Corsair K70 RGB Rapidfire Mechanical Gaming Keyboard - USB Passthrough & Media Controls - Fastest & Linear - Cherry MX Speed - RGB LED Backlit
To compete at the high level, you need the fast mechanical keyboard there is. RAPIDFIRE's lightning-quick responsiveness and anti-ghosting technology let you strike with an amazing combination of speed and precision. And the forged aluminum frame is built to withstand storm after storm of keystrokes, so you'll always live to fight another day. Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) enables sophisticated macros and dramatic lighting effects. The USB pass-through port is positioned for uninterrupted game play, and a detachable wrist rest keeps you playing for hours.
To compete at the high level, you need the fast mechanical keyboard there is. RAPIDFIRE's lightning-quick responsiveness and anti-ghosting technology let you strike with an amazing combination of speed and precision. And the forged aluminum frame is built to withstand storm after storm of keystrokes, so you'll always live to fight another day. Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) enables sophisticated macros and dramatic lighting effects. The USB pass-through port is positioned for uninterrupted game play, and a detachable wrist rest keeps you playing for hours.
To compete at the high level, you need the fast mechanical keyboard there is. RAPIDFIRE's lightning-quick responsiveness and anti-ghosting technology let you strike with an amazing combination of speed and precision. And the forged aluminum frame is built to withstand storm after storm of keystrokes, so you'll always live to fight another day. Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) enables sophisticated macros and dramatic lighting effects. The USB pass-through port is positioned for uninterrupted game play, and a detachable wrist rest keeps you playing for hours.
To compete at the high level, you need the fast mechanical keyboard there is. RAPIDFIRE's lightning-quick responsiveness and anti-ghosting technology let you strike with an amazing combination of speed and precision. And the forged aluminum frame is built to withstand storm after storm of keystrokes, so you'll always live to fight another day. Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) enables sophisticated macros and dramatic lighting effects. The USB pass-through port is positioned for uninterrupted game play, and a detachable wrist rest keeps you playing for hours.
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The lowest price for Corsair K70 RGB Rapidfire Mechanical Gaming Keyboard - USB Passthrough & Media Controls - Fastest & Linear - Cherry MX Speed - RGB LED Backlit right now is $180.21 at Computerspace, compared across 3 retailers.
The all-time low was $92.61 on 11 Feb 2026 — today's price is 95% above the lowest ever. It has been notably cheaper before — worth setting a price alert.
Prices last updated 22 Aug 2026.
Last updated at 22/08/2026 07:55:09
CORSAIR K70 RAPIDFIRE RGB Mechanical Silent Gaming KEYBOARD
Delivery $28.14
CORSAIR K70 RAPIDFIRE RGB Mechanical speed Gaming KEYBOARD
Delivery $28.14
K70 RGB PRO Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (CHERRY MX RGB Speed Switches: Linear and Rapid, 8,000Hz Hyper-Polling, PBT DOUBLE-SHOT PRO Keycaps, Soft
Delivery between 28–31 Aug $29
Corsair Gaming Keyboard K70 Rapidfire Ch-9101024-jp Jp Cherry Mx Speed
Free delivery
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a small commission for purchases made through this link at no extra cost to you. This helps support our site. Thank you!
originally posted on newegg.com
When I was younger I was into gaming, but not so much any more. I write HTML/CSS/jQuery for a living, and this is a nice feeling step up from my old Logitech non-mechanical keyboard. The following info is written for any other coders (or at least non-gamers) out there who might be considering this keyboard. I didn't really want crazy lighting effects, or especially a gamer-centric WASD color key configuration built-in, so it's cool that the Corsair comes with those gamer-color keys as an option in the box. (Not pre-installed on the board) After downloading the software, all of the color profile options came up and were pretty self explanatory after 5-10 minutes of fiddling. If you've read in older reviews that Corsair's color adjustment is painfully difficult, I ... MoreWhen I was younger I was into gaming, but not so much any more. I write HTML/CSS/jQuery for a living, and this is a nice feeling step up from my old Logitech non-mechanical keyboard. The following info is written for any other coders (or at least non-gamers) out there who might be considering this keyboard. I didn't really want crazy lighting effects, or especially a gamer-centric WASD color key configuration built-in, so it's cool that the Corsair comes with those gamer-color keys as an option in the box. (Not pre-installed on the board) After downloading the software, all of the color profile options came up and were pretty self explanatory after 5-10 minutes of fiddling. If you've read in older reviews that Corsair's color adjustment is painfully difficult, I think that was for the older version of their software. It was pretty painless to make 4 color schemes & assign them to 4 programs in about 45 minutes to an hour. Putting together a nice looking