Heavy FPS gamer upgrading his gear

[Frio]

Hello geekhack. I've recently been slowly upgrading my gaming peripherals and I've come to the keyboard. I'm currently using this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823204015 and it's wonderful. I've really been interested in mechanical keyboards though since thy seem to last a lot longer.

My budget hopefully is enough at 150$. I'm located near the etailer Performance-Pcs (2 hour drive) so I don't need to pay shipping from there if they have anything good.

The game I play is Team fortress 2. I do play it competitively in CEVO with a small team and hope to get into bigger, sponsored organizations.

I have a basic understanding on the types of switches (mx blues/blacks/browns/clears and buckline springs.

Based on my research, it seems I should be getting a keyboard with blues or blacks.
One thing I look forward in a keyboard is having minimal space between keys. This is so I don't have to lift up my fingers, which helps me make fast movements around the WASD area. I really hate keyboards that have huge gaps between the keys.

I really don't care about backlighting or macrokeys. I would like a standard layout with no keys out of place (so no steelseries 7g/6gv2)


Thanks =]

[Mr. Perfect]

You might want to give the MX blues a pass, the clicking could very well drive your team mates up the wall. People have reported that they're even audible over voicechat. Browns would be similar in feel, but without the noise.

Also, I'm not really sure why everyone suggests linear switches for gaming. The reason I've been looking for a board is because a couple keys on my rubber dome board are so worn they've lost their tactile bump. It drives me nuts.:tsk: I can't tell how far the key has depressed, so there's no choice but to mash it straight down until it bottoms out. If you don't bottom it out, you end up missing key strokes. I can't imagine spending three figures on a board that is deliberately like that all over. :mmph:

Anywho, for standard layout keyboards that come in blacks/browns you're probably looking at a Filco Majestouch, Leopold FC200R or maybe some sort of Ducky.

[iMav]

Your only option at Performance-PCs would be the Das keyboards.  Looks like the brown Cherry models (silent) are sold out and they only have the blue cherry models in stock.

[Frio]

i don't really need to buy from performance-pcs, just perfered.

As far as the clicking noise, how many decibels would to think it is?

Any specific board recommendations?

[Frio]

Well, I mean, when I'm talking on my mic I usually am only pressing one key on my keyboard (w). As long as it is not outrageously annoying, I should be alright. I just want to know what keyboard I should get that's within my budget

[Lanx]

blues were loud to me when i was "wasd" around, it was fun to hear but i'm sure over teamspeak/vent it'd reverb to the point of your being the "loud keyboard guy, go mute him", plus you game hardcore, i say blues are bad if you try to double tap, some don't have an issue, these ppl who say that just love blues imo, but i could easily see that i'd miss doubletapping on blues. (i've even tested this hard mounting blues/blacks on the same key and double tapping on both)

[Frio]

ah, I see. How are mx blacks?

[vegaman]

It's really going to be preference in the end... hard to say what you'll like.
I play TF2 (just in a casual clan though) on cherry browns and love them for it. For me the low activation force works really well for quicker movements, rocket jumps, double jumps... I do bottom out quite a bit, definitely not all the time though, and I'm hoping I'll get used to it a bit more with time. And for now I haven't had anyone complain about noise. And as you say most of the time you're saying something you'll just be pushing 'w' anyway, I tend to let go of my push to talk button as soon as I see an enemy and start doing some more interesting/noisy maneuvers.

I'm actually planning a n52 mod very similar to the one linked in ripster's sig up above. I love the layout of the speedpads for fps, though admittedly I've never spent any time working out better keys to map on my keyboard. I will be using a teensy as the controller so it will be a 'normal' USB HID keyboard... not sure about rules for input devices in pro games though.

[Frio]

Well, I use a "mouse4" button on my mouse for talking, and I play medic, so if I need to call out a scout or something, I usually yell it at my team and they understand it.

I never thought of mx browns since wherever I read people always seem to suggest blacks or blues

[vegaman]

Well, I use a "mouse4" button on my mouse for talking, and I play medic, so if I need to call out a scout or something, I usually yell it at my team and they understand it.

I never thought of mx browns since wherever I read people always seem to suggest blacks or blues

I use mouse4 as well, using a keyboard key is no good because then I can't maneuver as well.
When playing with clan-mates I play medic too, but mix it up the rest of the time... killing people is fun and there's usually less opportunity for it as medic :biggrin:
Blacks are recommended a lot because of OCN. Blues are good/recommended because of the slightly higher actuation force and the click which is useful/desirable for a lot of people.
For me the actuation force of the Blacks is too high, and I didn't want the click (haven't tried blue's though). So the brown is a good fit for me.

So the best way is to try to find a way to test different switches... since it's hard to say what someone else will like.

