Best mechanical keyboard for gaming

[ubercake]

Looking for opinions regarding the best mechanical keyboard for gaming. I'm replacing my G110 and would like to try something new.

I don't need extra keys, since I already have a ton of buttons on my G600 mouse.

I need a keyboard with no ghosting (there are a few combinations I've found with my G110), a good feel and an easy to find WADS cluster.

It doesn't make a difference whether it's lit with LEDs or not.

I want the mechanical feel.

I primarily play FPS type games.

Please offer suggestions based on your experience.

 

[DarkSable]

No mechanical keyboard is going to have ghosting. Period. That's why you buy a mechanical keyboard.

Personally, I have a completely blank Leopold with Cherry MX Blacks, and I then ordered blank white WSAD and arrow keys from wsadkeyboards. I couldn't love it more, and it works like a beauty for playing pretty much any game out there. (When I got it, within five minutes I had adjusted from typing on an ergonomic keyboard to typing on this... and my WPM went up by 20 points.)

EDIT: A lot of people will tell you to go with a tenkeyless keyboard - personally I can't stand them as they make my hands feel too cramped. (The other upside is that you can write macros for the number pad. [Not so much for first person shooters, but for most other games it's wonderfully useful.])

 

[bigcyco1]

I personally prefer mechanical keyboards, but not everyone does.

For me, the Ducky Shining takes the cake - Backlit in red/green/blue/white, comes in red/brown/black/blue switches.


From there I would look at Deck Legend boards, Filcos, and maybe on a budget the CM’s Storm QuickFire.
guide at another well respected forum:
http://www.overclock.net/t/491752/mechanical-keyboard-guide

 

[ubercake]

No mechanical keyboard is going to have ghosting. Period. That's why you buy a mechanical keyboard.

Personally, I have a completely blank Leopold with Cherry MX Blacks, and I then ordered blank white WSAD and arrow keys from wsadkeyboards. I couldn't love it more, and it works like a beauty for playing pretty much any game out there. (When I got it, within five minutes I had adjusted from typing on an ergonomic keyboard to typing on this... and my WPM went up by 20 points.)

EDIT: A lot of people will tell you to go with a tenkeyless keyboard - personally I can't stand them as they make my hands feel too cramped. (The other upside is that you can write macros for the number pad. [Not so much for first person shooters, but for most other games it's wonderfully useful.])

Thanks for the info on mechanical keyboards and ghosting.

Also, since you brought up the point about the 10-keypad, I can't do without one. So that would be another thing I'm looking for in a keyboard.

Do you know if mechanical keyboards offer 1000/s polling rates?

 

[ubercake]

I personally prefer mechanical keyboards, but not everyone does.

For me, the Ducky Shining takes the cake - Backlit in red/green/blue/white, comes in red/brown/black/blue switches.


From there I would look at Deck Legend boards, Filcos, and maybe on a budget the CM’s Storm QuickFire.
guide at another well respected forum:
http://www.overclock.net/t/491752/mechanical-keyboard-guide

This is a good article. It opened my eyes to the fact that when I said ghosting in my original post, I really meant NKRO. Although, I also do want to avoid ghosting (now that I have that clear), so the mechanical keyboard seems like the way to go.

I'll have to check out your suggestions.

 

[bigcyco1]

I personally prefer mechanical keyboards, but not everyone does.

For me, the Ducky Shining takes the cake - Backlit in red/green/blue/white, comes in red/brown/black/blue switches.


From there I would look at Deck Legend boards, Filcos, and maybe on a budget the CM’s Storm QuickFire.
guide at another well respected forum:
http://www.overclock.net/t/491752/mechanical-keyboard-guide

This is a good article. It opened my eyes to the fact that when I said ghosting in my original post, I really meant NKRO. Although, I also do want to avoid ghosting (now that I have that clear), so the mechanical keyboard seems like the way to go.

I'll have to check out your suggestions.

This might be a good test to take.
http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/first_mechanical_keyboard.php

 

[Ashmen]

I have a mechanical keyboard. Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Edition, bought it around 2-3 months ago and I am having very little problems with it.

Specs:
- MX Blue mechanical switches
- 10 anti-ghosting keys
- Braided fibre wires (basically rope) [tangle-proof and durable]
- 5 macro keys
- FULL customization for the keys (Razer Synapse 2.0)
- Gaming optimized key matrix for minimized ghosting
- One USB port and headphone jacks (audio / mic)
- 1000Hz Ultrapolling / 1ms response time

Pros:
- Has a USB port and headphone jacks so you can plug in your mouse + headset
- Backlit (customizable lighting brightness)
- Extremely durable (spilled coffee on a few keys, cleaned it, dried the keyboard off and started working again)
- Provides a customization program (Razer Synapse 2.0) to customize the keys, 5 additional macro keys.
- Dust does not tend to stay on the keyboard

Cons:
- Heavy (1500 g or 3.31 pounds)
- MX Blue switches are very loud, but enjoyable when you are doing school projects and work (documents, spreadsheets etc.)
- Slightly larger in length than some mechanical keyboards
- Only has ONE backlit colour (green)

 

[ssddx]

what you want is NKRO (n-key roll over) which means you can press as many keys at once without having any ignored.

for instance a 2kro keyboard (ibm model m, unicomp customizer) has some 2 key combinations where a 3rd key would not be registered. not all combinations produce this result but the minimum is 2 so the keyboard is labeled accordingly.

to do this properly you need a correctly designed key matrix. quite a few keyboard manufacturers have software which helps to eliminate ghost keys or have certain keys which do not ghost. this is not the same thing.

also i would suggest ps/2 over a usb port if you can help it. ps/2 is force interrupt and the cpu processes the signal immediately while polling inserts the signal into the usb stack.

you will want to read the mechanical keyboard guide on hardforums.com in addition to the link they provided above. you need to figure out what type of keyswitch you want. generally speaking mx blues are good for typing and mx blacks are good for gaming. blues can be used for both or multipurpose applications. i believe browns are tactile like blues but without audible feedback. take a look and find out what you want.

---

razer products do not support usb to ps/2 conversion at all. this is why i returned the one i purchased.

i have heard of driver issues as well.

the model i had (not sure if it was the newer or older version) had a glossy surface which was constantly attracting dirt and dust.

--

now what would i suggest?

das, deck, wasd, ducky or unicomp.

personally i would love to buy myself a new unicomp customizer (i had 2 ibm model m keyboards which the customizer is a clone of) but want a nkro keyboard (instead of 2kro). if unicomp updates the keymatrix it would be a no-brainer.

deck seems to have the size and weight but doesnt have the options i want which makes me look more towards wasd (they have cherry mx blues as an option). also they have a lower price and the option to custom laser etch keys.

 

[ubercake]

Thanks to everyone for all of the info.

All of the feedback was valuable. bigcyco1 provided me with the info I needed to make an informed decision.

I didn't choose from the elite brands, but went with a Logitech 710+. With the exception of the multimedia and M-keys, it's all-mechanical with brown switches. It has 110 anti-ghosting keys and 26-key rollover. It has lighting and key options that easily let you find the WAD cluster if you've lost your positioning. I can plug it in and easily configure it with the unified Logitech gaming component software that I already have installed. It's available on Amazon for $99.99. It will be at my house tomorrow.

Thanks again.

 

[bigcyco1]

No problem your welcome glad to help enjoy!