but not overly flashy color scheme is easy, and the fact that it's super adjustable helps, too. When migraines hit, I code in a pretty dimly lit room, so having a "migraine" setting on the keyboard is mint! Downloading other schemes from the web and importing them is also a piece of cake, if you don't mind the ridiculously bright & never-ending barrage of colors most of the kids use these days. :-) (I'd have probably done the same if I wasn't old) Be sure to download profiles for the K70. The other models corsair makes are shown in the same menu, but aren't all compatible. That's probably another reason for a couple less-than-epic reviews online. If a downloaded profile "doesn't work", you might be using the wrong profile type. In my opinion, Corsair's website shouldn't use one menu for many incompatible device profiles. That's dumb UI. Also keep in mind that certain profiles for specific games might also have game-specific keymapping, which is useless for pretty much anything besides that game. Creating (and understanding) macros, text insertions, program shortcuts, and a few of the other features in the "Actions" menu of the program takes some effort. This is the unintuitive part. You'd assume you could assign these things by selecting it on a menu, or just typing on the keyboard itself. Instead, you need to click on the giant (75% screen width) keyboard graphic to assign the action you just created. It was frustrating that the answer I was looking for was literally staring me in the face with such a huge percentage of the screen... If the program just said "Click which key you'd like to assign this to", I could have saved myself a lot of frustration. Anyways, the action features probably don't matter to 90% of the users of this board... If you aren't a gamer & won't be using the "windows lock" key, don't worry about it being a useless feature. You can assign whatever you'd like to that button. I use it to change my color/button profile, and it's been pretty handy thus far. 5 eggs for a great piece of hardware, and a moderately good but improving piece of software. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edit: I could have handled all of this at 5/5 rating, until I saw that the CUE.exe software (the thing that makes the shortcuts & leds work) uses 144MB of ram at idle. That is ridiculous. Opening the program and using it's GUI uses the same amount of memory as closing the program... If you disable the program, obviously all of the LEDs & shortcuts stop working. That is too much memory, for such a simple task in my opinion. Examples, for reference: Firefox: 91MB Adobe Photoshop: 46MB 3D mouse software: 35MB Nvidia software: 30MB Thermal control software: 30MB Media player: 31MB Windows Explorer (Win 7, tweaked): 69MB CUE Keyboard Program: 144MB?!? There are 3'rd party apps to fix this apparently, but I've got no time for trial and error. Looks like I just downgraded 144MB ram permanently. I'll change my review to, "A great piece of hardware, but bloated & less-than-great software".
originally posted on ebay.com
Corsair keyboards definitely have a sense quality in their products. The build is solid and the aluminium backplate finish is gorgeous. I'm glad I chose this instead of the K70 LUX RGB version because I was contemplating on which keycap font design I preferred. The LUX keycap font wasn't really appealing for me but I later found out that it was intentionally designed that way to allow better RGB illumination. That brings me to just one small con: The RGB lighting isn't superbly bright as you would expect. I realize that the number keys look dim most of the time, despite setting them to the brightest colour possible. Also, some RGB lighting transitions (e.g: 'rainbow wave','color wave') aren't exactly smooth. It looks as if it stutters just a bit. Other than that, ... MoreCorsair keyboards definitely have a sense quality in their products. The build is solid and the aluminium backplate finish is gorgeous. I'm glad I chose this instead of the K70 LUX RGB version because I was contemplating on which keycap font design I preferred. The LUX keycap font wasn't really appealing for me but I later found out that it was intentionally designed that way to allow better RGB illumination. That brings me to just one small con: The RGB lighting isn't superbly bright as you would expect. I realize that the number keys look dim most of the time, despite setting them to the brightest colour possible. Also, some RGB lighting transitions (e.g: 'rainbow wave','color wave') aren't exactly smooth. It looks as if it stutters just a bit. Other than that, the options for RGB customization is literally endless using the Corsair Utility Engine (C.U.E) available from their website. It can be a bit difficult to learn, but a few Youtube tutorial vids and some practice will get you on your way to design your very own RGB lighting custom profile. Cherry MX Red switches are currently my favourite keyboard switches and they feel phenomenal on the K70 RGB. The spacebar could be a bit improved with a better keypress experience, especially for gamers who constantly use it as the'Jump' button. Personally, it doesn't feel as 'solid' as some other keyboards (e.g:- CM Storm Trigger-Z Red). Overall, I'll definitely be keeping this keyboard for many years to come. One of the better purchases I've made in a while.
