Corsair M65
$210 | WWW.CORSAIR.COM Exclusive switches increase speed but reduce clicks.
There are so many mechanical keyboards on the market at the moment that it can be hard to distinguish one from another. The K70 RapidFire has something you won’t find anywhere else, however: its switches.
Those switches are the new Cherry MX Speed models, exclusive to Corsair for now, which answer the call from about 1 percent of the PC gaming universe for keyboards that respond more quickly. On top of the switches sit the keys, and they have a gratifyingly large character window on top of them, the better to let through the coloured lighting that you can make flash and coruscate with the bundled software.
The space bar has a textured surface, reminiscent of Corsair’s Strafe keyboards, so your thumbs don’t slip off it. Elsewhere, you’ll find the always-welcome Windows Key Lock switch, some media playback controls, and a metal volume roller. There’s also a useful USB port on the back, though unfortunately it’s not USB 3.0. A BIOS switch adjusts the polling rate if the K70’s super speed means it refuses to work with your motherboard, and the keyboard has the usual rollover and anti-ghosting tech to ensure your inputs don’t get garbled.
Underneath all that, the frame is aircraft-grade aluminium, apparently designed to survive a lifetime — it doesn’t say whose — of keystrokes. Keyboard switches are very much a matter of personal preference, but the feel of these linear switches won’t be for everyone, and the extra speed gains cleverly engineered by Cherry will benefit even fewer.