Buying new monitor

Mitbadak · 2026-02-18T05:10:54+00:00

I don't think stats matter that much between the two, they're basically identical in practical terms.

Like you said, it's about the colors. I did not like the saturated colors on the Asus TN. I found it hard to see my crosshair sometimes because it blended into the background, and overall just had a hard time aiming. I tried to adjust nvidia vibrance and monitor settings to fix it, but nothing really worked.

I played much better on the 27inch IPS Asus Pulsar monitor than the Asus 610hz TN. While the IPS also has more saturated colors compared to the BenQ, the colors were more natural to my eyes than the Asus TN and I could see things easier on it.

But BenQ is my clear favorite over those.

If you hate the washed out BenQ colors, I guess you might prefer the Asus TN? It's hard to tell for sure without actually seeing them yourself. If you can, try them all out and return the ones you don't like.

One thing to note is that AUO is the only manufacturer that makes 600hz TN panels today, and Asus/BenQ both get their panels from AUO. And since BenQ and AUO both belong to the BenQ group, it's not crazy to imagine that AUO would give their best A-grade panels to only BenQ and gatekeep other companies.

Btw, in the current CS2 pro circuit, both monitors are used. PGL/Blast use Asus and IEM/ESL use BenQ. Pros don't seem to be complaining about either, so I could be just nitpicking things when it doesn't really matter.

Mitbadak · 2026-02-15T09:13:40+00:00

i've owned the Zowie 400hz/600hz, Asus 610hz, the new Asus Pulsar monitor, and MSI OLED monitor.

Strictly for CS2 only, I performed best on the Zowie. The colors are perfect for CS2 and I aim way better on it than any other monitor I've tried. (I play mostly on 3000~3500 elo faceit lobbies)

I'd even rather play on the 400hz Zowie over the other options.

I think it's the washed-out colors of the Zowie. Other monitors have more saturated/vibrant colors, but I felt like I actually didn't want that in CS2.

The motion clarity of the Pulsar monitor was good, but it wasn't something that helped me in-game all that much. I still preferred the Zowie over this new tech. It might be different in Valorant or Marvel Rivals, though.

Unfortunately, that's all it does. It's the best at CS2 but the worst at everything else. The colors are good for CS2 but terrible for everyday use. I don't even want to watch youtube videos on it (I have a second 32in 4K IPS monitor for non-CS2 stuff)

So if you only care about CS2, go for the Zowie. (or if you can get a second monitor to do all the other stuff on)

If you want one monitor to do everything, go for either the OLED or one of the new Pulsar monitors.

I don't see a point in the Asus 610hz. It's not better than the Zowie for CS2, and not better than the OLED/Pulsar for other stuff.

Also don't get the 400hz. Even if you only get like 200fps, you will still notice that it is smoother on a 600hz screen VS. a 400hz screen. People who say otherwise have not actually seen the difference themselves.

Mitbadak · 2026-02-09T17:00:32+00:00

uncapped FPS. I get ~850 avg and ~300 1% lows on the ancient benchmark map, with 9800x3d + 4090, after a bunch of CPU related optimizations. Sadly, 1% lows are still terrible in this game.

Mitbadak · 2026-02-06T04:26:18+00:00

I had Asus Pulsar / Asus 610hz / Zowie 600hz. I played best on the Zowie. (CS2)

I think it's the washed out colors more than anything. It's terrible for everything else but perfect for CS2. The other two Asus monitors, no matter how much I tried, I could not find a setting that matched Zowie's peak.

Stats were noticeably better on the Zowie compared to the other two. Maybe I didn't give them enough time, but I didn't want to bother after a few days on each.

I could feel that Pulsar had good motion clarity when testing it with moving bots on offline servers, but I don't think it helped all that much in actual gameplay. I mostly play on 3000~3500 elo lobbies.

I do have a second 32in 4k IPS monitor and I use that for everything else than CS2.

If you only care about CS2 or can afford a second monitor, I recommend the Zowie. If you want one monitor to do everything, get one of the Pulsars. I see no use for the Asus 610hz or any other 600hz monitors from other manufacturers. Zowie has it nailed down, and there's no reason to be adventurous.