originally posted on neweggbusiness.com
I bought my first IBM Model M mechanical keyboard around 1995 and since then have used mechanical keyboards of one type or another on all my PC’s at work and home. In 2012 I bought my first Corsair keyboard, the K60. It was a solid design but had some issues; not all of the keys were actually mechanical switches, the keys were not illuminated and there was a strange left hand only wrist rest! Since then I have played with many mechanical keyboards, most with Cherry switches. Cherry make a number of different switches all of which have a different feel, some are linear (no click) like the red and black and some have tactile feedback like the blue and brown. Over the years I have found that for typing the blue switch is the most accurate and speedy (for me) and for ... MoreI bought my first IBM Model M mechanical keyboard around 1995 and since then have used mechanical keyboards of one type or another on all my PC’s at work and home. In 2012 I bought my first Corsair keyboard, the K60. It was a solid design but had some issues; not all of the keys were actually mechanical switches, the keys were not illuminated and there was a strange left hand only wrist rest! Since then I have played with many mechanical keyboards, most with Cherry switches. Cherry make a number of different switches all of which have a different feel, some are linear (no click) like the red and black and some have tactile feedback like the blue and brown. Over the years I have found that for typing the blue switch is the most accurate and speedy (for me) and for gaming I prefer the red switch. Where I need a keyboard for both typing and gaming invariably I choose the brown switch. The brown has become my all round favorite, it has a low actuation force of 45g and an actuation distance of 2mm and a tactile bump so that I can ‘feel’ when the key is actuated. Mechanical keyboards can be a little noisy when the keys bottom out and spring back, which can take some getting used to, with the blue being the loudest switch and the red the quietest (although Cherry now have a silent switch, which is quieter still). In the past I have tried some rubber O Rings under the keys to soften the noise as the keys bottom out. This can help somewhat. I have recently swapped out my main gaming keyboard with Cherry MX Brown) to a TKL keyboard with a new type of key, the Romer G, and while I simply adore the new switch, I am not impressed with the overall design of the keyboard. It is asymmetric and the wrist rest provides no support, plus I miss my numpad. The Romer G Switches are impressive though with an actuation force of 45g and an actuation distance of 1.5mm it is a fast and quiet switch with great per key illumination. Unfortunately the overall design of the keyboard falls short. Finally Cherry have responded to the Romer G with their own low actuation switch, the MX Speed. This has an actuation distance of 1.2mm and an actuation force of 45g, so in theory it will be even faster than the Romer G. Putting this key in a keyboard like the K70 is a great combination. Setup was easy enough, however if connecting to motherboard USB 2 ports then you will need to connect both of the keyboard USB plugs starting with the one with 2 arrows. For a USB 3.0 connection only one keyboard plug needs to be connected (the one with the keyboard image on it). Just so you know. The keyboard cable is very thick and stiff which made the job of threading it around and behind my desk difficult. The keyboard design is just about perfect, with no border beyond the keys, they keyboard takes up the least amount of space possible for a full 104 key keyboard. The keys are perfectly positioned and spaced and the illumination is ideal with the larger key font that Corsair are using. Once connected, the default color on the keyboard is red apart from the WSAD and arrow keys which are white. In order to get full color and macro control, the CUE software needs to be downloaded and installed. It does take up more than 160mb of hard drive space, something to think about if your main drive is a small SSD. Once the software is installed the RGB functionality of the keyboard can be seen, the keyboard displays an amazing light show of color, it really is beautiful and mesmerizing to look at even if it is functionally useless! Corsair have a number of light profiles that can be downloaded from their forums and installed for a little fun. The Cue software is getting better and better with time. When it comes to the performance of the keyboard I was blown away. It took me a few days to become totally comfortable with this keyboard, I didn’t think that the shorter actuation distance and overall key travel would make such a difference, but it did. The keys felt more responsive, crisp and consistent across the board, even the larger keys had the same feel to them, something that has been missing in other Corsair keyboards. My typing accuracy actually got worse the first couple of days until I got used to the new switches, now I am as accurate as ever. My typing speed has not increased, but typing itself feels pretty good on this keyboard considering it is uses a linear switch with no tactile bump. Gaming is amazing, by far this is the best gaming keyboard I have used to date. Period. Build quality on the Corsair is excellent, the feel of the keys is top class and a 2 year warranty is icing on the cake. The crazy light effects are impressive at the moment, perhaps they will begin to get on my nerves eventually. I love this keyboard, mechanical perfection, for me. Try before you buy, mechanical switches are definitely a personal choice.
CORSAIR K70 RAPIDFIRE RGB Mechanical Silent Gaming KEYBOARD
Delivery $28.14
CORSAIR K70 RAPIDFIRE RGB Mechanical speed Gaming KEYBOARD
Delivery $28.14
K70 RGB PRO Wired Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (CHERRY MX RGB Speed Switches: Linear and Rapid, 8,000Hz Hyper-Polling, PBT DOUBLE-SHOT PRO Keycaps, Soft
Delivery between 28–31 Aug $29
Corsair Gaming Keyboard K70 Rapidfire Ch-9101024-jp Jp Cherry Mx Speed
Free delivery
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a small commission for purchases made through this link at no extra cost to you. This helps support our site. Thank you!
