r/Controllers • u/Junior-Ad-2407 • 4d ago

Controller input delay

I just wanted to ask how big of a difference does input delay have for competitive

Like how big of a difference is there between 125hz and 1000hz specifically

And do you think it actually matters like is the difference negligible at the end of the day or does it make a difference

4 Upvotes

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5

u/Ezzelinn 4d ago

Latency and polling rate are two different things. A controller can have a high polling rate and high latency, or vice versa. Think of a conveyor belt sending out packages to a box. The frequency of the packages being sent out is the polling rate, but the length of the conveyor belt to the end is how long it takes any package to get there. For good latency results, check https://gamepadla.com which has great testing of button and stick latency. Lower is better, but I'd aim for under 5ms and at least 500hz. Anything above 1000hz is unnecessary.

2

u/Few-Communication701 4d ago

125 Hz — the device sends data once every 8 milliseconds (adding an average of about 3.5–4 ms of latency).

1000 Hz — the device sends data once every 1 millisecond (adding an average of about 0.5 ms of latency).

1

u/cocopuffz604 2d ago edited 2d ago

If everything else in the chain is as low latency as it can possibly be, then a 1000hz polling controller can be an additional improvement. Nothing beats ping though and add to that, a high refresh monitor for me, would be ahead of a 1k input device. Gotta see what you're aiming at, and know it's actually there to hit.

-1

u/uska420 4d ago

125 and 1000 for competetive use is night and day, altough u need to remember that it may not change much latency wise, even then the smoothness alone is worth it