Hey Drut,
I'm not sure I'm on the same page. Steps per dictates the resolution of your system or I think a better way of putting it is your system dictates steps per. Some drives give you options such as 4-1, 8-1, 10-1 microstepping. Usually, the higher the number of steps per, the smoother it will seem. If all you want to do is speed things up, go to your motor tuning page. If you want to make things smoother and your drives have the option, set it to some sort of micro stepping. Sounds like you are wanting to set it to 4-1. If so, that shouldn't hurt a thing unless you can't get the rapids you desire because the pulse rate will have to be higher than you can produce. I have pasted in an old reply to help.
Steps per,here is how you do the math. I will give you mine as an example. What we need to know is, How many pulses from Mach will it take to move the machine 1 of your units? (inch,mm) Mine is in inches. 1 inch = 10,000 pulses on mine. This is how I came up with the number.
My steppers have 200 pulses per revolution. ( 360 degrees divided by 1.8 degrees = 200 )
Micro stepping = 10. So 200 X 10=2,000
Motor to screw gearing is 1-1. So 2,000 X 1=2,000
Screw lead is .200 of an inch. My screw will have to turn 5 rounds to move the nut 1". 1.0 divided by 0.200=5. So 2,000 X 5=10,000.
Hope this helps,
Brett