When I was younger I was into gaming, but not so much any more. I write HTML/CSS/jQuery for a living, and this is a nice feeling step up from my old Logitech non-mechanical keyboard. The following info is written for any other coders (or at least non-gamers) out there who might be considering this keyboard. I didn't really want crazy lighting effects, or especially a gamer-centric WASD color key configuration built-in, so it's cool that the Corsair comes with those gamer-color keys as an option in the box. (Not pre-installed on the board) After downloading the software, all of the color profile options came up and were pretty self explanatory after 5-10 minutes of fiddling. If you've read in older reviews that Corsair's color adjustment is painfully difficult, I ... MoreWhen I was younger I was into gaming, but not so much any more. I write HTML/CSS/jQuery for a living, and this is a nice feeling step up from my old Logitech non-mechanical keyboard. The following info is written for any other coders (or at least non-gamers) out there who might be considering this keyboard. I didn't really want crazy lighting effects, or especially a gamer-centric WASD color key configuration built-in, so it's cool that the Corsair comes with those gamer-color keys as an option in the box. (Not pre-installed on the board) After downloading the software, all of the color profile options came up and were pretty self explanatory after 5-10 minutes of fiddling. If you've read in older reviews that Corsair's color adjustment is painfully difficult, I think that was for the older version of their software. It was pretty painless to make 4 color schemes & assign them to 4 programs in about 45 minutes to an hour. Putting together a nice looking but not overly flashy color scheme is easy, and the fact that it's super adjustable helps, too. When migraines hit, I code in a pretty dimly lit room, so having a "migraine" setting on the keyboard is mint! Downloading other schemes from the web and importing them is also a piece of cake, if you don't mind the ridiculously bright & never-ending barrage of colors most of the kids use these days. :-) (I'd have probably done the same if I wasn't old) Be sure to download profiles for the K70. The other models corsair makes are shown in the same menu, but aren't all compatible. That's probably another reason for a couple less-than-epic reviews online. If a downloaded profile "doesn't work", you might be using the wrong profile type. In my opinion, Corsair's website shouldn't use one menu for many incompatible device profiles. That's dumb UI. Also keep in mind that certain profiles for specific games might also have game-specific keymapping, which is useless for pretty much anything besides that game. Creating (and understanding) macros, text insertions, program shortcuts, and a few of the other features in the "Actions" menu of the program takes some effort. This is the unintuitive part. You'd assume you could assign these things by selecting it on a menu, or just typing on the keyboard itself. Instead, you need to click on the giant (75% screen width) keyboard graphic to assign the action you just created. It was frustrating that the answer I was looking for was literally staring me in the face with such a huge percentage of the screen... If the program just said "Click which key you'd like to assign this to", I could have saved myself a lot of frustration. Anyways, the action features probably don't matter to 90% of the users of this board... If you aren't a gamer & won't be using the "windows lock" key, don't worry about it being a useless feature. You can assign whatever you'd like to that button. I use it to change my color/button profile, and it's been pretty handy thus far. 5 eggs for a great piece of hardware, and a moderately good but improving piece of software. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Edit: I could have handled all of this at 5/5 rating, until I saw that the CUE.exe software (the thing that makes the shortcuts & leds work) uses 144MB of ram at idle. That is ridiculous. Opening the program and using it's GUI uses the same amount of memory as closing the program... If you disable the program, obviously all of the LEDs & shortcuts stop working. That is too much memory, for such a simple task in my opinion. Examples, for reference: Firefox: 91MB Adobe Photoshop: 46MB 3D mouse software: 35MB Nvidia software: 30MB Thermal control software: 30MB Media player: 31MB Windows Explorer (Win 7, tweaked): 69MB CUE Keyboard Program: 144MB?!? There are 3'rd party apps to fix this apparently, but I've got no time for trial and error. Looks like I just downgraded 144MB ram permanently. I'll change my review to, "A great piece of hardware, but bloated & less-than-great software".
Corsair keyboards definitely have a sense quality in their products. The build is solid and the aluminium backplate finish is gorgeous. I'm glad I chose this instead of the K70 LUX RGB version because I was contemplating on which keycap font design I preferred. The LUX keycap font wasn't really appealing for me but I later found out that it was intentionally designed that way to allow better RGB illumination. That brings me to just one small con: The RGB lighting isn't superbly bright as you would expect. I realize that the number keys look dim most of the time, despite setting them to the brightest colour possible. Also, some RGB lighting transitions (e.g: 'rainbow wave','color wave') aren't exactly smooth. It looks as if it stutters just a bit. Other than that, ... MoreCorsair keyboards definitely have a sense quality in their products. The build is solid and the aluminium backplate finish is gorgeous. I'm glad I chose this instead of the K70 LUX RGB version because I was contemplating on which keycap font design I preferred. The LUX keycap font wasn't really appealing for me but I later found out that it was intentionally designed that way to allow better RGB illumination. That brings me to just one small con: The RGB lighting isn't superbly bright as you would expect. I realize that the number keys look dim most of the time, despite setting them to the brightest colour possible. Also, some RGB lighting transitions (e.g: 'rainbow wave','color wave') aren't exactly smooth. It looks as if it stutters just a bit. Other than that, the options for RGB customization is literally endless using the Corsair Utility Engine (C.U.E) available from their website. It can be a bit difficult to learn, but a few Youtube tutorial vids and some practice will get you on your way to design your very own RGB lighting custom profile. Cherry MX Red switches are currently my favourite keyboard switches and they feel phenomenal on the K70 RGB. The spacebar could be a bit improved with a better keypress experience, especially for gamers who constantly use it as the'Jump' button. Personally, it doesn't feel as 'solid' as some other keyboards (e.g:- CM Storm Trigger-Z Red). Overall, I'll definitely be keeping this keyboard for many years to come. One of the better purchases I've made in a while.
