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best and worse mechanical switches

BFGmaster
By BFGmaster
in Peripherals
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Posted (edited)

Extremely personal, but cherry mx are among the worst for sure. Romer-G also clearly suck.

Edited by noxdeouroboros
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Posted

Romer-G. Why would anyone want a mechanical switch trying to act like membranes?

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

 

Model: HP Omen 17 17-an110ca CPU: i7-8750H (0.125V core & cache, 50mV SA undervolt) GPU: GTX 1060 6GB Mobile (+80/+450, 1650MHz~1750MHz 0.78V~0.85V) RAM: 8+8GB DDR4-2400 18-17-17-39 2T Storage: HP EX920 1TB PCIe x4 M.2 SSD + Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, 128GB Toshiba PCIe x2 M.2 SSD (KBG30ZMV128G) gone cooking externally, 1TB Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" HDD (ST1000LM049-2GH172) left outside Monitor: 1080p 126Hz IPS G-sync

 

Desktop benching:

Cinebench R15 Single thread:168 Multi-thread: 833 

SuperPi (v1.5 from Techpowerup, PI value output) 16K: 0.100s 1M: 8.255s 32M: 7m 45.93s

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Posted

Most personal preference question to ever exist. It's up to you what is the worst and best mechanical switch.

 

Personally, I hate clickjacket switches such as the Cherry MX Blue for their tinny click and inconsistent actuation.

 

The best depends on if you like linear, clicky, or tactile. My personal best is the Tealios V2 for their perfect smoothness, especially when lubed.

mechanical keyboard switches aficionado & hi-fi audio enthusiast

switch reviews • how i lube mx-style keyboard switches

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Definitely personal preference, but complicated Alps family (SKCM/SKCL) is best for me, followed closely by SMK 2nd gen (MX compatible cross mount version). Some of the best - if not the best - tactile and clicky switches; even for those who aren't big fans of Alps, they at least deserve mention in pantheon of great switches with IBM beamspring and buckling spring.

 

Worst is hard for me, as I haven't personally had any bad switches. Cherry MX is an easy answer, but they are more vanilla than bad. Definitely bad rubber dome keyboards, though.

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Posted
13 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

Romer-G. Why would anyone want a mechanical switch trying to act like membranes?

They don't... Membranes refer to the sensing layers.. They're completely different things... You cant really make something act like a membrane unless you force it to only have 2 key native roll over or something. Plus there's some good boards that use a membrane like the model m and acer switches. 

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13 hours ago, BFGmaster said:

whats the best and worse keyswitches?

The best imo are worn in Vintage Cherry switches, after you lube, spring swap and film them they're some of the smoothest and best sounding switches imo.

 

The worst I would say are pre-retooled cherry switches, which were super scratchy and super overrated. 

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19 minutes ago, b emoji said:

They don't... Membranes refer to the sensing layers.. They're completely different things... You cant really make something act like a membrane unless you force it to only have 2 key native roll over or something. Plus there's some good boards that use a membrane like the model m and acer switches. 

*feel

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

 

Model: HP Omen 17 17-an110ca CPU: i7-8750H (0.125V core & cache, 50mV SA undervolt) GPU: GTX 1060 6GB Mobile (+80/+450, 1650MHz~1750MHz 0.78V~0.85V) RAM: 8+8GB DDR4-2400 18-17-17-39 2T Storage: HP EX920 1TB PCIe x4 M.2 SSD + Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, 128GB Toshiba PCIe x2 M.2 SSD (KBG30ZMV128G) gone cooking externally, 1TB Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" HDD (ST1000LM049-2GH172) left outside Monitor: 1080p 126Hz IPS G-sync

 

Desktop benching:

Cinebench R15 Single thread:168 Multi-thread: 833 

SuperPi (v1.5 from Techpowerup, PI value output) 16K: 0.100s 1M: 8.255s 32M: 7m 45.93s

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18 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

*feel

Romer Gs feel like the Model M?

 

The point is that membrane just refers to the sensing mechanism, and does not have anything to do with how a key feels. 

:)

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Posted

Do you think Box Brown is a good alternative to Cherry Brown?

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55 minutes ago, tony01 said:

Do you think Box Brown is a good alternative to Cherry Brown?

It's more that Cherry MX Brown is a bad alternative to Box Brown :P

:)

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8 hours ago, seon123 said:

Romer Gs feel like the Model M?

 

The point is that membrane just refers to the sensing mechanism, and does not have anything to do with how a key feels. 

as in in my original post, "feel" is the better word than "act". Otherwise Romer-Gs can appeal to Model M users which I don't see that turning to reality

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

 

Model: HP Omen 17 17-an110ca CPU: i7-8750H (0.125V core & cache, 50mV SA undervolt) GPU: GTX 1060 6GB Mobile (+80/+450, 1650MHz~1750MHz 0.78V~0.85V) RAM: 8+8GB DDR4-2400 18-17-17-39 2T Storage: HP EX920 1TB PCIe x4 M.2 SSD + Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, 128GB Toshiba PCIe x2 M.2 SSD (KBG30ZMV128G) gone cooking externally, 1TB Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" HDD (ST1000LM049-2GH172) left outside Monitor: 1080p 126Hz IPS G-sync

 

Desktop benching:

Cinebench R15 Single thread:168 Multi-thread: 833 

SuperPi (v1.5 from Techpowerup, PI value output) 16K: 0.100s 1M: 8.255s 32M: 7m 45.93s

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10 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

as in in my original post, "feel" is the better word than "act". Otherwise Romer-Gs can appeal to Model M users which I don't see that turning to reality

The word you are looking for is rubber domes I think. Membranes are the sensing method and are usually not responsible for key-feel. Membrane =/= Rubber domes!  

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Best, Zealios V2, Kailh BOX, Gateron Inks, Novelkeys cream, Yok Panda, IBM Beamspring

Middle of the road. Cherry MX Clear when lubed, Cherry MX Red when lubed, most Outemus.

Worst, Greetech, Rommer-G, Any kind of click jacket switch. Cherry MX Brown. IBM Buckling spring (yes I actually don't like these, personal preference)

Mechanical Keyboard Switch Lubing Guide

 

 

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