Blackwidow Chroma VS Corsair K70 RGB

[aarro]

Looking for a new Keyboard and wanting to switch to Mechanical for the first time. I cant seem to see past these two right now as i'm loving the colour effects of them both. So for those of you that have mechanical keyboards, Is it worth it?

[Soulja35]

I like the cherry my brown switches better than whatever razor uses in theirs. Felt them in the store. I also like how the k70 has brushed steel under the keys and the key are mushroomed. Much easier to clean.

[Valtyrael]

Razer created their own proprietary keys for the blackwidow, which supposedly are rated to have a life of 10 million more keystrokes than the standard mechanical switch. I went with the Blackwidow because I personally liked how the keys felt more than the K70 (felt like less pressure to actuate than the Corsair), I also like how Razer Synapse works with my naga as well and you can customize the RBG effects to create your own keyboard lighting scheme. Try them out at Best Buy if you want to see them both in person. Don't buy them there because Best Buy is evil!

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-keyb...ckwidow-chroma

[Enfilade]

Corsair all the way. Razer keyboards don't even support anti-ghosting, and they are infamous for being super clicky. Not to mention the macro keys on the left side of the keyboard will throw your hands off by one column if you aren't already using a keyboard with them.

[Valtyrael]

Corsair all the way. Razer keyboards don't even support anti-ghosting, and they are infamous for being super clicky. Not to mention the macro keys on the left side of the keyboard will throw your hands off by one column if you aren't already using a keyboard with them.

That is simply not true when you say "Razer keyboards don't even support anti-ghosting"

http://www.razerzone.com/store/razer-blackwidow-chroma
(Under Specifications)
• 10 key roll-over anti-ghosting

As for being "super clicky", I bought the normal one because I liked the clicky-ness. They also sell the same keyboard in 'Stealth' that does not have the *click*

That said however, the macro keys positioning do take some getting used to. But the Blackwidow DOES have anti-ghosting and the option to be *non-clicky* if that is what you are looking for.

Stealth: http://www.razerzone.com/store/razer...chroma-stealth

Just try both man, and get what you personally like better; I also have no doubt that the K70 is a solid keyboard as well (I personally just liked the Razer more). When it comes down to it everyone has different tastes and opinions.

[shaw0050]

For me, I went with the K70 primarily because I like physical media hot keys and a volume wheel. Huge plus for me. Also, the way the keyboard is designed makes it significantly easier to clean than one with a recessed tray (pretty much most other keyboards). This picture shows you what I'm talking about:



Because let's face it, I'm sure most of us here accumulate a good bit of gunk in our keyboards. Being able to clean it easily is really convenient.

Edit: I should also mention if you prefer the physical click that Razer keyboards are known for, you can get the one-color LED K70 in a Cherry MX Blue variant and it'll pretty much be exactly the same feel.

[Kagthul]

Razer created their own proprietary keys for the blackwidow, which supposedly are rated to have a life of 10 million more keystrokes than the standard mechanical switch. I went with the Blackwidow because I personally liked how the keys felt more than the K70 (felt like less pressure to actuate than the Corsair), I also like how Razer Synapse works with my naga as well and you can customize the RBG effects to create your own keyboard lighting scheme. Try them out at Best Buy if you want to see them both in person. Don't buy them there because Best Buy is evil!

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-keyb...ckwidow-chroma

They aren't really proprietary keys - theyre straight knockoffs of Cherry designs made by a Chinese OEM. They were modified slightly (lower actuation pressure) but are otherwise straight up Cherry Blues (Razer Green) and Cherry Brown (Razer Orange).

I have derivatives of both products - I have the Corsair K65 RGB (the 10keyless version of the K70), which comes with Cherry Reds - which are a pure linear switch with no tactile feedback. They bottom out super easy. I also use (on my daily driver mac here) a Black Widow Tournament Edition 2014 (tenkeyless BWU without the backlights and the "Razer Green" switches) and previously owned a Black Widow Ultimate with actual Cherry Blues.

Blues are better for typing and are "clicky" they have a deliberate noise-making mechanism in them to let you know when you hit the actuation point, as well as a tactile bump in the switch itself to let you know as well. Once you get used to them, you no longer bottom out the keys nearly as often, making for much faster typing. They are also decent for gaming, as they actuate fast (particularly the Razer Green variant, which has a lighter actuation force) but they can be annoying if you dont like the click.

The Reds in the K65/K70/K95 do not have a click or tactile bump - they just go straight to the bottom. They are supposedly better for gaming because they actuate super easily and can be pressed rapidly. It took me a while to get used to them after using Blue or Blue variants for so long.

As for build quality - i actually like the Corsair K65 RGB b etter - the anodized aluminum bottom and open-tray style look nicer and have a more sturdy feel, and the open-tray makes it easy to clean. Razer boards are more plasticy, but are still pretty solid... my wife dumped an entire glass of water on her BWU (well, more precisely the cat did it for her) and after it dried for a day or three its back to working like a champ for years.

As was said - go to the store, try them out. Find out what kind of Mechanical switch you prefer - everyone has a different preference. Either is a good board, but you dont want to spend years t yping on switches you hate.

- - - Updated - - -

And this is only if you're stuck on the backlight capabilities - there are PLENTY of other companies out there that make solid mechanical keyboards.