I bought my first IBM Model M mechanical keyboard around 1995 and since then have used mechanical keyboards of one type or another on all my PC’s at work and home. In 2012 I bought my first Corsair keyboard, the K60. It was a solid design but had some issues; not all of the keys were actually mechanical switches, the keys were not illuminated and there was a strange left hand only wrist rest! Since then I have played with many mechanical keyboards, most with Cherry switches. Cherry make a number of different switches all of which have a different feel, some are linear (no click) like the red and black and some have tactile feedback like the blue and brown. Over the years I have found that for typing the blue switch is the most accurate and speedy (for me) and for ... MoreI bought my first IBM Model M mechanical keyboard around 1995 and since then have used mechanical keyboards of one type or another on all my PC’s at work and home. In 2012 I bought my first Corsair keyboard, the K60. It was a solid design but had some issues; not all of the keys were actually mechanical switches, the keys were not illuminated and there was a strange left hand only wrist rest! Since then I have played with many mechanical keyboards, most with Cherry switches. Cherry make a number of different switches all of which have a different feel, some are linear (no click) like the red and black and some have tactile feedback like the blue and brown. Over the years I have found that for typing the blue switch is the most accurate and speedy (for me) and for gaming I prefer the red switch. Where I need a keyboard for both typing and gaming invariably I choose the brown switch. The brown has become my all round favorite, it has a low actuation force of 45g and an actuation distance of 2mm and a tactile bump so that I can ‘feel’ when the key is actuated. Mechanical keyboards can be a little noisy when the keys bottom out and spring back, which can take some getting used to, with the blue being the loudest switch and the red the quietest (although Cherry now have a silent switch, which is quieter still). In the past I have tried some rubber O Rings under the keys to soften the noise as the keys bottom out. This can help somewhat. I have recently swapped out my main gaming keyboard with Cherry MX Brown) to a TKL keyboard with a new type of key, the Romer G, and while I simply adore the new switch, I am not impressed with the overall design of the keyboard. It is asymmetric and the wrist rest provides no support, plus I miss my numpad. The Romer G Switches are impressive though with an actuation force of 45g and an actuation distance of 1.5mm it is a fast and quiet switch with great per key illumination. Unfortunately the overall design of the keyboard falls short. Finally Cherry have responded to the Romer G with their own low actuation switch, the MX Speed. This has an actuation distance of 1.2mm and an actuation force of 45g, so in theory it will be even faster than the Romer G. Putting this key in a keyboard like the K70 is a great combination. Setup was easy enough, however if connecting to motherboard USB 2 ports then you will need to connect both of the keyboard USB plugs starting with the one with 2 arrows. For a USB 3.0 connection only one keyboard plug needs to be connected (the one with the keyboard image on it). Just so you know. The keyboard cable is very thick and stiff which made the job of threading it around and behind my desk difficult. The keyboard design is just about perfect, with no border beyond the keys, they keyboard takes up the least amount of space possible for a full 104 key keyboard. The keys are perfectly positioned and spaced and the illumination is ideal with the larger key font that Corsair are using. Once connected, the default color on the keyboard is red apart from the WSAD and arrow keys which are white. In order to get full color and macro control, the CUE software needs to be downloaded and installed. It does take up more than 160mb of hard drive space, something to think about if your main drive is a small SSD. Once the software is installed the RGB functionality of the keyboard can be seen, the keyboard displays an amazing light show of color, it really is beautiful and mesmerizing to look at even if it is functionally useless! Corsair have a number of light profiles that can be downloaded from their forums and installed for a little fun. The Cue software is getting better and better with time. When it comes to the performance of the keyboard I was blown away. It took me a few days to become totally comfortable with this keyboard, I didn’t think that the shorter actuation distance and overall key travel would make such a difference, but it did. The keys felt more responsive, crisp and consistent across the board, even the larger keys had the same feel to them, something that has been missing in other Corsair keyboards. My typing accuracy actually got worse the first couple of days until I got used to the new switches, now I am as accurate as ever. My typing speed has not increased, but typing itself feels pretty good on this keyboard considering it is uses a linear switch with no tactile bump. Gaming is amazing, by far this is the best gaming keyboard I have used to date. Period. Build quality on the Corsair is excellent, the feel of the keys is top class and a 2 year warranty is icing on the cake. The crazy light effects are impressive at the moment, perhaps they will begin to get on my nerves eventually. I love this keyboard, mechanical perfection, for me. Try before you buy, mechanical switches are definitely a personal choice.
