Mechanical keyboard for gaming

[snormy]

Hi, I'm completely new to the world of mechanical keyboards so I was wondering if you guys could recommend me one for gaming.

Also, a bit off topic, but what happens to keys of membrane keyboards after they've been pressed the certain number of times the manufacturer says they'll last until? Because the reason I'm buying a new keyboard is because the space bar on my Logitech G15 Version 2, which I've used extensively for around 5 years, started to have a slight delay after releasing my finger from the key before coming back up. I've cleaned the key, the metal bar that attaches to it, and the area underneath the key but it still isn't functioning properly. I even opened the keyboard up to see if something was wrong with the membrane pad but everything looked fine to me. Is my problem a result of "keyboard wear" that happens with membrane keyboards?

[tp4tissue]

If you can work without a num pad, quickfire rapid tkl, this is the BEST choice if you live in Los Estados Unidos.

If you "need", by need I mean use "Daily" a number pad, then check out the

Meka G1

Filco Full Size

Or, Leopold full size


If your budget is > $300

Check out Topre full size keyboards, HHKB for small form factor, OR if you know anyone in Korea the KMAC

[snormy]

If you can work without a num pad, quickfire rapid tkl, this is the BEST choice if you live in Los Estados Unidos.

If you "need", by need I mean use "Daily" a number pad, then check out the

Meka G1

Filco Full Size

Or, Leopold full size


If your budget is > $300

Check out Topre full size keyboards, HHKB for small form factor, OR if you know anyone in Korea the KMAC

Not having a num pad is no problem for me.

I searched that keyboard on newegg.com and it came up with 4 results, one with Cherry black switches, another with Cherry red switches, another with Cherry brown switches, and the last with Cherry blue switches. I researched the differences between the switches and found that Cherry red or black switches are considered good gaming switches. What I don't understand is that on newegg.com, the Cherry blue switches seem to be the most popular with 81 reviews while the next highest reviewed one (Cherry brown) only has 12 reviews. Keep in mind that all four of the keyboards have an average rating of 5 stars.

So I ask you, which colored switches out of those four would you recommend?

[tp4tissue]

Before the kids come in here and yell, for gaming, GENERALLY differences between mx switches makes no difference in respect to gaming.

There are people who claim "mx-red" is better for quick double taps of the key.

But i don't know of a single game that relies on "precision" double taps of a single key. The only thing might be fighting games, but then you wouldn't be playing them with a keyboard.

So, in the end it'll come down to preference.

MX blue, is the most similar to rubber dome in terms of the "tactility" of the key feel, so it's the easiest switch to get used to.

MX red, brown, and Black feel very different than rubber dome. Imagine pressing a regular keyboard key, then imagine falling off a cliff.

Put those two together, and that is basically what mx red/brown/black feels like.

Note, this is not a BAD attribute, it's just how it is.


You'll have to make up your own decision, but do take note, that when it comes to "performance" things like Kill to death ratio, and accuracy, the keyboard mechanical or rubber dome, or mx red, or blue, or green, or white, or black, or brown or clear, MAKES NO DIFFERENCE whatsoever.

Yes, your research missed MX white, MX clear, and MX green

[rowdy]

Wekcome to Geekhack!

It might depend on what type of gaming.  Mechanical keyboards tend to be favoured by those who do lots of typing, and MX blues are often the preferred switch, hence the plethora of reviews of keyboards with those switches.

But blues are often not recommended for gaming as the release point is higher than the activation point, which makes double-tapping sometimes difficult, not to mention the extra noise.

Browns are usually a good cmopromise between gaming and typing uses.

Reds or blacks are usually the best for gaming.  Red has a really light touch, but if you are heavy fingered you might find that you accidentally press keys when you do not mean to.

Of blacks, but they are generally not recommended for much typing as they are relatively stiff, but for occasional gaming are great.

So probably either red or blacks.

If you can try a keyboard with each different switch type that would give you the best indication of what you find the better switch.

