Lower Mouse Polling Rate
Your mouse polling rate (Report Rate) controls how many times per second the mouse sends position updates to the PC. Very high polling rates like 1000Hz, 2000Hz, 4000Hz, or 8000Hz can create extra CPU interrupt load (DPC/ISR overhead). On some systems, this shows up as micro-stuttering, especially when moving the mouse quickly in-game. Lowering the polling rate can reduce micro-stutters, improve frame-time consistency in CPU-limited games, and reduce interrupt overhead.
- Open your mouse software: Use Logitech G Hub, Razer Synapse, SteelSeries GG, Corsair iCUE, Glorious Core, HyperX NGENUITY, or your brand's app
- Find the Polling/Report Rate setting: Look for Polling Rate or Report Rate, sometimes under Performance, Sensitivity, or Device settings
- Lower it to 500Hz: If it's set to 1000Hz+, change it to 500Hz and apply/save the change
- If stuttering still happens, try 250Hz: This is often the safe value for troubleshooting
- Test in-game properly: Launch the game, move the mouse continuously (fast flicks + normal tracking)
- If stuttering reduces or disappears specifically during mouse movement, high polling rate was likely the cause
The difference between 1000Hz and 500Hz is usually hard to feel, but the stability improvement can be very noticeable. If you're using an 8K polling mouse, dropping to 1000Hz or 500Hz is a very common fix for stutter-on-mouse-move issues. High polling rate = thousands of interrupts per second = more CPU scheduling overhead = potential micro-stutters.
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