Within the battle for the quickest gaming mouse, Razer simply fired the primary shot in a brand new entrance. The $80 Razer Viper 8K boasts a wild 8,000Hz polling charge that’s eight occasions quicker than the trade normal, paired with a blistering 20,000 DPI (dots per inch) sensor. Holy smokes. Whereas esports professionals ought to instantly begin drooling over specs like that, most individuals won’t ever come near using its full potential, particularly because you’ll want a reasonably beefy PC setup to get probably the most out of it.
That’s to not promote the Viper 8K quick, although—it seems to be like a really spectacular piece of equipment. Polling charges measure how usually your mouse tells your PC when its cursor is positioned onscreen. Commonplace 1000Hz mice take about one millisecond to take action, however the Viper 8K’s high-speed USB controller causes that enter delay to plummet all the way in which right down to a mere 1/eighth of a millisecond, theoretically offering smoother monitoring. Paired with that 20,000 DPI sensor, this mouse can virtually transfer the place you need it earlier than you need it there within the palms of top-level esports rivals.
It’s very a lot overkill for many players, nonetheless. Polling charge isn’t an actual concern for anybody besides elite rivals, and despite the fact that 16,000 DPI+ gaming mice have been frequent for some time now, most individuals have a tendency to make use of a lot decrease settings. Numerous players I do know stick with the two,000 DPI to 4,000 DPI vary and specific amazement after I inform them I set my Razer DeathAdder to 9,000 DPI. By comparability, most traditional workplace mice deploy a lot slower sensors with DPIs of round 800 to 1,200 DPI.
If you happen to do attempt for the bottom attainable enter lag in aggressive video games, the Viper 8K might enchantment to lefties and righties alike as a result of its ambidextrous nature. However you’ll want an honest gaming rig to squeeze probably the most out of it. Razer despatched overview samples to Tom’s {Hardware} and The Verge, full with an inventory of advisable specs. Sure, advisable specs for utilizing a mouse. You don’t see that always.
- CPU: Intel Core i5-8600K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 or AMD Radeon RX 5700
- Show: 144Hz refresh charge, adaptive sync (FreeSync or G-Sync) disabled
You may must disable adaptive sync—a function that synchronizes the refresh charge of your monitor to your graphics card to allow easy, tearing-free gameplay—to really push the Viper 8K. Razer informed Tom’s {Hardware} that to faucet into the Viper 8K’s most responsiveness, your PC in all probability runs esports video games quicker than your monitor’s refresh charge, and adaptive sync caps body charges to what your monitor can deal with. With an uncapped body charge, “the advantages of a high-speed mouse are much more obvious as a result of the sport is ready to make use of the high-speed reporting of the mouse to a a lot larger diploma, and the high-speed reporting of the mouse ‘smooths out’ any desync induced as a result of body time variation,” Razer mentioned.
Oh, and that 144Hz refresh charge for the monitor is simply the minimal suggestion—the quicker your display screen, the extra it is best to discover the Viper 8K’s advantages. Razer’s press launch cites excited esports professionals who say they will: “This know-how is ideal for video games that require excessive precision and responsiveness like CS:GO,” mentioned Tarik Celik of Evil Geniuses. In the meantime, Nikolay “Nikobaby” Nikolov from Dota 2 staff Alliance mentioned, “I’d immediately inform the distinction between 1000Hz and 8000Hz.”
Mere mortals in all probability received’t. That mentioned, Razer isn’t charging an outrageous premium for the Viper 8K’s superior capabilities—its $80 worth level matches that of the unique Viper. So in the event you’re on the lookout for a lightning-fast ambidextrous mouse, this is perhaps value a shot. Yow will discover extra concerning the Viper 8K on Razer’s web site.