Keyboard for fps games?

[Arcane012]

I want to know what is the best keyboard to use for fps online (quake, unreal tournament, serious sam hd, etc ....).

My budget is 70 € (possibility to spend more if necessary).

[precarious]

There isn't really anything which makes one keyboard more suitable for gaming than another, it's mostly a matter of preference.  Any skilled gamer is only fooling themselves if they're blaming a switch.  Although, I wouldn't suggest something with MX Blues for this, since the click may not always occur with rapid pressing and this could be unconsciously disorienting.

[cytoSiN]

Backlit reds with 10-key would probably be a good place to start.  Media keys may help if you use that sort of thing.  There are lots of options in this vein. 

[Vittra]

Any skilled gamer is only fooling themselves if they're blaming a switch.

Mhmm. Remember the pros often use what their sponsors give them and they manage just fine.

I personally use reds and love 'em for gaming. Blacks were a bit too fatiguing in regards to the modifier keys if it was necessary to hold them down for extended periods of time.

[IvanIvanovich]

For gaming I prefer small board like Poker. It is more comfortable due to it's small size you can have the mouse much closer to natural position instead of having the arm way out to the side with a full size. Really though the only feature you need to care about with gaming keyboard is it have 6KRO or better. This cover most MX keyboards except some like Cherry G80 and old version of Black Widow which only have 2KRO. 2KRO is not so good for gaming because you can get blocking which don't allow to do some combo move like strafe jumping and throw a grenade for example. Switch type dosen't matter much, you can get used to any type. It's a matter of preference for most part, linear, tactile, clicky are all fine for gaming. Also preference on force light or heavy one is not neccessarily better for any type of use, but different for the user.
I like light linear switch red best, but I also don't have problem using another, blues, blacks, clears...

Hard to reccomend specific board without know your location. Some place have more choice than others locally, if have to import your budget can be exceeded due shipping, taxes or other fees.

[FoxWolf1]

People sometimes like to make generalizations about what switches are best for which purposes, but most of the time, how well a switch matches the user's personal preference winds up having a far stronger influence on how "good" a keyboard seems than any sort of correspondence between switch type and purpose. I personally like to use MX Black for gaming (and typing, for that matter), but that doesn't mean you won't be better off with something entirely different.

Do you like your keys light (low force required to press and hold, but also less ability to "catch" forceful presses before hitting bottom, less ability to deflect glancing impacts against keys that you don't want to press, and less assistance in getting off of the key quickly) or heavy (more force required to press and hold, but also more shock absorption, more accidental press resistance, and greater return assistance)?

Do you like your keys tactile (provides feedback to your fingers when a key has been pressed sufficiently, through variation in resistance force) or linear (smoother and more consistent, but without feedback)?

Do you like your keys clicky (provides auditory feedback; often more difficult to manyfastpress) or quiet?

Answer these questions and we can direct you towards an appropriate switch. We will then need a bit more information to determine a keyboard recommendation using that switch, such as your location, what extra features (like macro keys or backlighting) you find genuinely useful, what kinds of ports you have available and/or prefer to use (ps/2, USB), whether you care about looks (font, branding, whether or not the text on the keys wears off and if you can easily swap out the keys with a fresh set when that happens) or would rather save money if there's no difference in functionality, and if there's anything else you want us to know about what you want.

[khaangaaroo]

I went from a logitech rubber dome to mx blues and didn't notice that much of a difference in my performance in fps games. (I was still getting owned by everyone online haha)

Then I switched to mx reds. I was hitting a lot of keys accidentally at first, but the smoothness of the keys felt so nice, I just stuck with it and eventually was killing like normal again.

Recently, I tried going back to gaming on a rubber dome and I definitely wasn't moving around as well as I was on the mx red. After getting used to being to able to mash so many keys so quickly and lightly on mx reds, it felt like the rubber dome was slowing me down.

So I would say go with mx reds for gaming. If you also plan to do a lot of typing on the board, you might want to try browns or blue if tactile is your thing. Not to say that reds are bad for typing. I actually enjoy typing on reds. But if we're talking just gaming, I would recommend reds hands down.

[vun]

As a long-time FPS gamer I can say that the keyboard barely matters. Only problem I have is with my laptop keyboard, where I'll sometimes go a bit too light on the spacebar when playing Tribes and accidentally stop skiing.
Just get a QFR with reds or something, can't really go wrong with that for gaming.

[rootwyrm]

It's purely personal preference. I game on an original IBM Model M. The only time it gets technical is when you're playing a game where you need to hit some ridiculous combination of 4+ keys at once. Then you need to be looking at a keyboard with individual switches and KRO capability. But which board there is entirely up to you. There's an ocean of options, some good some bad.

Generally speaking, ignore the gimmicks and BS. Gold plated contacts add nothing, 1000Hz polling is pretty much pointless, you get the idea. Find a keyboard you like and roll with it.

[jabar]

The one thing I agree with Razer is that MX Blues are my go-to gaming switch. I like the clicky feedback and on a small profile board (Noppoo Choc Mini) it's hard to beat.

[Magnusian]

I used to play a lot of Quake II and Quake III CPMA and did so on a Model M. I wasn't crazy good at it but honestly in games like that mouse skills are far more important than the keyboard in almost every FPS, especially twitchy ones like Quake and UT. For instance, in Quake III if you want to juggle someone with rockets, that's almost entirely mouse work. Same with rocket jumping and grenade jumping. The only keyboard-dependent skill I can think of in at least the Quake series of games is strafe jumping, but it's less about what's inside your keyboard and more about your own timing of key presses.

As for 2kro, 6kro, nkro, it's honestly up to how you customize your controls, I've never had a problem using 2kro boards like the M, and with many 2kro boards there are ways to work around their limitations. 2kro is definitely not an issue in the Quake series of games with default controls.

Go with the switch your fingers like the most, happy hands make for better gameplay. There's a lot of gimmicky crap out there, all to get you to part with more of your hard-earned dosh.

[BlindRAGE606]

Love FPS w/ Topre Keys. 

[Arcane012]

To be competitive in fps, recommended ps2?, Or it's OK to usb? Because I see a lot of players pushing the buttons very quickly, and I fear that usb can stop me.

[firebt]

The one thing I agree with Razer is that MX Blues are my go-to gaming switch. I like the clicky feedback and on a small profile board (Noppoo Choc Mini) it's hard to beat.

Although Cherry MX Blues are great, I don't think they would be so great for FPS gaming, and here's why.

Cherry MX Blues don't re-actuate until you lift them past actuation point, due to the clicky design.  Therefore, for FPS, that would be terrible.  Imagine if you wanted to switch to knife and back using Q and double tapping quickly.  Or maybe you want to strafe around to dodge enemies, which require quick pressing of the keys.  For this, Cherry MX Blues are not good.  They don't register double taps quickly enough, and in FPS games, you do that quite often.  For MOBA and all others, it should be fine, but I highly don't recommend Cherry MX blues for that. 

Go Reds if you can handle the lightness, and the Blacks if you like it pretty stiff, but blacks get tough to type on for extended periods of time.

[IvanIvanovich]

There really in no real world difference. Go USB it will last you longer. PS/2 is on schedule for extinction.

[rowdy]

NKRO or 6KRO just means you can press multiple keys simultaneously, and they will all register.

What you describe just sounds more like typing quickly.

In that case as long as the computer is fast enough to respond to each keypress, either PS/2 or USB would be fine.

And as lysol says, PS/2 is on the way out.  Of the last 4 computers I acquired (Dell, HP, Apple) none have PS/2 ports.