[rowdy]

Before the kids come in here and yell, for gaming, GENERALLY differences between mx switches makes no difference in respect to gaming.

There are people who claim "mx-red" is better for quick double taps of the key.

But i don't know of a single game that relies on "precision" double taps of a single key. The only thing might be fighting games, but then you wouldn't be playing them with a keyboard.

So, in the end it'll come down to preference.

MX blue, is the most similar to rubber dome in terms of the "tactility" of the key feel, so it's the easiest switch to get used to.

MX red, brown, and Black feel very different than rubber dome. Imagine pressing a regular keyboard key, then imagine falling off a cliff.

Put those two together, and that is basically what mx red/brown/black feels like.

Note, this is not a BAD attribute, it's just how it is.


You'll have to make up your own decision, but do take note, that when it comes to "performance" things like Kill to death ratio, and accuracy, the keyboard mechanical or rubber dome, or mx red, or blue, or green, or white, or black, or brown or clear, MAKES NO DIFFERENCE whatsoever.

Yes, your research missed MX white, MX clear, and MX green

I play Minecraft, and that uses a double tap of W to run (as opposed to a single tap to walk).  I have not had any problems with that on MX blues.

But enough people have commented on the blues activation vs. release point wrt gaming that it is worth mentioning.  Especially for someone new to mechanical keyboard.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun10/articles/rts.htm

"Pro-gamers are obsessed with what they call APM, or actions per minute, the total number of mouse clicks (right hand) and keyboard strokes (left hand) over a 60-second span. The best Starcraft players, more particularly the South Koreans, exhibit an average 300-400 APM, with peaks at 500-600 APM"

A pro-gamer would probably find MX blues a severe handicap

[asdf]

MX Red requires the same down force as brown until the "bump" (barely feel that tactile). Try depressing some browns. IMO get red if you're thinking about browns because browns feel like red but with sand in them :]

[snormy]

Thanks for the help guys. I decided to go with the MX blacks.

Do any of you have an answer for my off topic question about keyboard wear on membrane keyboards?

[tp4tissue]

Thanks for the help guys. I decided to go with the MX blacks.

Do any of you have an answer for my off topic question about keyboard wear on membrane keyboards?

Don't worry about it, there are too many "different" things that could've happened as part of wear and tear.

Once you get the mechanical, the regular keyboards will be but a distant memory, effervescent and fleeting; you'll not miss it.

[tp4tissue]

MX Red requires the same down force as brown until the "bump" (barely feel that tactile). Try depressing some browns. IMO get red if you're thinking about browns because browns feel like red but with sand in them :]

A very small... grain of sand... but when you type "fast" the two switches feel identical.

But honestly, we talk about the feel of the switches alot, but who actually thinks about these things when they're doing work, hmm, perhaps you guys don't do work. LOL

[stingrae]

I find reds to feel much lighter than my browns...like you said small grain of sand.

I actually prefer the browns for gaming now. That said blues are criticized way too much.

[xenon_chris]

Anyone know if there any other options past Corsair's offerings for MACRO keys? I know AHK can do everything I need but quite a few games ban/kick for AHK where as they don't kick for a lot of keyboard software/programmable keyboards.

[tp4tissue]

Anyone know if there any other options past Corsair's offerings for MACRO keys? I know AHK can do everything I need but quite a few games ban/kick for AHK where as they don't kick for a lot of keyboard software/programmable keyboards.

Well you don't want the Corsair offerings because they still have not fixed the sticky key issue that plagues the k60 AND k90 keyboards. Promised to do so 6 month ago when the reports poured in, but to this day, it has not been fixed. And reports of the issue is still reported almost every day on their support forum..

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=102612&page=14

[xenon_chris]

Eye, read up on that - their gaming peripherals don't seem to match the standard as their PSU/RAM products   Had a M60 mouse - it lost it's surface texturing after just a few weeks, made it very uncomfortable to use.