DPI or in-game sensitivity?

Change sensitivity for fine adjustments and keep DPI fixed, because the DPI value also drives the desktop cursor and every other game you play. Change DPI only when the desktop feels wrong or when you need more counts per inch for a very low sensitivity. Whatever you change, keep the product of the two the same if you want your aim to carry over.

More DPI tools and guides

Once you know your real DPI, these pages turn it into a sensitivity you can use in every game.