What is polling rate? How important is it?

Have you ever wondered if your keyboard can understand your keystrokes faster? You may be surprised to learn that it is possible.

A keyboard's polling rate refers to how often the keyboard is queried for input. The higher the polling rate, the more often the keyboard will check to see if you are pressing a key, which directly affects the keyboard's responsiveness.

But why is keyboard polling rate important to regular people, and are higher polling rates more important to gamers?

What is keyboard polling rate?

Your keyboard's polling rate determines how often your computer checks for keystrokes. Like many measurements with computers, polling rate is measured in Hertz (Hz), which tells us how many requests are made per second. Thus, a high number means that your computer and keyboard communicate more often, and keystrokes are detected and recorded quickly.

What is polling rate? How important is it? Picture 1

For example:

1. Keyboards with a 125Hz polling rate are polled 125 times per second, or once every 8 milliseconds.
2. The keyboard has a 500Hz polling rate that is polled 500 times per second or every 2 milliseconds.
3. Keyboards with a 1,000Hz polling rate are polled 1000 times per second or once every millisecond.

Higher keyboard polling rates can reduce the impact of input lag, which is a noticeable delay between your input and the keystroke represented on the screen.

Many modern gaming keyboards offer polling rates up to 1,000Hz, as this provides the fastest response times for competitive gaming. However, extremely high polling rates like 4,000Hz may be overkill for most users.

The standard polling rate used to be around 125Hz, but higher rates like 500-1,000Hz have recently become more common. Choosing the right polling rate depends on your needs - fast-paced gaming benefits from 500+Hz, while general typing doesn't require very high speeds.

Does keyboard polling rate make a difference when playing games?

Yes, keyboard polling rate is completely related to in-game performance. The faster your keyboard and computer receive and respond to inputs, the faster they are implemented in the game. It's the difference between dodging a shot in a competitive FPS game and getting knocked down and losing.

What is polling rate? How important is it? Picture 2

As mentioned above, a higher polling rate will reduce input latency. ESport professionals will use much higher polling rates than the average person, with some keyboards offering up to 4,000Hz (0.25ms) and some even going up to 8,000Hz ( 0.125ms).

However, most normal people can compete well with a polling rate of 1,000Hz. A polling rate of 1,000Hz means your keystrokes are recorded every 1 millisecond, which is still incredibly fast. Furthermore, a polling rate of 1,000Hz can provide a competitive advantage over 500Hz, 250Hz or 125Hz.

But nothing can replace real game skills!

It's also important to note that higher polling rates often put more strain on the system CPU. Polling rate 8,000Hz requires extremely fast communication at a nearly constant speed, which can lead to CPU drain.

Does a wired keyboard have a better polling rate than a wireless keyboard?

You don't necessarily need a wired keyboard to achieve high polling rates. Many modern wireless gaming keyboards can also have polling rates as high as 500Hz or 1,000Hz.

What is polling rate? How important is it? Picture 3

However, a wired connection can often easily achieve higher and more stable polling rates than a wireless keyboard.

Here are some key considerations related to polling rate for wireless keyboards:

1. Wireless networks create some natural delay due to the transmission time from the keyboard to the receiver. This can limit the maximum polling rate, although many wireless gaming keyboards have optimization techniques to minimize this.
2. Such wireless protocols have limitations that can limit polling rates to 125-250Hz. Some proprietary wireless protocols such as Logitech Lightspeed or Razer HyperSpeed ​​can achieve polling frequencies of 500-1,000Hz over the wireless network.
3. Wireless keyboards that come with 2.4 GHz USB dongles typically support polling rates higher than 1,000Hz, although this rate is specific to keyboards only.
4. Battery life may decrease at extremely high polling rates because the wireless keyboard requires more frequent transmissions.
5. Sometimes there can be inconsistencies or spikes in polling rate with wireless networks when signal interference occurs. Direct wired connection, thus more stable.
6. A wired connection eliminates the battery requirement of a wireless keyboard.

Polling rates as high as 500+Hz can be achieved in today's wireless gaming keyboards using advanced wireless protocols.

However, wired keyboards can deliver a slightly more consistent and maximum polling rate for competitive gamers who want every last response.

If you're into competitive gaming, a wired keyboard is always the best choice (that goes for your mouse, too).

How to check polling rate on keyboard

There are several ways to check your keyboard's polling rate.

1. Keyboard software : Many keyboards come with companion desktop software. Depending on the software, you may find a specific section dedicated to adjusting and checking Polling rate on your keyboard, such as Razer Synapse, Logitech G Hub, Corsair iQue, etc.
2. Physical switches : Some keyboards have physical switches that allow you to change the keyboard's polling rate. Check to see if your keyboard has this switch, usually found on the back of the device.
3. Third-party software : Many third-party applications are designed to monitor and check keyboard polling rate. For example, the free and open source code can detect the polling rate on your keyboard in seconds using test mode and is extremely simple to use.

What is polling rate? How important is it? Picture 4

Note that the above tool is only for Windows and Linux.

1. Manual calculation : If you don't have any of the above tools available and can't get hold of or use them, you can also check your keyboard polling rate manually. However, it is not particularly accurate. To manually measure keyboard polling rate, open a text editor, then set a 10-second timer. Press the timer button and press a key as many times as possible. Divide the number of keystrokes by time and you will get a rough estimate of your polling rate.

Manual options exist, but you're better off using one of the other methods to monitor polling rate on your keyboard.

Which keyboard has the highest polling rate?

Currently there are some keyboards with polling rate 8,000Hz:

1. Razer Huntsman V2
2. Corsair K70 RGB Pro
3. Corsair K100
4. Asus ROG Strix Flare II Animate
5. Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro

Note that these are just some of the options and other keyboards offer polling rates of 8,000Hz. It's also important to remember that 8,000Hz is the highest polling rate offered by these keyboards, but it's not the only one. You can set each of these keyboards to a typical polling rate such as 1,000Hz using the built-in controls or desktop software.

Jessica Tanner

Update 24 October 2023