I purchased this keyboard from Newegg in 2016 intending for it to last me a while, and it has so I'm happy with that. I purchased this keyboard specifically for a few reasons. I'm fairly minimalist when it comes to keyboards and I have bought some in the past with all sorts of special media keys or macro keys that looked like they would be useful, but never got in the habit of using them because I'm just too stuck in my ways. Many other mechanical (gaming or otherwise) keyboards I looked at deterred me because they replaced the right-click key which I use quite a bit with a function key of sorts. Corsair didn't muck with this and so that was my first attraction. Second was the RGB, not that I cared too much but some complaints I saw on the other single color LED ... MoreI purchased this keyboard from Newegg in 2016 intending for it to last me a while, and it has so I'm happy with that. I purchased this keyboard specifically for a few reasons. I'm fairly minimalist when it comes to keyboards and I have bought some in the past with all sorts of special media keys or macro keys that looked like they would be useful, but never got in the habit of using them because I'm just too stuck in my ways. Many other mechanical (gaming or otherwise) keyboards I looked at deterred me because they replaced the right-click key which I use quite a bit with a function key of sorts. Corsair didn't muck with this and so that was my first attraction. Second was the RGB, not that I cared too much but some complaints I saw on the other single color LED models was the brightness of them. The RGB allowed me to configure a very simple color profile of a darker blue and a lighter white that I can see my keyboard in the dark office in the later evening hours without it blinding me. The onboard memory bank for color profiles was a huge one for me. I tried a Logitech G810 and some others and despise that when you flip them to another machine the default back to that nauseating rainbow pattern. I can't remember how great or not the software was, but I used it for all of an hour to set a profile, store it on the keyboard and removed the software and I love that about this model. Beyond that, it's a mechanical keyboard and does it's job, it has a couple media keys, volume rocker which has been useful, but these extra keys don't add much to the size profile of the keyboard. The USB passthrough port is useful as well and I mainly use it to plug in my mouse. The BUT... Right from the start, I noticed a few keys never really held on. For instance, the S key on numerous occasions stuck to my finger and pulled off while typing. Never thought much of it until 2 months ago when my apostrophe key broke off (if you write code, this is a problem). Corsair support was great however and quickly sent me 2 replacement keycaps which arrived within days of submitting my support ticket, and in the interim I had stuck one of the grippy caps that came in the box. I really wish I had looked closer at this before contacting them, but at the same time I ordered a set of their PBT double shot keycaps which only just arrived yesterday (2 months later). As I started pulling the old caps and inspecting them, the ONLY keys caps that weren't loose or clearly cracking were those with multiple mounting posts such as the space bar, Enter keys, backspace. For the rest of them, I could see cracks on one side, though they still held well enough, and this was in areas like the num pad which I do use, but I'm not an accountant or anything. Then there were other keys where they had multiple cracks, were really loose, etc and I suspect a lot of these may have come that way based on reading other poor reviews that mention key caps, but I probably put up with it when it didn't impact me much, but I should have looked closer and dealt with it sooner. That said, the PBT keycaps are what should have come on the keyboard. You can feel the difference between them and the originals before even putting them on, but right now I'm happy with them, and it feels like a new keyboard all over again. I would have paid more up front to have quality keycaps though and if I find myself buying another mechanical keyboard that will be added to my buying criteria because I have an old mechanical from the early 90's that still has all it's keycaps intact, so there's no excuse for poor quality keycaps when the rest of the keyboard is built solid.
There are already many great reviews on this keyboard, so I won't go into detail, just add my personal experience. This keyboard has the best of everything i wanted. Sturdy construction, solid keycaps, legendary Cherry MX switches (brown are my preference for the perfect mix between typing and gaming), and of course my most recent desire, RGB lighting. I understand how many people find the CUE software difficult to use, but after a couple days of tinkering and a few instructional videos, I'm now very comfortable with it and it is no longer a con. One thing i did find pleasantly surprising was the software's ability to assign my media keys to whatever music player window i clicked on. This is my first mechanical keyboard, and after many hours of research, I feel like ... MoreThere are already many great reviews on this keyboard, so I won't go into detail, just add my personal experience. This keyboard has the best of everything i wanted. Sturdy construction, solid keycaps, legendary Cherry MX switches (brown are my preference for the perfect mix between typing and gaming), and of course my most recent desire, RGB lighting. I understand how many people find the CUE software difficult to use, but after a couple days of tinkering and a few instructional videos, I'm now very comfortable with it and it is no longer a con. One thing i did find pleasantly surprising was the software's ability to assign my media keys to whatever music player window i clicked on. This is my first mechanical keyboard, and after many hours of research, I feel like I made the right choice. If you have never used a mechanical keyboard before, I highly recommend the Cherry MX Brown switches, as they provide the tactile feedback that has improved my typing and gaming efficiency, but are not too loud. I felt as though my typing efficiency went through the roof right out of the box as opposed to membrane keyboards, and I've even recommended Cherry MX switch keyboards to some friends of mine that are studying for their masters degrees and spend a lot of time typing papers. I chose the K70 over the K95 because as much as I love PC games, I wont ever be able to justify buying all the extra macro keys when i can assign any macro I want to any key I want. The LED's are completely gorgeous. They are not as bright as other brands such as the Razer BlackWidow Chroma, but that is not even close to being an issue for me as my game room is typically darker than the rest of my house as to avoid monitor glare. There is a very slightly noticeable step inbetween LED brightness intensities, however I've noticed it is only blatantly visible during a very slow pulsing effect across the entire keyboard. Most other effects (waves, ripples, rainbows, keystroke lighting) leave no indication that there is a step between key brightness intensities. The construction of the keyboard is the most solid I've ever felt, even when demoing keyboards in computer parts stores. The entire top surface is a gorgeous dark brushed aluminum that make the keyboard feel very sturdy. Although the bottom half of the keyboard is plastic, I cannot tell when the board is sitting on my desk. I feel like i could chop through the wall with this thing. As an added benefit, there is a lot of space between the columns and rows of the mechanical switches, making cleanup a breeze (almost literally). The media keys a very conveniently placed and easy to use. Upon unboxing, i felt as though the volume roller was cheap and plasticky, but after a few days of in game use, it has become completely natural and a non issue. All in all, I'm in love with this board. I could go into detail as to why I chose it over other boards if you want, just ask. Buy it, give it a t