[Frio]

if you mean overclock.net, I kind of came from there lol.  Also, I surprisingly get a lot of opportunities as a medic to score some kills, it's a matter of if you want to stay alive or not lol. As in, sometimes there is a lit scout running away that I can easily chase down and kill, but then their soldiers would see me and I'd turn into frag meat.

I never used a mechanical keyboard, so I have no idea what each switch feels like. One thing I might be able to do is go to bestbuy and try out the black widow with that window thing on the packaging

[vegaman]

Yup, I mean overclock.net. No problem coming from there, just that the blacks are over-hyped because of a guide on there. Yeah... that seems to happen a lot when killing as medic, by the time you catch them you're in their teams sights.

Yeah, it's worth going and trying one if you can. I went to a local store to try a SteelSeries board to see if I would like the blacks (I read the guide before I came here too lol), definitely helped make a decision.

[Frio]

hm alright.

These forums ain't half bad, amazingly quick responses

[Azuremen]

It isn't insanely loud, but people can certainly hear my keyboard if I am typing on it much while the mic is on. And if I am streaming SC2 with the mic enabled, its about all you can hear (well, that and me swearing)

But in push to talk situations, it works quite well, since you generally aren't pounding away.

And kind of funny you mentioned that iRocks board - I was looking at getting it before I started getting into mechanical boards. Recall thinking $30 seemed like a lot to spend on a keyboard... and here I am now typing on a keyboard that cost nearly 5 times that, and required me to order using Google Translate. Oh, what has this place done to me.

[Frio]

hm okay

I really like this keyboard and the company

http://zowiegear.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=137:announcementkeyboard&catid=37:news

how's it?

[vegaman]

Their mice are supposed to be good. But since the keyboard has only just been released (10th of December according to their site, but I don't see it on NewEgg) I don't think anyone here has tried it.
Notice it uses ISO layout (larger enter key, keys moved...) and not ANSI layout though. Which I think you said you didn't want?

[Frio]

ah didn't catch that, thanks.

What brands are generally best for kbs that don't have a lot of space between the keys?

[Lanx]

do you even have an inkling of which switches you want first? currently it's a lot of "these switches are limited to these boards and such".
nail down the switches you want first, then ppl can give you good rec's on which boards to get.

[SpatiallyAware]

After trying quite a few boards I decided that blues are horrible for gaming.  They have an odd difference between the 'click' and when the keystroke registers, which means you have to completely remove your finger before repressing.  

After adapting to this I decided that it just wasn't an efficient way to play FPS (I found I 'hover' keys above their activation point and broke that habit)

IMO browns are the by far the best easily available gaming switch.  The subtle tactile point is the same moment as the keypress so you can 'hover' above that, click, then release above the tactile point and can still repress.


Kinda complicated, but yeah.  


I'd get a solid tenkeyless board with browns.  Numpads tend to get in the way with gaming, and tenekeyless allows you to position your mouse closer to the KB.  I love my filcos but they're not easily available.  Ducky is easy to get but tenkeyless version isn't exactly known for quality.  Leopold isn't out yet.

[isp]

A Friend of mine is a hardcore quake player and emphatically prefers mx brown over blues for gaming, but says the blue switches are fun for general typing.  YMMV.  Welcome to GH!

[Frio]

Alright, can someone recommend me a mx brown keyboard from a site that takes paypal and is under 150$ shipped?

[nocturn4l3030]

from the Topre wiki guide here on geekhack, a professional FPS gamer likes his topre realforce board, link here:

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=8872

I can attest to that strictly for gaming.. the topre 55g is a great board (i have one for sale in my sig too >.<) but after a long period of typing it may hurt your fingers..

they have the normal variable board.. but the 'a' key which is commonly used for moving your character around is 35g which is a little bit annoying but can adjust to.  you can also "mod" your keyboard (also in the topre wiki) so that it's 45g like the rest of the keys.

(i've tried both boards). and they're also unique in the way that as soon as the key gets pushed down the slightest bit, the key gets registered.. so that might take some adjusting to do but i haven't found any problems with gaming what so ever with it and i love this board.  the only down side is the price..

basically topre's feel like the best rubber dome a manufacturer can ever make.. it's like a very sturdy rubber dome board.. don't know how to explain it, but if you use the search function you can get a better description from others.


if you go the mechanical route.. (i tried blues and browns) i'd suggest browns.  the keys are light.. more so if you're coming from a rubber dome board like i did.. but you get used to it for a while.

they say blacks are the best for FPS gaming though but if you're doing alot of typing (just like the 55g topre board) you're fingers might hurt if you're not heavy handed


i've been a big time PC gamer my whole life.. FPS/RTS/MMO so i can relate to your questions

[nocturn4l3030]

Alright, can someone recommend me a mx brown keyboard from a site that takes paypal and is under 150$ shipped?

