Your monitor's built-in crosshair vs. a real software overlay, why one wins for aim.
If you've ever used your monitor's built-in crosshair OSD (like ASUS GamePlus, or the equivalent crosshair setting on many Samsung, Acer, and MSI gaming monitors), you've probably hit the same wall: it's a handful of fixed presets you can't really tailor to the game you're playing. This page covers where built-in monitor crosshairs fall short for competitive aim, and what a dedicated software overlay like Crosshair X adds.
The 4 limitations of monitor crosshairs
A built-in monitor crosshair is a convenient extra, but it's a generic, fixed feature, not a tool built for the way the aim community actually tunes crosshairs. Here's where that shows up in practice:
1
The sizes are fixed, and usually large.
Built-in crosshairs typically offer just a few preset sizes, and because they're designed to be clearly visible across any game, even the "small" option is often big enough to obscure a distant target. There's no fine size control to dial it down to a single pixel-precise dot.
Built-in crosshairs typically offer just a few preset sizes, and because they're designed to be clearly visible across any game, even the "small" option is often big enough to obscure a distant target. There's no fine size control to dial it down to a single pixel-precise dot.
2
Limited color, and usually no opacity or outline control.
Most built-in crosshairs offer only a few fixed colors, commonly bright red or green, at full opacity. That can be a poor match on maps where the color blends into the scene, such as Rust's red-sand terrain or Hunt: Showdown's muddy bayou. There's generally no way to dim it, add a contrast outline, or switch colors per map.
Most built-in crosshairs offer only a few fixed colors, commonly bright red or green, at full opacity. That can be a poor match on maps where the color blends into the scene, such as Rust's red-sand terrain or Hunt: Showdown's muddy bayou. There's generally no way to dim it, add a contrast outline, or switch colors per map.
3
A few shapes, and one setup for every game.
The built-in shape options are usually a short list (cross, dot, T-shape, circle), and the same crosshair applies to every game, since there are no per-game profiles. The crosshair you'd want for Rust hipfire is the opposite of what you'd want for a CS2 spray-down. There's also no animation, text layers, or community designs, the things the aim community has been iterating on for years.
The built-in shape options are usually a short list (cross, dot, T-shape, circle), and the same crosshair applies to every game, since there are no per-game profiles. The crosshair you'd want for Rust hipfire is the opposite of what you'd want for a CS2 spray-down. There's also no animation, text layers, or community designs, the things the aim community has been iterating on for years.
4
It's tied to that one monitor.
Switch to your living-room TV for couch play, travel with a laptop and a different external monitor, or play at a friend's place, and the crosshair doesn't come with you. The feature lives in the monitor's firmware, not on your account, so it's only there when you're sitting at that exact display.
Switch to your living-room TV for couch play, travel with a laptop and a different external monitor, or play at a friend's place, and the crosshair doesn't come with you. The feature lives in the monitor's firmware, not on your account, so it's only there when you're sitting at that exact display.
Side-by-side comparison
| Monitor OSD crosshair | Crosshair X overlay | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of designs | A few presets | 100,000+ community designs + full designer |
| Color options | Usually a few fixed colors | 16 million colors with HSL/RGB picker |
| Opacity | Typically fixed | 0–100% per layer |
| Outline / contrast border | No | Yes (any thickness, any color) |
| Per-game profiles | Typically one crosshair for everything | Unlimited, auto-switches per game |
| Animation / fire-reaction | No | Multi-stage animations on fire / hit |
| Image / logo overlay | No | Yes (PNG, animated GIF) |
| Text labels (kill counter, callsign) | No | Yes, as a layer |
| Works across monitors / displays | Tied to that one monitor | Any display on your PC |
| Travels with you | Lives in the monitor's firmware | Tied to your Steam / MS / Epic account |
| Anti-cheat | Off-screen hardware | Runs outside the game process. Full breakdown. |
| Cost | Free, if your monitor includes it | $9.99 once. No subscription. |
Where the monitor crosshair actually does win
To be honest: there's one case where the monitor OSD still has the edge.
- Console gaming. Crosshair X is PC-only (Windows). If you play primarily on PS5 / Xbox / Switch, the monitor OSD is your only option, we have no horse in that race.
For every PC use case, every game, every anti-cheat, every monitor, the software overlay wins on every axis that matters. See our anti-cheat safety page for per-engine compatibility (EAC, BattlEye, Vanguard, Ricochet, Javelin, VAC, all green).
