cm/360° vs eDPI — which one actually matters?
Both cm/360° and eDPI claim to describe your sensitivity. They agree about half the time and disagree the other half — and knowing when to use which separates good aim guides from bad ones.
eDPI: a within-game shorthand
eDPI = DPI × in-game sens. That's it. The whole point is to collapse two numbers into one so you can say "I run Val at 280 eDPI" without spelling out 800×0.35 vs 400×0.7 vs 1600×0.175. They're equivalent.
Within a single game, eDPI is a clean comparison metric. Two Valorant players at 280 eDPI have the same physical aim. Two CS2 players at 800 eDPI have the same physical aim.
eDPI's flaw: it lies between games
A Val 280 eDPI is roughly 28 cm/360°. A CS2 280 eDPI is roughly 90 cm/360°. Same number, totally different physical aim.
The reason is the engine yaw value. Valorant's yaw is 0.07; CS2's is 0.022. The same eDPI applied to different yaws produces wildly different rotation per mouse count. eDPI is calibrated to the game, not to your hand.
cm/360°: the only cross-game metric
cm/360° is the literal centimeters your mouse moves to rotate your character once. It's a measurement of your hand, not the game. 28 cm/360° in Val is 28 cm/360° in CS2 is 28 cm/360° in Apex — same physical aim everywhere.
That's why pros think in cm/360° when they switch games. The in-game slider value changes; cm/360° doesn't.
When to use which
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| Comparing your sens to a pro in the same game | eDPI |
| Switching games (Val → CS2, etc.) | cm/360° |
| Sizing a new mousepad | cm/360° |
| Quick reference in chat ("I run 320") | eDPI |
| Coaching someone across multiple games | cm/360° |
A common confusion
Sometimes you'll see arguments like "CS pros have 4× higher eDPI than Val pros — they must be way faster". They're not. Val pros median around 28 cm/360°; CS pros median around 33 cm/360°. The physical aim is nearly identical. The eDPI gap is pure engine artifact.
We covered this in detail in our pro settings stats analysis — same hand, different number on the slider.
The right mental model
Pick a cm/360° based on your playstyle (28-35 for tactical, 15-22 for tracking shooters). Convert it to in-game sens for whatever game you're playing. Memorize the eDPI for chat shorthand within that game. When you switch games, go back to cm/360° as your anchor.
Tools to make all of this trivial:
- cm/360° Calculator — pick game, DPI, sens, see cm/360°
- eDPI Calculator — DPI × sens, with pro benchmarks
- Sens converters — preserve cm/360° between game pairs