It might seem weird, but your Windows sensitivity matters. In some cases, choosing the wrong value can make your cursor less precise. Weird, isn’t it? After researching the topic, I’ve found that many people are unaware of this which can harm their consistency overall. Let’s fix it together, shall we?
The Best Windows Sensitivity
Windows sensitivity should be set to the 6th notch, which is commonly referred to as 6/11. The reason is that choosing any other value can cause pixel skipping or inconsistencies in your cursor. But, more and more games are using raw input, which overrides this setting making this setting useless.
The problem with choosing anything other than 6/11 is that you won’t get 1-to-1 Windows mouse movement. For instance, let’s say you are using a lower value than 6/11. 3/11, for example. That means that your Windows sensitivity multiplier is 0.25. So if you move your mouse for 3 pixels, you will get 0.25*3=0.75, which basically means that you didn’t move at all.
Now, move again for another pixel, and it will move 1 pixel. Because 1*0.25+0.75=1. Do you see the problem? Inconsistency alert!
Now, let’s say you choose something higher than 6/11. For example, 11/11. Now, you move 3.5 pixels for every mouse count. That means you are skipping 2 pixels every time. This is not the best practice, to say the least. Imagine skipping an entire head in CS:GO. Just kidding, heads are a bit bigger than a pixel, but again, it is easy to see the problem here.
The problem with anything other than 6/11 for Windows sensitivity is inconsistency. Skipping pixels and cursor movement inconsistencies are all things we should avoid when playing in a competitive environment.
By the way, if you are using enhance pointer precision, then what are you doing? Turn it off right now! Check out more here Mouse Acceleration And Enhance Pointer Precision: Turn It OFF Right Now!
Is This Still A Problem Today?
But there’s a catch. There is a thing called Raw input.
Raw input means that your game engine gathers mouse input straight from your mouse’s driver and not from Windows. It reads the data before it reaches Windows, reducing input latency and giving you 1:1 consistent input without any Windows interpretation.
Most of today’s games are actually using Raw input. This basically means that Windows sensitivity doesn’t matter. Now, many old games are still not utilizing the power of raw input, so that’s why I still recommend using 6/11 for consistency across every game.
That’s why I wouldn’t stress too much about it. As most games are using raw input, you are basically safe with every setting you set. But there’s no harm to put it on 6/11, right?
What The Pros Are Using?
I’ve found the data on on-winning.com, the prosettings.net official blog. They’ve gathered 172 players’ information, including windows sensitivity in CS:GO.
After analyzing the data, I concluded that more than 90% of pro players analyzed use 6/11 windows sensitivity.
Not even one player is above 6/11. Again, not surprising as we’ve learned that more than that causes pixel skipping.
Another interesting finding is that I’ve found this information only about pro CS:GO players. I couldn’t find any data regarding Windows sensitivity in other esports games. And there’s a reason why.
As I’ve said, most of today’s games use raw input as default. Therefore, Windows sensitivity settings do not matter. But, CS:GO does not use raw input as default. That’s why mentioning pro players’ Windows sensitivity when talking about general sensitivity settings is a good idea.
You can find the data here.
How To Change Your Windows Sensitivity?
- Type “mouse settings” in the windows search bar and click on the first option.
- Click “Additional mouse options” in the right section.
- Click on the “pointer options” tab.
- Set your Windows sensitivity to the desired one and press OK.
6/11 or 10/20?
6/11 or 10/20 Windows sensitivity is the same thing on different interfaces. 10/20 is on the newer mouse settings panel while 6/11 is on the older one. You can get to 10/20 when you type “mouse settings” in the search bar and click on the first option.
As you can see, the cursor speed is set to 10/20 in this specific interface, but 6/11 on the other interface. But these are the same thing.
The default Windows sensitivity is 6/11 or 10/20 depending on which interface you are looking at.
So generally speaking, you don’t need to adjust anything if you didn’t touch the setting. But I would take a second glance and make sure it is set right.
If you are looking for more information regarding mouse settings make sure to check out:
Thank you for reading and I will see you next time!
