CM Storm Quickfire TK Review

[APrettyCoolWalrus]

Many of you know by now that Cooler Master makes keyboard, and very well built keyboards at that, for lower prices. When I go around the forum I see people recommending the Quickfire series of keyboards. I was tired of waiting for the Corsair Vengeance K70 RGB and I was going to use only the blue backlight anyway, so I bought a CM Storm Quickfire TK. This review will cover a few main points including build quality, aesthetics, size, packaging, and gaming. Let's begin!

 

Packaging

 

Cooler Master took the "No BS" style of packaging. The keyboard came in a smooth cardboard box with a large picture of the keyboard on the front, the Cooler Master logo, and features on the back. Inside the box was a plasticy keyboard cover and a little bit of cardboard covering the long keyboard USB. Underneath the keyboard is a quick start manual and a keycap puller, which is nice to have if you want custom keycaps. The packaging is pleasing aesthetically but isn't

very protective.

 

Build Quality

 

Lifting this keyboard for the first time made me understand that this keyboard was built like a tank and might as well be as heavy as one. I've felt and held a Ducky keyboard before and I must say that the two keyboards felt similar. You can kill a person with this thing if you just hit hard enough. Now I might not be the strongest walrus in the world, but when I tried to flew this keyboard nothing happened. Kudos to Cooler Master!

 

Aesthetics

 

Where do I begin? The keyboard looks awesome! The font on the keycaps is really nice, the blue backplate looks great even when there is no backlighting at all and with backlighting the keyboard just looks absolutely gorgeous. In the top right corner is a CM Storm logo and three lights indicating whether you have num lock, caps lock, or scroll lock on. In pictures I thought this looked tacky, but I think it looks great now!

 

Size

 

This keyboard isn't your run-of-the-mill 108 key-layout keyboard. The Quickfire TK was built with size in mind. You can see in other pictures that the keypad and DEL/HOME/PGUP/PGDOWN/END/INS keys are integrated. To access the numpad you must simply press Numlock. This successfully makes the keyboard almost the same size as a tenkeyless keyboard. The design makes a lot of room on my desk and gives me the option to even use my keyboard tray with my large SteelSeries mousepad.

 

Gaming

 

I risked playing CS:GO competitive with a new piece of hardware. I take that game very seriously but I decided that I must try it since I will be using this keyboard for both typing and gaming. I instantly noticed a difference between my plunger switch keyboard (which is like a MX Cherry Black feel) and the Quickfire TK. A difference I didn't quite like. A nice accurate and linear keypress is vital, and just in my opinion more comfortable. I will continue to use my TK for gaming but I wish I had a gaming-dedicated keyboard. It's not that my keypresses were delayed or felt like they took to long to execute. They just didn't feel comfortable which is my own problem, and others may not experience that uncomfort.

 

Well there you guys go, my first review of a mechanical keyboard. I must say that Cooler Master did an insanely good job on this peripheral and I thank them very much. Thanks for reading!

[Benjio]

Nice review. Though, the one thing that really annoys me with this keyboard is that the backlight, even if turned off, still comes on for the fn lock, windows key lock, and arrow keys. I don't understand why they couldn't have had just an all keys always on and all keys always off option added for the backlight. Besides that, I love this keyboard.

[miyabwah]

I own a QuickFire TK myself, it truly is a beautiful thing. And yes it has blues, too. It very much is built like a tank. I love this thing so much.

[ZacDaMan72]

I own a QuickFire TK myself, it truly is a beautiful thing. And yes it has blues, too. It very much is built like a tank. I love this thing so much.

I had to try mimic that with my G710

[Huginn]

I'm so happy they made an AZERTY (BE) layout version of this. Gonna buy one soon. Is there much difference between the TK and Pro version? 'Cus they only made the Pro version in AZERTY layout.

[SuspiciousBadger]

Im planning to buy the Corsair Vengeance K70 can anybody review that?

[APrettyCoolWalrus]

I own a QuickFire TK myself, it truly is a beautiful thing. And yes it has blues, too. It very much is built like a tank. I love this thing so much.

 

Hey a question: How do I use the F keys? Everytime I try to ALT-F4 out of a program it just changes the backlighting mode.

[APrettyCoolWalrus]

Im planning to buy the Corsair Vengeance K70 can anybody review that?

There's already a review of it, go search for it.

[Vacsol]

Hey a question: How do I use the F keys? Everytime I try to ALT-F4 out of a program it just changes the backlighting mode.

if you hold the FN key for 3 seconds, it turns on until you hold it for another 3 seconds which will turn it off

[MrTomnus]

I have this keyboard too - I love it to death. Before i had never used a Cherry MX keyboard and this thing is just so nice to type on. I cringe every time I have to use a membrane or rubber dome keyboard now   It is very noisy though!

[ilikemacandpc]

Those pics look epic. What camera did you use @Lanoi?

[miyabwah]

Those pics look epic. What camera did you use @Lanoi?

