Wicked Labs Marius 8K Calibration Guide
Marius 8K PS5 Controller Calibration & Setup Guide
Last updated: Sep 2026
WICKED LABS MARIUS 8K SETUP GUIDE
The Wicked Labs Marius 8K Controller is powered by the Marius Board, giving you advanced control over calibration, thumbstick settings, triggers, rear buttons and polling rate.
This guide will walk you through the initial setup, calibration process and available controller settings step by step.
Need help? Simply follow each section below in order.
BEFORE PROCEEDING
Before You Begin
Every Wicked Labs Marius 8K Controller is professionally assembled, tested and calibrated before shipping. For most players, the factory settings will already provide an excellent experience.
However, every player is different. The Marius Board gives you extensive control over calibration, allowing you to fine-tune your controller to suit your own preferences and playstyle.
Don’t worry about experimenting with the settings. You can repeat the Initial Setup process at any time to recalibrate your controller or restore your preferred configuration.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Do not overclock your controller.
The Marius Board already supports native 8000Hz polling, so do not use HIDUSBF or any other controller overclocking software. Using overclocking tools may reduce performance or cause unexpected issues.
For best performance, always connect your controller directly to a rear USB port using a USB-A to USB-C data cable.
FEATURES NOT SUPPORTED
Controllers built with the Marius Board are designed specifically for wired competitive PC gaming and do not support:
- CONSOLE CONNECTIVITY
- Bluetooth / wireless mode
- Macros or keyboard keybinding
- Rumble / vibration
- Touchpad gestures
- Internal battery operation
- Gyroscope / motion controls
- Headphone jack
- Reset button functionality
MARIUS BOARD SETUP
Follow these steps before starting calibration.
CALIBRATION & SETTINGS
Customize and fine-tune how your sticks and triggers behave.
STICK CONFIGURATION (1/3)
This section lets you fine-tune how your thumbsticks behave and adjust the maximum input range of each stick.
Over time, a thumbstick can settle slightly away from its original centre position. If this causes unwanted movement, Quick Recenter can correct the resting position without changing your other settings.
STICK CONFIGURATION (2/3)
ANALOG RESPONSE CURVES
Response curves control how thumbstick movement is translated into controller input.
Different curves can make your aim feel faster, smoother or more precise depending on your preference.
Controller response curves and in-game response curves operate independently.
Using both at the same time may create unexpected results, so we recommend avoiding multiple response curves unless you know exactly what you want to achieve.
STICK CONFIGURATION (3/3)
INNER & OUTER DEADZONES
Deadzones determine when thumbstick movement begins registering and when the stick reaches maximum input.
Inner Deadzone can help eliminate unwanted movement near the centre.
Outer Deadzone controls how quickly the thumbstick reaches maximum input near the outside edge.
These deadzones are separate from your in-game deadzone settings. If both are adjusted, their effects may combine.
REST VALUE
If your triggers do not behave correctly after calibration, you can fine-tune their resting position here.
The Raw value shows the live trigger input reported by the controller.
When the trigger is fully released, the Raw value should remain safely above the configured REST value.
REST VALUE
If the Raw value is lower than the REST value, the trigger may register input even while completely untouched.
Reduce the REST value in small increments until the trigger no longer registers unwanted input while released.
A larger gap between Raw and REST generally requires more movement before the trigger activates.
A smaller gap makes the trigger activate sooner.
PRESS VALUE
The PRESS value determines when the trigger reaches maximum input.
If fully pressing the trigger does not reach 100%, gradually adjust the PRESS value until full input is registered consistently.
Setting this too aggressively can cause the trigger to reach maximum input earlier than intended.
This may suit FPS games but may feel less natural in games that use gradual analog trigger input.
HAIR TRIGGER THRESHOLD
For the most consistent performance, we recommend leaving Hair Trigger Threshold at its standard setting unless you specifically want to change trigger behaviour.
Wicked Labs FPS and MAX controllers with clicky triggers already have extremely short physical trigger travel.
FINAL SECTIONS
Complete your configuration, map your inputs, and save your profile.
LED CONTROL
Customize your controller’s LED by changing the color, brightness, and lighting effect.
Your controller ships with a default LED configuration, but you can personalize it to match your setup.
REAR BUTTON MAPPING
Configure your rear buttons directly through the Marius Controller Setup Tool.
Press a rear button on your controller to identify it in the software, then assign any supported controller input.
Each rear button can be remapped to suit your preferred layout and the changes can be saved directly to the controller.
POLLING RATE
Drag the slider to select your preferred polling rate. For the lowest possible input latency, the Marius Board supports up to 8000Hz.
Some PCs, USB controllers, or individual games may not perform optimally at 8000Hz.
If you experience stuttering, instability, or reduced performance, try 4000Hz or 2000Hz instead.
Even at lower polling rates, you still benefit from the Marius Board’s low-latency architecture.
