Let’s talk about polling rate, a topic that's becoming increasingly popular. Mice with high polling rates are often chosen based on this parameter. So, should people pay attention to it? Let’s discuss whether they're right in their choices.
A high polling rate is indeed useful in games, but only in those that register input data regardless of frame rate. In older games where movement is tied to frame rate, it’s practically useless. "Older" doesn’t mean "released a long time ago"; it simply means they use outdated input methods. Counter Strike 2 uses exactly such a method linked to the frame rate. Thus, even if your mouse has a polling rate of 4000 or 8000 Hz, it doesn't matter in this game. No matter how high you raise the polling rate, it will still be capped by your frame rate, which is the polling rate in CS2. The game will only register information in the next frame, regardless of how much data is being transmitted.
Even if the mouse sends data 8000 times per second, the game processes it only 100 times per second if you have 100 FPS. Your FPS in Counter Strike 2, like in most other games, is your polling rate. This is why Counter Strike 2 feels worse than CS:GO, which used a similar input method. Unfortunately, each of us has seen our FPS drop noticeably, and frametime has become less stable.
This is why I’m surprised when Valve prohibits features like Snap Tab for keyboards while strafing. They claim they won’t allow any advantages to be gained in the game, while the main advantage is, in fact, right there on the surface in this game. Like in many other FPS games, FPS not only determines the smoothness of the visuals and affects latency—it directly decides whether a bullet will hit where you aim, whether a flick will be registered, and how well a spray will land. All of this relies on FPS. That’s why many players opt for lower resolutions with stretched models—it’s an advantage for newcomers. But do you really think a pro player won't hit a model at 16:9 resolution? Absolutely! The only thing is that the game feels much less responsive at higher resolutions. Until developers implement an FPS-independent input system in shooters, like in Overwatch, the situation won't change.
For example, in the game Overwatch, there is a setting called High Precision Mouse Input. Until something like this is implemented, the highest polling rate of your mouse and keyboard will only serve to drain your battery in a couple of days instead of a couple of weeks, leading to accelerated battery degradation.
A high polling rate is beneficial in games like Overwatch, where the frame rate will be maintained at its maximum. The game registers mouse data independently of the frame rate: whether you're at 30 FPS or 500 FPS, the polling rate will be 4,000 if your mouse supports it. There’s no dependency on frames here. In Counter-Strike, the higher your FPS, the more frequently your movements are registered, while in Overwatch, they are recorded regardless of frame rate. In this game, if you have 8,000 available, you will be playing at that frequency.
This is why opinions online about polling rate vary so greatly: some say there’s no difference, while others insist there is. Of course, there’s no difference when you’re playing a game where movements between frames are not registered—there simply won’t be a discrepancy. The minimal difference you might notice is often either a placebo effect or depends on how much FPS you have on a specific map in the game. Others, however, claim that the difference is real and noticeable. These people typically play games where that difference is indeed significant. This is where all the confusion comes from. This article is precisely about that.
Actually, we don’t need to spend money on expensive devices with a high polling rate. We should be demanding that developers implement this feature in every self-respecting game, in every shooter. It should be the norm, and in fact, in every game, because it’s simply wrong that movement is only registered in the next frame by the mouse, or worse, in the previous one. This severely limits the capabilities of the device, and therefore the abilities of the player. That’s why it’s absurd that this issue is still unresolved in modern games, like Counter-Strike 2.
There have already been discussions about mouse input issues in CS2 a year ago. One of the most interesting things about Counter-Strike 2 that surprised me a lot at the time is that your bullets don’t go where you aim. They are actually sent back in time and registered where you aimed in the previous frame. In CS:GO, they were registered in the next frame, but now — in the previous one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD9I3YD3Wys&t=0s
In CS:GO, that choice is always made in favor of the next frame that has been rendered, which, in turn, opts to favor the previous frame. In theory, the setup in CS2 should be better since it doesn't wait for any data—it already has it in the past. Yet, in practice, it feels like CS is constantly trying to catch up with you, and you need to click a little later for your shots to hit the target.
This video is old, but I can say with confidence that these issues haven't been resolved, and the way mouse input works in CS2 hasn't changed. So you're still playing that way. You do everything you can to improve in this game, giving your all and striving for victory. At the same time, you're battling against a lower FPS than in CS:GO and an unstable frametime. I reiterate, mouse input depends on frame rate and its stability, because it relies on frames, and the mouse input system uses data from the previous frame. Given that you're constantly moving and strafing in the game, you'll often find yourself in situations where, in CS:GO, you would have hit that shot exactly where you needed, but in CS2, that's not the case. The game works against you, registering your movement from the previous frame, and with low and unstable frame rates, it hinders your gameplay. This is why CS:GO feels better than CS2. You might not perceive it this way, but it’s the truth. The only way to achieve more responsive controls in CS2 is to invest in a top-tier CPU and graphics card, and optimize your Windows system to achieve the highest possible FPS. The more FPS you have, the less chance the game's input issues will work against you, and with higher FPS, your accuracy in CS2 will improve.
by Kentukkis