Gaming keyboard

[LSTD]

What's the best gaming keyboard? And what keyboard specs are important for gaming in that matter? Is there a dominant company (ASUS, Logitech ,Razer etc.) that has the best products?

[dizmo]

My G.Skill KM780 has been one of my favorites, both from a price point and build quality perspective.

I've had keyboards from Logitech, Razer, Corsair...

[kelvinhall05]

There is no objective best.

[bellabichon]

Like most areas of tech, keyboards are a pretty giant rabbit hole to jump down. At the surface, the majority of people will be perfectly content with a nice keyboard from any major retailer (Razer, Logitech, Corsair, etc), maybe with some Cherry MX mechanical switches if you're feeling a little bit fancy. At the other end of the spectrum, there are whole internet communities (like r/MechanicalKeyboards) dedicated to the construction of custom mechanical keyboards in every shape and size, with a huge variety of mechanical switches. 

 

Do you have a budget in mind? If you don't care to look super deep into it, I can make some recommendations on what will give you the best experience right out of the box. 

[LSTD]

5 minutes ago, bellabichon said:

Like most areas of tech, keyboards are a pretty giant rabbit hole to jump down. At the surface, the majority of people will be perfectly content with a nice keyboard from any major retailer (Razer, Logitech, Corsair, etc), maybe with some Cherry MX mechanical switches if you're feeling a little bit fancy. At the other end of the spectrum, there are whole internet communities (like r/MechanicalKeyboards) dedicated to the construction of custom mechanical keyboards in every shape and size, with a huge variety of mechanical switches. 

 

Do you have a budget in mind? If you don't care to look super deep into it, I can make some recommendations on what will give you the best experience right out of the box. 

I don't really have a budget (as long as it's not unnecessarily expansive), and looking super deep into it is pretty much what I'm trying to do so It'll be great to hear your recommendations.

[Dr0y]

22 minutes ago, LSTD said:

I don't really have a budget (as long as it's not unnecessarily expansive), and looking super deep into it is pretty much what I'm trying to do so It'll be great to hear your recommendations.

Do you know what kind of switches you like ?

Do you know which layout you would like ?

Not unnecessarily expensive would be like what ?  Under 100$, under 200$ ... ?

 

There's no best keyboard, it's always a matter of preference ... if you play competitive shooter a good mouse will have way more impact than any keyboard could have ...

If you do some streaming maybe you should try to avoid clicky switches as they can get really annoying for the viewers. 

 

Since I am a mid level enthusiast I would suggest something like the gmmk or any other hot swappable keyboard so you can put in there the switches of your choice and won't be limited by the offerings of the gaming brand prebuilt

[Xaring]

Find out what's your preferred switch type (Cherry Reds are generally the go-to) - but it might vary. I personally enjoy Blacks.

 

I'm currently running a Corsair K68 - I've also used an asus with cherry blacks for at least 4 years before this one. 

I can recommend the K68 - pretty good quality and above average software (I don't personally care, you can also use it  - average price, so its definitelly a good one.

 

 

[Dr0y]

If i have a chance to stay away from cherry I always do ... specially cherry brown ...

 

also the OP should try to see what kind of switches he likes for himself starting from general cathegory of linear, tactile or clicky

[LSTD]

12 hours ago, Dr0y said:

Do you know what kind of switches you like ?

Do you know which layout you would like ?

Not unnecessarily expensive would be like what ?  Under 100$, under 200$ ... ?

 

There's no best keyboard, it's always a matter of preference ... if you play competitive shooter a good mouse will have way more impact than any keyboard could have ...

If you do some streaming maybe you should try to avoid clicky switches as they can get really annoying for the viewers. 

 

Since I am a mid level enthusiast I would suggest something like the gmmk or any other hot swappable keyboard so you can put in there the switches of your choice and won't be limited by the offerings of the gaming brand prebuilt

I don't know anything about switches, layouts etc. budget-  let's say around 300$? I simply don't want to pay for something I don't need. I have a good mouse, I don't stream and I mainly just want a convenient, compact and good performance keyboard.