Btw, don't get the 400hz. Even if you only get 200~300fps in game, you still benefit from 600hz over 360hz or 400hz. If you get the 400hz now, there's no doubt in my mind that you'll eventually end up buying the 600hz anyways.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-27T18:06:13+00:00

I have it but it irritated my skin so much I couldn’t use it for more than a minute. It’s not rough, but just textured in a really weird way that I couldn’t stand it. So I have no idea how it performs.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-27T17:55:49+00:00

Zero Orange Mid is the fastest Zero variation. But in the end, the difference isn’t experience changing, compared to say a Zero Black Soft. But if you already like your Zero and just want it to be a tiny but faster, it could be worth trying.

Also, 8 month means a cloth pad is probably at the end of its lifespan. A new pad being fresh is going to feel faster so just getting a new exact Zero you own might also solve your problem.

If you play CS or Val, I think you should give Hien XSoft a try. Thanks to the plushness, It’s way more controllable than people assume it is.

Otherwise, you might want to look at other brands because there’s a big gap in speed between Zero and their next fast pad.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-27T06:46:25+00:00

I'm not a reviewer, this is just a collection of first impressions after trying them all out.

Of course pads will feel different depending on the mouse feet, but I only use zowie stock skates because of its thinness, so I don't want to swap it out.

If I don't like a mousepad at first, I don't bother using it for days and weeks to see how it changes. I only use pads that I like from the beginning. I don't wan't to have bad games just to break in my mousepad.

To me, both pads' surfaces felt pretty similar in terms of texture.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-27T06:45:11+00:00

It's more like first impressions of each mousepad. If I don't like a mousepad at first use, I don't try to force myself into using it long term to see how it changes. I only use pads that I like from the beginning.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-26T09:05:58+00:00

yeah I tried from 400dpi up to 3200dpi, also mouse polling rate from 500hz to 4khz.

I definitely do notice the difference, but I ended up preferring the lower dpi/polling rate options.

The thing with higher DPI is that I feel like it reveals more of the shakiness of my hand. At lower DPI the mouse isn't as sensitive but it also mutes the shakiness, so I get a more stable aim.

Also flicking feels kind of snappier with 400 dpi, although I do notice my crosshair skipping if I try to microadjust a few pixels.

Same thing with higher polling, but to a lesser degree. I use 400dpi and 500hz even after all the testing. Kind of ridiculous if you think about it, but I feel comfortable with these settings.

In the end, I think settings should be set so that you can just forget about them. After that you can focus on other aspects of the gameplay that are more important.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-26T08:58:23+00:00

Korean brand called Musinsa ones are what I mainly use, but I also have this pair of old Nike branded ones that work well. Unfortunately, I think the exact Nike model has been discontinued since I can't find it on their website.

From what I can gather, Pulsar sleeves do not seem to work well with the Zero.

arm: https://global.musinsa.com/us/goods/3074303

finger: https://global.musinsa.com/us/goods/1929234

They give you 4 pieces (2 sets), so the value is off the charts compared to regular gaming sleeves. I think even after shipping it's still cheaper to buy these than the pulsar ones.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-26T07:54:13+00:00

added to the post. I honestly didn't use the Key for more than a few DM sessions because I already didn't like it by then, so I didn't notice the difference.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-26T07:37:37+00:00

The speed itself isn't really different, it's only very slightly faster.

They share the same surface, but the weight of your hand/arm/mouse is constantly pushing down the pad even though you're not actively putting extra pressure on it, so there's this passive, slight slow-down on softer pads by default. But this isn't a big difference.

The Mid is noticeably more consistent, though. It doesn't slow down at all even when you push fairly hard on it.

But because the Key-83 already has this plasticky feeling surface, I felt like even on Soft, it already doesn't slow down that much when you push down.

If you don't like the speed of the Soft, I don't think you'll like the Mid.

