Gadgetory

excellent Corsair and cherry have a special relationship Corsair purchases obscene amounts of cherry MX mechanical switches to use in Corsair keyboards and cherry and turn provides Corsair with exclusives such as the exclusive use of RGB LED Cherry MX switches a couple years back now cherien's a new switch developed in collaboration with Corsair specifically for gaming the Cherry MX speed switch and if you want to know how fast it is you're going to have to purchase a Corsair keyboard at least during their exclusivity period for the next six months today I'm going to be taking a look at the brand new Corsair k70 rapid-fire RGB featuring the also brand new Cherry MX speed switches and yes they still have RGB LEDs so Corsair has just launched this full-size k70 rapid-fire keyboard as well as a 10 keyless k 65 rapid fire both using the Cherry MX speed switch with RGB LEDs and costing 160 $9.99 for the k70 RGB rapid-fire and 149 99 for the case 65 RGB rapid-fire that's MSRP let's start off with a closer look at these speed switches though Cherry's all new switches have a 45 gram actuation force and one point two millimeter actuation distance making them around 40% faster than cherry MX Reds according to the marketing copy from Corsair it's a linear switch meaning it has smooth travel from top to bottom and no tactile bump or clicky sound so similar Cherry MX blacks or reds but not as stiff and with less travel distance to actuate compare this to Cherry MX browns which have a two-millimeter actuation distance and 55 gram actuation force and you can see our Corsair gets the 40% number from its 1.2 / - that not put too fine a point on it Corsair isn't the first to go for minimal actuation distance and a keyboard though logitech's G series of mechanical keyboards for example use their Romer G switches with a 1.5 millimeter actuation distance and 45 gram actuation force just remember travel distance is how far far the key moves from top to bottom to bottom out completely whereas actuation distance is how far the key needs to travel to register the keystroke comparing the Cherry MX speed switches on the K 70 rapid-fire to the Cherry MX red switches on my K 95 which features the same general design I found that the travel distance for each key to bottom out is different but only by about a millimeter the MX Reds start at 15 millimeters high and bottom out at 11 millimeters so they travel four millimeters the M X speeds which is also started out at 15 millimeters high but they bottomed out at 12 millimeters meaning they only move three millimeters which is perceptively different while typing if you bottom out each keystroke it is subtle though and I had to measure just to be sure as for the speediness of the switch remember that most mechanical switches actuate and send the keystroke to the system well before the key actually bottoms out so if you pressed both keys at the exact same time the MX speed switch would register the keystroke after the key has moved one point two millimeters and the MX red would register the keystroke after moving two millimeters down it's difficult to nail down precisely how much faster it is without some high-speed camera work of course there is 40% faster explanation while being based on math is definitely dripping with least a little bit of marketing hyperbole I will say though that like high refresh rate hundred and forty-four Hertz monitors and fast pace PC gaming it's often just about being first whether it's being the first to see the next rendered frame from your GPU or the first to hit the attack or fire key on your keyboard and the MX switches all else being equal will be first in that button-pushing race even if it's a matter of microseconds moving on to the rest of the keyboard though accessories include a manual and warranty info a key cat puller and 10 extra textured key caps for the WASD area the K 70 rapid-fire sports the same design and brushed aluminum finish as the k70 RGB that preceded it which isn't a bad thing at all while it doesn't have the trough that the keys are recessed into like the Corsair straight for the cooler master master Keys Pro that I recently reviewed which gives those keyboards the ability to have a white backplate that's underneath that kind of reflects more of the RGB light up this design does have its advantages the clear switch housings allow the RGB LEDs to shine through brilliantly even from the sides and the absence of a trough beneath means that cleaning is much easier whether you're doing it quick dust off with canned air or you're actually removing all the key caps to give the undercarriage a bit of the old house your father I really like the Corsair has added a USB pass-through to this keyboard that's a very nice upgrade compared to the previous case 70 RGB and a feature that always earns bonus points with me there's also a four position polling rates which which you'll probably keep in the fastest position but it is super helpful for BIOS and UEFI compatibility the keys themselves provide good illumination through the key caps and I approve of the choice of font also the spacebar is textured which will help you find it with your thumbs a little bit more easily and there's a soft finish wrist rest included as well on the bottom are for height adjustment feet allowing you to work with a positive or negative tilts or simply raise the entire keyboard up by an inch or so finally the top right area has dedicated media controls including the knurled barrel style volume control knob which I really like lighting and windows lock buttons and all of these controls have RGB backlighting in them as well meaning that every visible light on this keyboard has RGB control and that's just how it should be done good job Corsair but how do you control the RGB LEDs for that you need Corsair software and you'll find many people have a love-hate relationship with the Corsair utility engine application the software is very capable and customizable but also can be daunting based on the sheer volume of options available it's still pretty much the same software so I will spare you the full guide for that feel free to check out Kyle's tutorial that I will link down in the video's description I'm just showing off some of the presets here and more are available for download from Corsairs website some are just cool lighting schemes and others are set up for specific games like csgo League of Legends or world of warcraft if you're willing to plow through the learning curve you can edit your own effects setup complex macro sequences or try out built-in effects like gradient ripple and wave this is undoubtedly the most full-featured lighting control software in its class but again with great capabilities comes great complexity if you really don't want to mess with the software though you can browse through and import profiles that have been created and shared by other Corsair keyboard users and that's a library that is growing every day so where does that leave us put simply this is a very nice keyboard you'll probably like a lot of you're a gamer and even more if you're into Cherry MX red or Cherry MX black switches since they have a very similar feel I'm actually curious if there's a speed switch version in the works with a tactile bump or click for fans of MX Browns greens or blues but no official word on that yet beyond the switches the keyboard design build quality and features are all top-notch and have no problem recommending seventy rapid-fire RGB as for cons it's worth noting that these switches are not as good for typists as depth of travel distance is actually one of the features of mechanical switches that sets them apart from rubber dome keyboards if you're used to typing lightly as well and you don't bottom out the keys these switches might take some getting used to that is all for this review though thank you guys so much for watching and if you enjoyed this video I strongly encourage 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