The keyboard worked fine for me just using the one USB connection, on a USB 2.0 port. From what I can tell the second USB connection is mostly for the USB port on the keyboard itself, as the keyboards built-in USB port didn’t work until I connected the second USB cable to my PC. The lights are really great, but the key noise will make it hard for me to use at night with someone sleeping in the room next to my room. I did put try putting in some O-Rings under each key which helped, but mainly for the key bottoming out noise. I also tried putting two Rosewill O-Rings under each key but that made things worse by causing keys to not register when pushed down. It works best with just one O-Ring for me anyways. After using it for a while now, during the day time the noise ... MoreThe keyboard worked fine for me just using the one USB connection, on a USB 2.0 port. From what I can tell the second USB connection is mostly for the USB port on the keyboard itself, as the keyboards built-in USB port didn’t work until I connected the second USB cable to my PC. The lights are really great, but the key noise will make it hard for me to use at night with someone sleeping in the room next to my room. I did put try putting in some O-Rings under each key which helped, but mainly for the key bottoming out noise. I also tried putting two Rosewill O-Rings under each key but that made things worse by causing keys to not register when pushed down. It works best with just one O-Ring for me anyways. After using it for a while now, during the day time the noise isn’t bad and I have become used to it now, its during night time when its quiet in the house that its much more noticeable. BELOW ARE MY COMMENTS ABOUT CONFIGURING THE LIGHTS: (hoping this might help someone or give an idea of how it works) I was tempted to give this keyboard a 4 star rating due to the software, but after a lot of trial and error I finally got an idea of how the lighting works with the BETA software (v2.4.66). So I am giving it a 5 star rating despite the crashing. ***Basically there are 3 things you need to do to set up the keyboard lighting*** First is what they call a “PROFILE”, which is used to set up individual lighting for specific programs (game or application), this is where you link to the programs .exe file. --- Second is what is called “ACTIONS”, but I have yet to figure that out. Its not needed for setting up most of the lighting. --- Third is the “LIGHTING EFFECTS” which is where you can figure any of the keyboard keys to whatever lighting you want, brightness and any color, and its only used for that profile whenever the .exe file is run that you linked to in the first profile step. Under the keyboard display there is a drop-down list of default lighting options to choose, which I picked the “static” option in order to configure certain keys whatever color and brightness I want. Hold the CTRL key and click the mouse button for each key that you want to assign a static color to, and then pick the color and click the “apply” color box (it looks like a check-mark), then click the save button. If you want more keys with different colors you have to add another lighting effect to that profile, just click the + sign again and repeat this. Remember to save it each time --- There is a quick setup manual in their download section for the keyboard that helps a little. It also describes how to select individual or multiple keys. Although the beta software is a little different than what its describing. Corsair also has forums just for this keyboard and user created lighting effects. So far I love this keyboard minus any negatives it has.
(continued from cons) - The huge (whole bottom half of the screen) “Welcome to the NEW CUE” advertisement inside the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) application that should take you to their web site so you can lean all about it, is wrong and yields a 404 error! (Other Comments) There is a “BIOS” switch on the back of the keyboard, which allegedly “provides better support for legacy setups,” whatever that means. Unfortunately, there is not much info on what it does or why you would want to adjust it. The Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) seems to be a work in progress, so hopefully they will be cleaning up the GUI and adding new features over time. In their defense, I am working with the newest version which is still listed as a public beta. I would expect it to be better ... More(continued from cons) - The huge (whole bottom half of the screen) “Welcome to the NEW CUE” advertisement inside the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) application that should take you to their web site so you can lean all about it, is wrong and yields a 404 error! (Other Comments) There is a “BIOS” switch on the back of the keyboard, which allegedly “provides better support for legacy setups,” whatever that means. Unfortunately, there is not much info on what it does or why you would want to adjust it. The Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) seems to be a work in progress, so hopefully they will be cleaning up the GUI and adding new features over time. In their defense, I am working with the newest version which is still listed as a public beta. I would expect it to be better by the time it reaches public beta, though, and there is no users guide for this version either. After feeling guilty about basing this review on the beta version of their CUE software (v2.0.57), I uninstalled it and installed the latest officially released version (v1.16.42) and started going through the options. As it turns out, the old version is so much worse than the new one, I would be doing them a considerable disservice by basing this review on it. They are clearly on the right path with the new version, it's just not quite there yet. Final Thoughts: At the end of the day, this is a really nice keyboard with a lot of cool visualization capabilities, but the software could use some work, and at almost $200, it's a bit on the pricey side. I would definitely recommend against buying this keyboard for use in a quiet office or other shared or open work space, as the key clicks are quite loud and will seriously annoy the people around you. There is also no way to secure the keyboard, so it might grow legs while you're not looking.