SAVE YOUR CONFIGURATION
When you’re finished, click SAVE TO CONTROLLER.
The software will verify your settings and write your configuration directly to the controller.
Once the configuration has been applied successfully, unplug and reconnect your controller before testing it in-game.
You’re all set. Enjoy your Wicked Labs Marius 8K Controller.
Circularity,
Error Rates, and
You
Now that your controller is calibrated, it’s time to understand one of the most important thumbstick settings: Circularity Error Rate (CER).
When you test Circularity, the software measures your thumbstick’s full range of motion and compares it to a perfect circle. The difference between those two shapes is called the Circularity Error Rate (CER).
The short version
CER measures how closely your thumbstick follows a circular movement. Higher or lower isn’t automatically better—it depends on how games interpret controller input.
Most games are designed around the behavior of standard OEM controllers rather than mathematically perfect circles. Because of this, an extremely low CER isn’t always ideal.
Likewise, a very high CER can make diagonal movement behave differently from cardinal directions. The goal isn’t to achieve the lowest possible number—it’s to find a range that delivers smooth and consistent gameplay.
UNDERSTANDING THE EXAMPLES
HIGH CER (~15–20%)
- Diagonals extend farther than expected.
- The movement shape becomes more square.
- Some older games may actually benefit from this behaviour.
LOW CER (~0–2%)
- Movement stays very close to a perfect circle.
- Some games may not receive the full analog range they expect.
- This can occasionally affect mechanics such as sprinting or analog movement.
RECOMMENDED RANGE
For most modern games, a CER between 6% and 9% provides a strong balance between accuracy and compatibility.
If your controller already falls within this range, adjustment is usually unnecessary. If not, continue to the next section to learn how to fine-tune it.
ADJUSTING CIRCULARITY ERROR RATE
After completing setup, check your controller’s Circularity using Gamepad Tester.
- Connect your controller.
- Open Gamepad Tester: hardwaretester.com/gamepad
- Enable Test Circularity.
- Compare your results with the examples shown.
FIXING LOW CIRCULARITY ERROR RATE (SLUGGISH MOVEMENT)
Green areas indicate that part of the thumbstick’s movement isn’t reaching its full range. This can reduce movement accuracy and may affect gameplay.
An extremely low Circularity Error Rate (CER) isn’t always ideal. If parts of the movement fall short of the expected range, you may notice:
POTENTIAL ISSUES
If your Circularity test shows undershooting, you might experience the following behaviours during gameplay:
- REDUCED MOVEMENT SPEED IN CERTAIN DIRECTIONS.
- Inconsistent analog response.
- Sprinting or movement mechanics that don’t trigger reliably in some games.
If you notice these symptoms, recalibrate the thumbsticks or adjust the circularity settings until the full range is reached.
ADJUSTING LOW CIRCULARITY: FINE-TUNING
How to manually tune your cardinal directions and eliminate analog bottlenecking.
VALUE TUNING
To correct issues with the cardinal directions (Up, Down, Left, Right), follow these steps:
- A. Push and hold the thumbstick fully in the direction that is failing to reach the edge of the circle.
- B. Hover your mouse over the input box for that direction.
- C. Scroll to adjust: While continuing to hold the thumbstick, use your mouse wheel to adjust the value. Depending on the direction, you may need to increase or decrease it.
RECOMMENDED METHOD
D. Safety Margin: Adjust the value gradually until the indicator just reaches the edge of the circle. Then increase it by approximately 20 units — about two scroll-wheel ticks — to provide a small safety margin.
The calibration tool prevents cardinal directions from extending beyond the circle, making it easy to accidentally stop too early. This method helps ensure the direction consistently reaches its full range.
CIRCULARITY VERIFICATION
After adjusting the cardinal directions, save the calibration to the controller, return to Gamepad Tester, and run the Circularity Test again.
In most cases, this should:
- Bring your CER back into the recommended range.
- Eliminate undershooting.
- Improve in-game movement consistency.
If your CER is still too low or you continue to experience movement issues, proceed to one of the two adjustment methods below.
INCREASE THE OUTER DEADZONE
Increase the Outer Deadzone by 0.5–1% at a time, up to a recommended maximum of 5%.
Save the calibration and retest after each adjustment. This is the simplest solution and will resolve the issue for most users.
Keep in mind that increasing the Outer Deadzone reduces the physical thumbstick travel required to reach maximum input.
MANUAL CALIBRATION ADJUSTMENT
- Manually adjusting the cardinal directions changes the behaviour of the surrounding diagonal directions. For example, moving the Up direction farther outward will also affect both Up-Left and Up-Right.
- Each cardinal direction influences two adjacent diagonals, so improving one area may negatively affect another. Finding the right balance usually requires some trial and error.
PRODUCTS IN ARTICLE
Marius 8K PS5 Controllers