[LSTD]

12 hours ago, Xaring said:

Find out what's your preferred switch type (Cherry Reds are generally the go-to) - but it might vary. I personally enjoy Blacks.

 

I'm currently running a Corsair K68 - I've also used an asus with cherry blacks for at least 4 years before this one. 

I can recommend the K68 - pretty good quality and above average software (I don't personally care, you can also use it  - average price, so its definitelly a good one.

 

 

I don't know what that means, my knowledge pretty much ends in "there's a mechanical switch and a laser switch". I don't really like corsair products (bad experience in the past)... do you have another recommendations maybe?

[LSTD]

10 hours ago, Dr0y said:

If i have a chance to stay away from cherry I always do ... specially cherry brown ...

 

also the OP should try to see what kind of switches he likes for himself starting from general cathegory of linear, tactile or clicky

Usually I would just try some and see what I like but unfortunately it's not possible due to covid…

[seon123]

13 minutes ago, LSTD said:

I don't know anything about switches, layouts etc. budget-  let's say around 300$? I simply don't want to pay for something I don't need. I have a good mouse, I don't stream and I mainly just want a convenient, compact and good performance keyboard.

For layouts and switches, you could take a look at @Eschew's intro to custom mechs. Even if you don't want to get a custom mech, the parts about the layout, and to some extend about switches, would be relevant.

 

16 minutes ago, LSTD said:

I simply don't want to pay for something I don't need

Well, you don't need anything more than a $20 keyboard.

[Dr0y]

21 minutes ago, LSTD said:

I don't know anything about switches, layouts etc. budget-  let's say around 300$? I simply don't want to pay for something I don't need. I have a good mouse, I don't stream and I mainly just want a convenient, compact and good performance keyboard.

 

3 minutes ago, seon123 said:

Well, you don't need anything more than a $20 keyboard.

Well that would sums it up ... as I said earlier keyboards make little difference when gaming unless you have a really really bad/old/failing one ... it's often a matter of preference when typing and also features like software, macro key, rgb, volume wheel, display, adjustable actuation point (kinda rare but there's some) ... hotswappable ...

 

do you care about rgb if yes then look for which software is ok vs which one is trash and go from there maybe ...

 

I would still recommend the gmmk cause even if you get it fully build it's still a solid choice there ... if not, ducky and durgod have some good keyboards ... if there's an option for other switches than cherry I would go for it too ... from my experience cherry are just disappointing specially cherry brown.

 

There's only so much choice that it's hard to recommend one when we don't really know what you would like ... you said compact so I guess a tkl (without numeric pad) or 60% (only the letters and what's directly around them I think would describe it ok) would be the layout you are looking for ...

 

check out these 2 keyboard to compare the tkl layout and the 60% layout

 

here is a tkl durgod k320 with cherry silent black switches which are linear with heavier spring and rubber dampers inside to silence the key stroke.

https://www.amazon.com/DURGOD-Mechanical-Keyboard-Switches-Interface/dp/B082SJFMB1/ref=sr_1_13?dchild=1&keywords=ducky&qid=1615126467&sr=8-13&th=1

 

here is the gk61 with silent brown switches which are tactile and silent with rubber dampers inside ...

https://www.amazon.com/GK61-Mechanical-Gaming-Keyboard-Programmable/dp/B07PT9NRRY/ref=sr_1_17?dchild=1&keywords=ducky&qid=1615126467&sr=8-17&th=1

 

those are just two examples there but those are also two good choices ... and there's tons of other you can find and that's why it's hard to recommend any without knowing more about your needs.  

[King of Memes]

14 hours ago, LSTD said:

What's the best gaming keyboard? And what keyboard specs are important for gaming in that matter? Is there a dominant company (ASUS, Logitech ,Razer etc.) that has the best products?

the best gaming keyboard is determined by how u play and what u like. Mechanical keyboards are obviously much better for gaming. Some ppl say the apex pro is the best one, but i prefer the k70 bc of the switches. Learn what switches are best for, and pick those