mouse
It seems that mouse DPI is getting pretty high these days. How much DPI do you really need?
Update: This question is targeted at gaming, by the way 🙂 I'm interested to know what is noticeably different (and important) between 2000 and 5000 DPI when playing high speed games like Quake and SC2?
Open Mouse Properties, and on the Pointer Options tab, look for "Select a pointer speed", then the "Enhance pointer precision" checkbox.
"I always have problem to properly calibrate my mouse when playing FPS games (Combat Arms)."
I know this answer is very late; but I've played quite a bit of Combat Arms over the years and I believe it's critical to OP's (former) issues.
Combat Arms in 2011 was using an engine similar to what is now available as "Combat Arms: Classic" (this is not the same as the one available on Steam called "Combat Arms:Reloaded"; which doesn't have these issues). In the old engine, there are a couple things to note about mouse movement.
Combat Arms had forced mouse smoothing (I can't find the reference for this anymore, it was said by a developer on Nexon forums when they were working on CA:Reloaded). The best way to help avoid major effects from that was to put a cap on the FPS that you could maintain constantly.
"My mouse is Razer Copperhead."
Razer Copperhead, like many gaming mice, has a polling rate up to 1000 Hz. Combat Arms doesn't like that. The aim will zig zag and not follow straight paths if the polling rate is above 125 Hz. Most gaming mice have settings to limit the polling rate in their software.
TL:DR The Combat Arms: Classic (or Combat Arms in 2011) engine does not work well for calibrating mice in general. The game has forced mouse smoothing so using fixed FPS is suggested. It also requires a polling rate of 125 Hz or below to allow the mouse to move in straight lines.
Update: If (for some reason) you do still want to play Combat Arms Classic with a 1000Hz mouse, I have found the workaround for that as well.
In your Combat Arms Classic folder there are two .exe's for the game. Engine and Engine2. Engine2 is actually a "beta" build that has been included with classic for awhile.
The Engine2.exe actually works to run the game, (and removes forced mouse smoothing) as long as the game is up to date (which means you need to run the normal launcher to update the game).
You'll want to make a shortcut for Engine2.exe. Then right-click on the shortcut and go to properties. Where it says Target, add -windowtitle to the end of the target. It should look something like:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\CombatArms Classic\Engine2.exe" -windowtitle
This shortcut will launch the game with the build which removes the forced mouse smoothing.
Best Answer
It depends on your monitor resolution. Larger monitor resolutions have more pixels (or dots). So, for example, if your screen resolution was 1920x1200 and your mouse was capable of a maximum DPI of 600, you'd have to move your mouse two inches to get to the bottom of the screen to the top of the screen. If your mouse was capable of a DPI of 1200, it would only take one inch to make the same movement on the screen.
In short, as long as screen resolutions keep increasing, mice resolutions will need to continue to increase as well to prevent people from having to move their mice uncomfortable lengths to cross the screen.