I have a large collection of mechanical keyboards to compare this one to. All the way from the original Apples to near-current Corsair STRAFE and its competitors using Blues, Reds, and Browns. The best mechanical keyboards often use Cherry switches. Cherry (the world’s oldest keyboard switch manufacturer) was a US company that moved to Germany around 1967. This particular keyboard’s switch type definitely made a difference in my gameplay but it would not be my first choice for typing. Corsair is a great hardware company that got into gaming about 5 years ago. They listen to their boards and their customers. WHY MECHANICALS? Most keyboards are cheap, membrane-based boards with a rubber dome switch underneath each key. These are inexpensive, spill-resistant, and don’t ... MoreI have a large collection of mechanical keyboards to compare this one to. All the way from the original Apples to near-current Corsair STRAFE and its competitors using Blues, Reds, and Browns. The best mechanical keyboards often use Cherry switches. Cherry (the world’s oldest keyboard switch manufacturer) was a US company that moved to Germany around 1967. This particular keyboard’s switch type definitely made a difference in my gameplay but it would not be my first choice for typing. Corsair is a great hardware company that got into gaming about 5 years ago. They listen to their boards and their customers. WHY MECHANICALS? Most keyboards are cheap, membrane-based boards with a rubber dome switch underneath each key. These are inexpensive, spill-resistant, and don’t give you much feedback as to when each key registers - you have to bottom out the key. Also, most can only detect a couple simultaneous keys at a time (called a “rollover” number). Rollover often includes only certain combinations of keys. This problem is also called “ghosting” when certain simultaneous keypresses can’t be distinguished by the keyboard. Right now, try typing “the quick brown fox jumps right over the lazy dog” while holding down both shift keys on your current non-mech keyboard. I’ll do this on my Microsoft keyboard at work now: HE QUIK BRON FO JUPS RIGH OER HE LA DOG. After using a mechanical keyboard, anything else will feel wrong and mushy. Mechanical keyboards also are a bit loud, heavy, and last forever unless you spill your coffee on them. When Apple changed from ADB ports to USB there was a huge market in $50 ADB to USB adapters for people who loved their old keyboards. I bought a few. If you use mechanicals to type, with practice you will type a LOT faster and push more softly because you don’t have to bottom out the keys to get them to actuate. Just don’t spill coffee on them.
I've been using this keyboard lots, both for gaming and working for almost a month now. The quality and feel of the keyboard are absolutely excellent.The cherry red switches feel fantastic: extremely responsive and very smooth travel. If you want a smooth key action this is the switch and keyboard for you.The CUE software that comes with the keyboard is pretty intuitive. After 30 mins of clicking around I was able to set up some custom lighting schemes which is a lot of fun. You're able to map colours and effects on an individual LED level, so you can get quite creative. The level of control is really cool.As the keyboard was "B" quality, it did not come with any official packaging, but as this is all available online, and likely would have been thrown away ... MoreI've been using this keyboard lots, both for gaming and working for almost a month now. The quality and feel of the keyboard are absolutely excellent.The cherry red switches feel fantastic: extremely responsive and very smooth travel. If you want a smooth key action this is the switch and keyboard for you.The CUE software that comes with the keyboard is pretty intuitive. After 30 mins of clicking around I was able to set up some custom lighting schemes which is a lot of fun. You're able to map colours and effects on an individual LED level, so you can get quite creative. The level of control is really cool.As the keyboard was "B" quality, it did not come with any official packaging, but as this is all available online, and likely would have been thrown away anyway, is no big loss. The actual quality and condition of the keyboard itself is excellent! I will not hesitate to ever buy anything of B quality from CEX again, and would highly recommend everyone to consider second hand!
This is a serious piece of hardware! It is fully and completely programmable with the software download from their website! Otherwise it has that swirling multi-colored array of LED's as the boot up factory specs. It's amazing that you can pick the color of each and every key if you want, plus lockout the "Windows" key so you don't hit it accidentally and leave your game and go to the windows start-up screen, and while you're not actively in the game, in a first person shooter, anyway, someone would kill you while you were frantically trying to get back into the game! That one feature alone would make this keyboard my favorite! The factory settings have the 4 arrow keys and the 4 standard letter keys used in nearly all games come up in white and the rest of the ... MoreThis is a serious piece of hardware! It is fully and completely programmable with the software download from their website! Otherwise it has that swirling multi-colored array of LED's as the boot up factory specs. It's amazing that you can pick the color of each and every key if you want, plus lockout the "Windows" key so you don't hit it accidentally and leave your game and go to the windows start-up screen, and while you're not actively in the game, in a first person shooter, anyway, someone would kill you while you were frantically trying to get back into the game! That one feature alone would make this keyboard my favorite! The factory settings have the 4 arrow keys and the 4 standard letter keys used in nearly all games come up in white and the rest of the keyboard in green, I believe. I have mine set up the way *I* want it and the only time I see the factory setup is after a re-boot. I love the "click" of the mechanical switches, and the sensitivity is fine by me. It uses Cherry brand micro switches, with millions of key presses for their lifespan.The keyboard isn't cheap, but you definitely get what you pay for in quality and long life. On a scale of 1-10, I'd give it a 12! I couldn't be happier! I finally got a top quality keyboard after all these years and maybe 50 different keyboards (or maybe even more!) in all the years I've been pounding on keys!!
