I made a kernel module for overclocking USB devices (gamepads, mice, etc.) (lemmy.ml)

submitted 4 days ago by p0358@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/linux_gaming@lemmy.ml

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/38617525

This DKMS module allows you to overclock some USB devices by overriding their endpoints' bInterval values in the device descriptors – if the device physically allows you to poll it at higher frequency and will give you more data.

Back on Windows this (with the same method) was rather trivial using the "hidusbf" program. And ever since moving to Linux I was pretty annoyed I didn't have a similarly simple enough way of doing the same thing. So basically I guess I had no choice but to make one.

And the module allows doing that for theoretically any USB device without patching and re-compiling the kernel. Installation instructions are in the README (there's .deb, .rpm and AUR packages):

https://github.com/p0358/usb_oc-dkms

So let me know what you think, and if you managed to overclock any gamepads or other devices, or want to try.

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[-] Shameless@lemmy.world 18 points 4 days ago

I've never even considered overclocking a USB device, why would someone want to do this?

[-] p0358@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Lower effective input latency, higher input smoothness (the latter perceivable probably only on displays with higher refresh rates). That's of course only for USB input devices (gamepads, mice, maybe keyboard), as for other types of devices idk.

But do note that only some devices will allow you to do this. For gamepads, the site gamepadla.com has a bunch of OC results made by Windows gamers. For mice, I saw some threads on some forums at some point (my mouse is natively 1000 Hz, so I didn't focus on this)

EDIT: But like the difference can be really perceivable, it's not a placebo. Especially on something like 240 Hz screen, the difference between say 125 Hz and 1000 Hz polling is just jarring. But it's rare a 125 Hz mouse could be brought up this much, usually its sensor wouldn't even be precise enough if it was shipped at such low polling.

But for example my controller could be overclocked from 250 to 1000, but 500 was the sweet spot in how it felt, while at 1000 it was unstable with some lags from time to time. But 500 was working perfectly and felt smoother.

Also notably the PS5's DualSense can be overclocked from 250 to 1000 Hz (people claim 8000, but apparently it's actually a lie)

this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2026

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