Cover-Credits:
Valorant used “raw input” for devices since launch. The raw input bypasses any mouse acceleration settings in the operating system. It is a feature that is enabled by default in a lot of shooters and it essentially accounts for your in-game mouse settings only and ignores other options implemented on your operating system. Raw input buffer was added in patch 3.07 which aids in improved performance for some players. Here is a breakdown of what raw input buffer in Valorant does and if you should tweak the setting depending on your hardware.
Should you turn on Raw Input Buffer in Valorant
Riot Games revealed that Raw Input Buffer will offer improvement in mouse performance for players. Enabling the setting will tweak how Valorant processes your input. If you have any system wide settings that help you adjust your aim in other games, it should work in Valorant too if you have the setting on. But the performance improvement is very marginal unless you have a mouse that has a polling rate of 8000 Hz or more.
Prior to patch 3.07 mice with 8000 Hz did not work as well with the default raw input that was locked since launch. Most popular mice have a polling rate of 1000 Hz, including gaming mice from popular brands. However, if you happen to own a mouse with an extremely high polling rate, it is strongly recommended to turn the setting on as it can lead to lower input lag and increase in performance.
If you have a mouse with a polling rate below 8000 Hz, you should head to the firing range and test out the setting and see if you notice any improvements. In most cases, you should leave the setting on as it reduces input lag in Valorant.
When should you not use raw in put in Valorant
There is only one situation where you should not be using Raw Input Buffer in Valorant and that is if you get low frames per second (FPS). If your game does not offer you over 60 fps consistently, you may experience issues when you turn on the setting.
You can check out our guide on how to fix low client FPS in Valorant to try out some solutions that go beyond turning down your graphics settings.