Mind, i often play in a dark room and the backlighting is great, and i love being able to adjust it on the K65 RGB. I wouldnt go back to a single-color backlight, and really wish Razer made a Black Widow TE Chroma or that Corsair offered the K65RGB with Blue switches, so i could replace the non-backlit BW-TE i use on my daily driver here with a backlit board.

[corebit]

I own a 2013 Blackwidow keyboard and sometimes when I boot my computer, there is some random key that constantly gets pressed as if stuck even though I regularly clean my keyboard. There is nothing I can do to 'unstuck' the key except a reboot and then it goes back to normal. I don't know if it's the Synapse software acting up or the keyboard itself, but it's very annoying.

Razer products are straight up garbage.

[Kagthul]

or a faulty USB controller. My old Z87 board had this problem constantly. It was not they keyboard, but a bad USB controller on the motherboard. It would get stuck repeating inputs from various devices.

[Deleted]

Personally I avoid Razer stuff because of their synapse "cloud" software driver, where you need to register for their service and be online when installing and using advanced features of the hardware.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20...nchanged.shtml

[aarro]

I am swaying towards the Corsair K70 RGB to be honest right now

[Kagthul]

just make sure you try the keys first at a Best Buy or other store. Make sure you like the Cherry Reds.

[DeltrusDisc]

How about neither?

Color effects should be the least of your concerns... But alas, not everyone has the same things they are looking for.

If I go purely based on my experiences with both companies, I actually will side with Razer, and you can see in my sig, I use a Corsair K70.

I have a Razer Death Adder which has been problem-less for the better part of 6.5 years. I've had this Corsair K70 for maybe a year now, and it's already had several key-LEDs go out. Really, Corsair? These are LEDs. Why are they going out already? Pathetic. I had the original K90 before this and it had firmware-level issues.

While I know Razer has been notorious in recent years for broken peripherals, including keyboards, I can't advise Corsair, as they seem to be doing even worse. I feel like over the last year, Corsair's QC has gone down, while Razer's has gone up as they are trying to patch up the few years before what with all the Nagas breaking and BlackWidows which would break.

Here's some more trustworthy brands that I've not heard any complaints about so far on these forums for their peripherals... or at least not as many (as opposed to Razer and Corsair).

DAS, Ducky, Cooler Master, Steelseries (I now am using a Steelseries Sensei RAW mouse, it's fantastic)... I feel like I'm missing a couple others.

Ah, well, I'm sure tetrisGOAT will be in here soon enough. ^_<

[shaw0050]

How about neither?

Color effects should be the least of your concerns... But alas, not everyone has the same things they are looking for.

If I go purely based on my experiences with both companies, I actually will side with Razer, and you can see in my sig, I use a Corsair K70.

I have a Razer Death Adder which has been problem-less for the better part of 6.5 years. I've had this Corsair K70 for maybe a year now, and it's already had several key-LEDs go out. Really, Corsair? These are LEDs. Why are they going out already? Pathetic. I had the original K90 before this and it had firmware-level issues.

While I know Razer has been notorious in recent years for broken peripherals, including keyboards, I can't advise Corsair, as they seem to be doing even worse. I feel like over the last year, Corsair's QC has gone down, while Razer's has gone up as they are trying to patch up the few years before what with all the Nagas breaking and BlackWidows which would break.

Here's some more trustworthy brands that I've not heard any complaints about so far on these forums for their peripherals... or at least not as many (as opposed to Razer and Corsair).

DAS, Ducky, Cooler Master, Steelseries (I now am using a Steelseries Sensei RAW mouse, it's fantastic)... I feel like I'm missing a couple others.

Ah, well, I'm sure tetrisGOAT will be in here soon enough. ^_<

I mean, I'm not saying you're wrong, but I feel like there might be more to this perceived quality control issues with Corsair and Razer - if these two brands happen to be a couple of the most popular gaming keyboard companies, isn't it more likely that you'd hear about issues with them specifically more often? What I'm saying is both of these companies sell enough to make it on to retail shelves across the country (I know it's not saying much, but both Razer and Corsair are sold at pretty much every Best Buy), something those other brands I can't really say the same for. So it stands to reason that there are more people to bring up any shortcomings with their brand experience.

Just to reiterate, the quality of the keyboards you mention very well might be better than Razer and Corsair, I can't speak about them personally. But as an anecdotal recount of my own experiences, I have had absolutely zero issues with either my K90 or my K70.

[DeltrusDisc]

Lucky you.

The thing you need to understand though, is some of these companies focus on the professional market, too. So their QC is naturally going to be higher, and they will be focused less on the gamer-gimmicks and more on high-end quality keyboards.

[aarro]

Well I decided to go and get the k70 last night and i must say, I am super impressed with it. Love it already

[DeltrusDisc]

I did at first too. Hopefully yours works out better! Enjoy!

[Kagthul]

I did at first too. Hopefully yours works out better! Enjoy!

It also seems that with the RGB line, there has been much better QA.

So the K70 RGB seems to have a lot less complaints about durability and the like than the vanilla K70

[DeltrusDisc]

Glad to hear that. I used to love Corsair, but after the M90, the K90, and now the K70 I am very very disappointed.

I have 2 sticks of their RAM though that still work (at least to my knowledge, however I've moved over to Crucial).

[Enfilade]

Well I decided to go and get the k70 last night and i must say, I am super impressed with it. Love it already

Glad you like it! I am in love with my K65, and just enjoy how Reds feel.