Recommendations for Gaming Keyboards?

[UnderFiend]

Tenno,

Not sure if this is the right place for this post though I've seen other recommendation threads... but I recently nearly went Tyl Regor on my G110 keyboard and started looking for a new board while it was recovering from nigh drowning.

Anyway, it looks like the G110 is now hard to get or at end of life, so I'm wondering what recommendations the community has for a good keyboard with backlit quiet keys, macros, and media functionality. I was looking for a direct upgrade or current gen version of the G110 but I'm not having much luck. The Corsair K70 RGB looks good but complicated, but just throwing it out there for another example of something that may work for me.

Any suggestions?

TIA

[Letter13]

Corsair Vengeance keyboards with Cherry MX Red mechanical switches are ones I swear by. Excellent keyboards.

[HexxyTheGrouch]

First of all the G110 is a great keyboard. I finally handed it down and they love it.

Second, Keyboards are all about personal preference. Definitely do your research especially if you are going to spend the big dollar.

Questions you should ask yourself: Do you want the bling? How do you want it to feel? Cost is of course a concern. Going through those part by part will lead to a notable essay.

What I liked / wanted:

- Backlit keys. I needed to be able to see my KB in the dark. The color of the lighting was not a huge concern though.

- Preferred keytype. I have a keyboard with Cherry MX reds and after adding dampers (little washers to soften the hit when I bottom out the key). It's nice, but I find the press too sensitive and I typo a lot more than I would like. The tactile bump of the Cherry browns was appealing Thus eliminating the black, blue and green switches. The Cherry browns have a similar activation force compared to the reds, so that is out. The best fit for what I wanted was the Cherry clears and those are a bit of an oddball item.

- Cost. Any decently built mechanical keyboard is going to cost you. Just do your homework before you drop the money. Youtube and googley are your friend on this. I STRONGLY recommend that you check out the several youtube videos that compare different cherry switches, and if possible the keyboard you want to purchase.

What I purchased: The WASD Code Keyboard .This was not a low cost purchase as you can see and is a fairly quiet looking design. The only "weird" thing about the keyboard is how the dip switches on the bottom work. Switches that I set and then promptly never worried about again. I do keep the reference sheet handy though.

Also for your reference : A description of the different cherry MX switches Hope that helps.

[noodlesensei]

I was using an old Sony Vios Keyboard, which worked just fine since I've broken it in so long ago (10+ years).  However, BestBuy had a deal a few months ago and I upgraded to a Logitech G710.  It's pretty freaking awesome if you ask me, plenty of programmable bindings. Keys aren't too loud, has multiple options for key lighting, scroll wheel volume control and a USB port attached to the keyboard.

Overall, pretty comfortable for me and the price ($70) for it at the time was a steal.

Ultimately, take a look at your budget and comfort of the keyboard.  I suggest taking a trip to your local store and test out which keyboard feels most comfortable to you. Any keyboard would be great, but if extended play makes your wrists hurt, it wouldn't be worth the purchase. Good luck!

 

Here's a link to the keyboard I bought:

http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/g710plus-mechanical-gaming-keyboard

 

Edited April 19, 2016 by noodlesensei
edited after re-reading what OP was looking for

[AnonNyx]

1 hour ago, Letter13 said:

Corsair Vengeance keyboards with Cherry MX Red mechanical switches are ones I swear by. Excellent keyboards.

QFT, I have the K70 Vengenge with Cherry Browns.  Very pleased.

[EpicJakelor]

On 4/19/2016 at 3:29 PM, AnonNyx said:

QFT, I have the K70 Vengenge with Cherry Browns.  Very pleased.

I have a corsair K70 vengeance with blues. It works great, is easy to clean, and the media controls, especially the volume wheel and mute button, are fantastic.

On 4/19/2016 at 1:13 PM, UnderFiend said:

The Corsair K70 RGB looks good but complicated, but just throwing it out there for another example of something that may work for me.

Any suggestions?

You can go RGB if you want, but personally I only use the backlight for when it is too dark to see my keys.

HexxyTheGrouch pretty much nailed it. I would recommend the K70 from my experience, but everything really comes down to what you want out of your keyboard. Macro keys, key switches, media controls, and how it looks are all up to you. PCPartPicker lets you apply filters in their keyboards section, which is what I used to find a keyboard that fit my needs. 

Edited April 21, 2016 by EpicJakelor

[UnderFiend]

Thanks. I ended up looking over all the boards suggested and some others. I got the G810 since it was similar to the K70 RGB but since the store only had the G810, I wasn't able to test the K70. I may take a look at one over the weekend...

The height of the keys on the Corsairs look formidable, though, which was another reason I went with the G810. I do a lot of typing in my day-to-day so brown-esq switches work a bit better (I think) for me and keys that don't require a lot of effort. The keys on the G910 are just crazypants...