If you’re a gamer at a skill level where a fraction of a millisecond matters, the response time of the once-humble computer mouse could land you global fame and fortune.
Enter the brand new Razer Viper 8K wired gaming mouse, which promises the “fastest speed and lowest latency ever achieved” in the category. How fast exactly? Razer says eight times faster than any other gaming mouse.
Razer says it uses HyperPolling Technology, which offers an 8000Hz polling rate, resulting in click latency improving from a millisecond to 1/8th of a millisecond. The current top gaming mice support polling rates of 1000Hz, for example, hence the 8x faster claims.
This polling rate refers to how often the mouse communicates its positioning to the PC per second. So, for this particular mouse, this happens 8,000 times for every second. The mouse has also narrowed down the response time of that communication to 0.125 milliseconds.
Related: Best PC Games
How will this benefit gamers? Well if a millisecond is the difference between life and death in an online FPS, it should reduce the risk of the sluggish aim, where it takes the gunsight a tick to catch up after you’ve moved the mouse onto the target’s head. It also means your trigger finger should be more in sync with the on-screen action.
Razer also explains that the tech comes into its own with high refresh rate monitors, helping to keep-up with the fast-moving action. The higher polling rate boost means gamers should see smoother performance and less stuttering overall.
In a press release, Razer says: “Higher polling rates can reduce the input delay, minimizing micro-stutters and sudden jumps in the cursor position, resulting in smooth, accurate cursor movement on the screen. Razer HyperPolling Technology not only provides the fastest click latency, but also keeps the click-to-click variance to an absolute minimum – making it superior to other leading gaming technologies.”
Elsewhere, Razer is promising more tactile feedback with zero risk of misclicks. It’s got an ambidextrous design and weighs just 71g. There’s 8 programmable buttons, space for 5 stored profiles and a two-year warranty. The mouse costs $79.99/£52.99 and is available now.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