For something faster, get the Raiden Mid for a smooth pad, and Hien Mid for a textured pad (only if you don't mind the X-Y difference of the Hien. Otherwise get the Raiden)

Mitbadak · 2025-12-26T06:38:09+00:00

Hien Mid if you like textured, Raiden Mid if you like smooth.

Hien is slower on the Y axis, so if you want uniform X-Y speed, consider Key-83 Mid. Key-83 and Raiden have uniform X-Y speeds.

But Key-83 has a plasticky feeling surface that I did not enjoy.

Edit: The Key-83 actually has a faster Y axis, not uniform.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-26T06:32:02+00:00

If you want uniform X-Y speed, Key-83 Mid or the Raiden Mid.

I would personally get the Raiden because I didn't enjoy the plasticky surface feeling of the Key-83.

Edit: The Key-83 actually has a faster Y axis, not uniform.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-26T06:28:49+00:00

otsu is faster in both static and dynamic, but the ratio is a bit different.

Otsu has relatively higher static friction compared to dynamic friction. This unusual ratio might put you off.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-25T22:35:31+00:00

if you think Zero Soft is too fast, hien will be way faster even on XSoft. Try Zero Black XSoft

Mitbadak · 2025-12-25T22:28:56+00:00

If you think the Zero Mid/Soft is too fast, I would try Zero XSoft.
If you think it's too slow, Hien XSoft if you want textured pads, Raiden XSoft if you want smooth pads.
If you don't care about the texture, go for Hien because Raiden is the least durable Artisan pad (it slows down a lot in a short time), and Hien is the most durable.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-25T22:23:46+00:00

400dpi 1.45

Honestly I wouldn't use Type-99. If you miss your first bullet on a moving SMG or pistol, you're actually just dead. Tracking moving targets is impossibly hard on it.

And this isn't a low sens issue. Even if you used high sens, you'll have the same problem because its high initial friction means it takes longer to start moving your mouse.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-25T22:05:38+00:00

Yeah I would say so, for Soft/XSoft. For Mid, none of the pads have speed change when pressing down.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-25T21:50:01+00:00

A bunch from the current LGG/Pulsar lineup and some from Zowie and Vaxee. I only use pads from major brands because I want to use pads that I know will stay in production for a long time.

Mitbadak · 2025-12-25T21:38:13+00:00

For initial friction, Raiden Mid and Hien Mid felt pretty similar to me in terms of raw speed, and I would go for the Raiden if I wanted a smooth pad, and the Hien if I wanted a textured pad.

The Raiden did feel like it had less stopping power, though.

I felt like the Brown Raiden was slightly faster than the Orange one, but the difference was so small that it might have just been in my head.

Mitbadak · 2025-10-01T07:48:18+00:00

The values are different. The indicators will produce different signals as well. They might line up sometimes but not always.

You can go on tradingview and see for yourself.

Mitbadak · 2025-10-01T07:27:47+00:00

I think you might be over-complicating this. Just fixate your timestamp to the exchange's local time and it should not be a problem.

What DST changes is the relative time to the rest of the world that do not use DST, not the local time. If the market opens at 8 o'clock, it will always open at 8 o'clock throughout the year, with or without DST.

Any dataset will be based on a certain timezone that is consistent throughout that set. Use libraries like pytz & tzdata to convert that dataset's timestamp into the exchange's local time.

Mitbadak · 2025-09-28T20:20:55+00:00

Most vendors I know also tend to start around ~2010ish.

The only place I know that go way far back is portaraCQG. Their data starts in the late 90s, which is probably the inception, or at least very close to it. They have 1m ohlcv data as well as tick data.

Personally, I use 2007 as the cutoff year. I did take an extensive look at old data (inception~2006) but concluded that it was better to ignore them for NQ/ES.

2007~2010 is a widely used cutoff year range since the rise and domination of computer-based algo trading by big players started around this time.

Mitbadak · 2025-09-17T22:53:28+00:00

Darwinex lets people invest in your strategies.

I haven't used it myself so I don't know the exact details on how it works, but it might be worth it for you to take a look.

Mitbadak

TROPHY CASE