New Monitor and Keyboard Search

yung steel · November 19

Hello! I am looking for some new peripherals and am looking for some good suggestions. My price point for keyboards is around $150-$200 but am able to go above as Black Friday will have deals. I have heard good things about Glourious. I current have an MSI keyboard that has lasted for the last 6.5 years. I would prefer a 100 or 96 percent keyboard as I like having extra keys for binds and don't want to buy a stream deck or something comparable. I'd also like to stay away from Razer products. As for monitors, I am looking for a 1440p monitor with atleast 144hz with a loose budget of less 300. I have had a Samsung monitor in the past that I had a lot of problems with, so I would like to avoid any Samsung monitor. Thank you in advance.

Tan3l6 · November 19

Really good price for a 1440p high refresh rate monitor - https://pcpartpicker.com/product/TXTzK8/asus-tuf-gaming-vg27aq1a-270-2560x1440-170-hz-monitor-vg27aq1a

GarlicDeliverySystem · November 19

42 minutes ago, yung steel said:

I have heard good things about Glourious. I current have an MSI keyboard that has lasted for the last 6.5 years. I would prefer a 100 or 96 percent keyboard as I like having extra keys for binds and don't want to buy a stream deck or something comparable. I'd also like to stay away from Razer products.

Any preferences on layout, i.e. is ANSI ok?

The usual things to consider when looking for keyboards (in my mind, at least) are:

look for hotswap switches, as it means you can change switches easily one by one should a switch ever fail. It also means you can experiment down the line without having to buy a new keyboard, just because you think the switches are a bit too loud, light, stiff, tactile etc.
Do you want wireless and if so, is BT fine or do you want a 2.4GHz dongle? Some popular brands only offer wired/BT and only limited 2.4GHz.
If you want macros, do you like VIA support?
Do you need RGB?

Having said that, the usual suspects around here are:

Keychron:
- K10: solid entry, just make sure to get the hotswap version! Offers both wired and BT support
- K10 Pro: upgrade over the regular K10, with a lot of custom keyboard features like better stabilizers or acoustic foams and silicone dampener. BT and wired, with QMK/VIA support, RGB optional.
- V6: basically the wired only version of the K10 Pro (K10 Pro is really a wireless version of the V6 imho), most affordable of all of these.
- Q6: custom keyboard, full metal frame, only wired. Also hitting the 200$ range here. Used to be awesome for the price, though the competition is improving all the time. Good out of the box, potentially great when modded.
- Q6 Pro: flagship model with wireless functionality added. Only BT though.
- A bunch of other models exist, most notably the L3 from Lemokey, which is Keychron's gaming brand. Not 100% though, only TKL.
Nuphy, no personal experience with it, but heard lots of good things about them.:
- Air 96 V2: low profile board, wireless with BT and 2.4 GHz or wired. V2 now also has VIA support. Also hotswap, though only for compatible low-profile switches.
- Halo 96: normal keyboard, also 96%. BT/2.4GHz/wired, but no VIA support yet.
GMMK:
- No personal experience, but from some reviews I have seen they are considered overpriced for the quality you get. Though if you were to get a nice deal on it, why not.

Other brands include of course all the gaming keyboard brands like Corsair and the likes, though they often don't have hotswap. Might be a good option though if super low latency is important to you. Similarly, there are now more and more keyboards with Hall Effect switches coming on the market, like the Wooting keyboards. Could be interesting.

A lot of more budget boards exist, though the vast majority is ~75% or smaller.