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=12854

where I got my Ducky board.. they''re from Taiwan (i'm in cali)....they accept paypal and shipped to my house in 5 days.

follow the instructions on the first page and use Google Chrome's already installed web translator.

There's also another taiwan distributer called ArmyGroup from taiwan.. not sure if they do paypal but they got Filco boards i believe

[Frio]

topres seem very expensive, and my budget is 150$.

I suppose the key hight and spacing can be adjusted to, since I've been using flat keyboards like the i rocks for years

[nocturn4l3030]

topres seem very expensive, and my budget is 150$.

I suppose the key hight and spacing can be adjusted to, since I've been using flat keyboards like the i rocks for years

i'd suggest browns then too.  blacks if you don't care bout the typing part what soever.. so browns jus to be safe.

[Frio]

What Keyboard with mx browns would you recommend then? I don't want to buy the DAS model because of the glossy plastic, so besides that. It'll have to be 150$  or less

[theferenc]

Do you want a 104 key or a smaller board? Duckys, filco, and leopold (if you can find one) all have both, as far as I know.

If you're willing to spend about $45 just to try the browns first, you could always pick up a second hand board on ebay, such as the cherry g80. It has some keys moved, but we're talking over in the nav cluster. See http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200555581491 for one such board. He just keeps relisting them. And the one I got had doubleshot keys, meaning they will almost never wear out.

[godly_music]

Blacks are just fine for typing. And I wonder why the deals section of the forum has so many people wanting to sell their brown MX boards.

[Frio]

The only keyboard I've found is this DAS. Maybe it's because I don't know where to buy mechanical keyboards. Black mx switches seem to be a lot easier to find, but you guys do say that browns are better

http://www.daskeyboard.com/model-s-ultimate-silent/

Glossy plastic is pretty much ruining it for me. If it is the glossy plastic similar to the one Razer uses that feels crummy and sticky with sweaty hands (LANs are terribly hot, specially here in Florida), then this one is definitely off my list

[nocturn4l3030]

reread one of my posts.. pchome sells duckys full size and tenkeyless brown duckys for under 150, and uses paypal.

[Frio]

How soon? I'm planning on  buying it next week before the season starts so I have time to adjust

[nocturn4l3030]

How soon? I'm planning on  buying it next week before the season starts so I have time to adjust

unfortunately there's been no official announcement on a specific date or i woulda reccomended that too.

i think u can still get filcos from armygroup..not sure if they take paypal but it should be under $150

[Frio]

If I can't pay with paypal, then I suppose I can order using my credit card anyways

[ynih]

I would get a full size ducky before getting a tenkeyless. supposedily the construction for the full size is slightly better and/or more sturdy.

[Frio]

I would get a full size ducky before getting a tenkeyless. supposedily the construction for the full size is slightly better and/or more sturdy.

Erm can someone please link me to a Ducky mechanical keyboard w/ brown switches?

[ynih]

Sure, just use Google Chrome to auto translate these.  Here ya go:

Ducky 104 Brown: http://global.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item&func=exhibit&IT_NO=DCAD80-A45363779&c=A05&tm=u
Ducky 108 Brown: http://global.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item&func=exhibit&IT_NO=DCAD80-A45366378&c=A10&tm=u
Ducky Tenkeyless Brown: http://global.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item&func=exhibit&IT_NO=DCAH0X-A50118368&c=A15&tm=u

This one's unique, a mix of blue, brown and black switches:
http://global.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item&func=exhibit&IT_NO=DCAH0X-A50302994&SR_NO=DCAH25&ROWNO=2&tm=u

[Frio]

Awesome, thanks. How long does shipping take/cost? Also, I'd love blank keys

[db_Iodine]

Shipping is $20 from PChome for all orders to Europe and America. It took me 3 business days for the package to arrive from the day of order. Usually it takes 2-5 business days for the package to arrive.

[Frio]

Oh, that's awesome. I'll look at some more stuff at that site.

Any mx brown boards with blank keys?

[Frio]

What other websites besides Pchome can I order from that ships to the us? I'm looking for a keyboard that has blank keys as well.

[Hofy]

Frio, I know you want the KB before the season starts, but take your time.  If you dont it will just be disappointing.    You need to try the various switches first.  Blue, Brown and Black.  If nothing else order some individual switches from Digikey and beg us for some keycaps.  Then mount them to a board and play around with them.  I did this and found I liked  the blues best.  I still ended up buying a brown KB and then sold it a week later.  I should have learned.

[Frio]

I suppose that's the way to go.  Any type of keyboard can be adjusted to though, so I mean, as long as it works and feels good to type on I'm alright with it