G.SKILL boosts Ripjaws KM570 MX keyboard with MX Silver keys

by Mark Tyson on 17 November 2016, 11:31

Tags: G.SKILL, Cherry, Corsair

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We noted that G.SKILL started to make the Ripjaws KM570 MX Mechanical Gaming Keyboards, first seen at Computex, available late last month. Now the firm has pumped up the choice available to would be buyers by creating an SKU with Cherry MX Speed Silver keyswitches equipped.

To recap briefly, the G.SKILL Ripjaws KM570 MX keyboard is designed to provide a minimalist aesthetic, whilst delivering essential entertainment and gaming keyboard features, with the added appeal of enduring functionality. It’s a software-less gaming keyboard, so you adjust its (single colour LED) lighting and lighting effects, record and replay macros, and so on, via key combinations.

Beyond the basics, the US$99 KM570 MX offers n-key rollover, 100 per cent anti-ghosting design, and a default 1000Hz polling rate. The keyboard has a pleasing ergonomic contoured profile, comes with a 2m long braided USB cable, and weighs 1.25Kg. Until now customer choice was limited to MX Blue, MX Red, and MX Brown Cherry keyswitch varieties.

Cherry MX Speed Silver

Cherry's MX Speed Silver keyswitches are described by the producer as "the new choice of champions for responsive gaming". They have perhaps been designed to counter new mechanical keyswitches aimed specifically at gamers from the likes of Razer and Logitech.

To make MX Speed Silver keyswitches particularly suitable for gaming Cherry has set the following product design parameters:

  • Actuation force: 45g (relatively light)
  • Actuation distance: 1.2mm (relatively short)
  • Switch type: linear (no 'click' audible or tactile feedback)
  • Bounce time: <1ms
  • Available with standard or transparent covers
  • 50 million keystroke durability

Cherry MX Speed Silver keyswitches were previously exclusive to Corsair. The new G.SKILL Ripjaws KM570 MX keyboard with MX Speed Silver keys carries a $10 premium over the previously released KM570 MX models.

HEXUS Forums :: 3 Comments

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Posted by Tunnah - Thu 17 Nov 2016 13:40
I'm in the market for a new keyboard, but I've always avoided mechanical because there's just too much choice, there is no consensus that 1 is better than all the others, and I'm not willing to shell out 100 bloody quid only to find out I threw my hat in the wrong ring.

With the silvers though, it seems like these are the all rounder, anyone own em, have an opinion ?
Posted by plexabit - Thu 17 Nov 2016 19:43
Tunnah
I'm in the market for a new keyboard, but I've always avoided mechanical because there's just too much choice, there is no consensus that 1 is better than all the others, and I'm not willing to shell out 100 bloody quid only to find out I threw my hat in the wrong ring.

With the silvers though, it seems like these are the all rounder, anyone own em, have an opinion ?

I don't own these, but I do have an opinion. IMO the MX Browns are the best all-rounder for people who type and game. If Cherry made a “Metallic Brown” that had the shorter actuation with a tactile bump those would probably be my go-to.
Posted by TooTay - Thu 17 Nov 2016 20:11
Tunnah
I'm in the market for a new keyboard, but I've always avoided mechanical because there's just too much choice, there is no consensus that 1 is better than all the others, and I'm not willing to shell out 100 bloody quid only to find out I threw my hat in the wrong ring.

With the silvers though, it seems like these are the all rounder, anyone own em, have an opinion ?

I own the K65 RGB which has these “speed” switches and I love it, it's primarily targeted at gamers due to how fast it is and for this purpose it's great. You are right in saying there is no true consensus on which switch is best as it's down to personal preference but, I would say this speed switch is definitely not an all rounder and that accolade falls on to the brown switch.

There are two main things to consider in choosing your mechanical key switch and that's activation force (how hard you have to press the key to move it) and activation distance (how far down the key has to travel before it registers), you will have to get used to typing on this speed switch as it's extremely common for you to make typos intially, this is due to the activation distance of the switch being really short, for example if you slightly brush a key opposite to the one you pressed it is going to register it. I've found that using this keyboard has changed the way in which I type and it's forced me to become more accurate, for gaming I love it as I said, it feels so light and responsive when I'm playing something like Overwatch but I could see it potentially causing issues in RTS games.

My first mechanical keyboard was a brown switch one which I used for about 4 years and I still like it, I would say it's more consistent for typing on and in terms of activation/actuation it's the middle of the road key switch. I wanted something that felt a bit more responsive/faster/lighter etc when it came to gaming as I found sometimes I was pressing the key too lightly on the browns and it wasn't registering it, this is not a problem with the speed switch.

So while it can be confusing initially due to how many switches there are, all you really need to know is that they are primarily separated by there activation force and activation distance, I'd say you can't go wrong with picking a brown switch keyboard as your first mechanical and if you wanted something a bit more “responsive” then I'd go with a red/speed switch, the difference between the two being that the red switch has like .6mm more travel before it activates.

Mechanicals are not cheap as you pointed out but, you can purchase key switch testers which will allow you to get a feel for the switches and let you decide which one you like before you invest the £ on them

Here is one for example https://www.amazon.co.uk/Max-Keyboard-Cherry-Switch-Sampler/dp/B00UHVFMKA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479412680&sr=8-1&keywords=MX+switch+tester