Believe it or not, I used my Logitech C920 (HD 1080P webcam)

[Helpsave_ferris]

Does anyone know where to buy one with brown switches these days?  It seems to be either "temporarily unavailable", or "not available".

[SurvivorNVL]

I love my Quickfire TK, though I no longer use it and have it on my shelf of boards.  T'was my first introduction to MX Green switch's which were a delight to game on, but now Topre's got my heart :3  Good review!  Also for gaming as Linus said in his review of the Novatouch - Topre's are a treat for it!  I am typist before anything, but if you eventually purchase another board - Topre's are so damn nice.  And MX-Clear's, but Topre's win everyday :3

[That Norwegian Guy]

Does anyone know where to buy one with brown switches these days?  It seems to be either "temporarily unavailable", or "not available".

 

The gaming hive mind swarmed towards blues like moths because some random people with lots of followers said 'deys da best durrrrr' and now thanks to them proper gaming switches are nearly impossible to find in a compelling product because they don't sell.

 

And gamers all over the world are keeping their neighbours awake with their TAKATAKATAKA piece of crap MX Blue keyboards.

[Recon97]

Those pics look epic. What camera did you use @Lanoi?

speaking sarcastically?

[tobben]

Is it possible to completely turn off all the leds on this keyboard? 

i am under the impression i wont be able to turn off the fn and

some other keys, that would be an absolute killer for me...

 

The gaming hive mind swarmed towards blues like moths because some random people with lots of followers said 'deys da best durrrrr' and now thanks to them proper gaming switches are nearly impossible to find in a compelling product because they don't sell.

 

And gamers all over the world are keeping their neighbours awake with their TAKATAKATAKA piece of crap MX Blue keyboards.

Some reading for you (although i personally think brown feels absolutely horrendous, and i dislike the term "gaming switch")http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/285152-corsair-k70-k95-rgb-with-cherry-mx-blues-discontinued/

[IMPERIUS]

Question abou the lightning- which modes does it have? Can you completely turn it off? How bright is the lowest lvl in the dark?

[Psykomantis00]

FYI the cables they ship with suck. I have two of these keyboards, both cables went bad. Now my red keyboard has issues with the mini usb port also. Otherwise they are great. 

[Guest]

if you hold the FN key for 3 seconds, it turns on until you hold it for another 3 seconds which will turn it off

 

Hey a question: How do I use the F keys? Everytime I try to ALT-F4 out of a program it just changes the backlighting mode.

 

This is why I got the K70 instead...

[Sakkura]

Is it possible to completely turn off all the leds on this keyboard? 

i am under the impression i wont be able to turn off the fn and

some other keys, that would be an absolute killer for me...

 

Some reading for you (although i personally think brown feels absolutely horrendous, and i dislike the term "gaming switch")http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/285152-corsair-k70-k95-rgb-with-cherry-mx-blues-discontinued/

 

You can turn off all the LEDs under the keycaps, though it's a little unintuitive. If you use the lights off button with NumPad off, the arrow keys will still be lit up. Enabling NumLock turns them off. Though you will still have the NumLock light on, so that's the lowest you can go.

 

The FN key is lit when it's enabled and unlit when it's not "FN-locked", as in every keypress across the F-keys and Esc do the secondary options on those keys (NKRO toggle, light mode/brightness controls, media keys and toggling Windows key disable).

[Sakkura]

Question abou the lightning- which modes does it have? Can you completely turn it off? How bright is the lowest lvl in the dark?

 

Pulsing across the whole board, static light across the whole board or WASD only (and arrow keys, depending on NumLock). 5 brightness levels for the static light modes.

[PhantomChevron]

Good review, the CM Storm Quickfire TK is a brilliant keyboard.

[APrettyCoolWalrus]

Question abou the lightning- which modes does it have? Can you completely turn it off? How bright is the lowest lvl in the dark?

Before I describe the backlighting modes I must first say that the Arrow Keys, FN button, and anti-Windows key button are not directly affected by changing backlighting modes and you must turn them on or off yourself since they have different uses.

The first mode is all keys backlit. It's bright but you can also change the brightness level.

The second mode is a breathing mode where the keys will get brighter and dimmer over a few seconds.

The third is WASD ILLUMINATED.

The fourth is off.

Not the most options but still a great keyboard!

[tobben]

You can turn off all the LEDs under the keycaps, though it's a little unintuitive. If you use the lights off button with NumPad off, the arrow keys will still be lit up. Enabling NumLock turns them off. Though you will still have the NumLock light on, so that's the lowest you can go.

 

The FN key is lit when it's enabled and unlit when it's not "FN-locked", as in every keypress across the F-keys and Esc do the secondary options on those keys (NKRO toggle, light mode/brightness controls, media keys and toggling Windows key disable).

Oh, sorry i forgot about the reply, thanks

 

I decided against getting the tk, just too many

compromises. And as a guy that always makes

sure to disable numlock because i can't stand

that one random light in the top corner, i really

feel like this keyboard hates me down to the very

core of my being