You have at hand it to MSI for cramming so many keys onto its new Vigor GK80 mechanical keyboard. Glance down at its streamlined aluminium base and also you’ll see at the least sixteen keys with additional operate symbols peeking out of the tiny crevasses between every row.
That’s along with 4 devoted media keys within the high proper nook and an additional eight operate buttons alongside the same old string of Fn keys. For a keyboard measuring simply 445x141x42mm, that’s fairly spectacular. Whether you’ll find yourself utilizing all of these is one other matter in fact, however (lack of quantity slider apart) the principle factor right here is that you simply’re not having to compromise on fashion over substance.
Indeed, in comparison with the fairly large HyperX Alloy Elite I’ve simply examined, the additional desk house I’ve gained again is fairly sizable, making the GK80 a greater match for these with smaller desks. It’s not fairly as small because the Asus ROG Claymore, however at the least the GK80 doesn’t make you pay additional for a quantity pad.
Admittedly, a lot of the GK80’s additional operate buttons relate to its RGB lighting system, which is simply as nicely, actually, as a result of MSI’s two (sure, two) devoted bits of configuration software program are so totally ineffective that you simply’ll wish to keep away from utilizing them as a lot as attainable. You’ll in all probability nonetheless must seek the advice of MSI’s bundled instruction handbook to search out out what all of them really do (as a result of there’s rather a lot of them), nevertheless it certain beats having to take care of its complicated Mystic Light software.
There are 14 completely different RGB modes in complete, together with three particular sport modes for Overwatch, League of Legends and CS:GO, however you may also use the GK80 to vary the efficiency profiles in your suitable MSI Gaming motherboard and MSI Gaming graphics card, permitting you to modify between silent, gaming and overclocked modes with out disrupting your sport. Handy when you’re decked out in MSI package, much less so when you’re not.
Instead, far more helpful is MSI’s personal gaming mode for the GK80, which will be turned on by urgent the Fn and Windows keys. This disables all system notifications and ensures every key press will get registered regardless of what number of keys you’re urgent directly.
Now I’ve been despatched the Cherry MX purple model of the GK80, nevertheless it’s additionally obtainable with Cherry MX silver switches as nicely. These have a shorter actuation distance than purple switches, so that you don’t must press them down fairly so arduous to ensure that every keystroke to register. This ought to, in idea, make them a bit quicker than purple switches, nevertheless it’s arduous to say whether or not they’re really any higher after I’ve solely received the purple model in for testing.
You’ll additionally in all probability have observed the GK80 comes with steel WASD caps (pictured above) fairly than rubber ones like the remainder of the it. Personally, I discovered these caps far too easy and slippery for my liking, and so they made taking part in fast-paced video games like Doom extra of a chore. Thankfully, MSI have had the foresight to incorporate a full set of textured rubber WASD replacements (together with a spare house bar, again house, eight common caps and two Ctrl/Alt-sized caps) when you don’t like them. There’s even house to pop all of them inside its bundled wrist relaxation, too, which is a pleasant contact when you’re travelling or simply need someplace to retailer them for later.
Bizarrely, the wrist relaxation doesn’t really connect to the remainder of the GK80, so you’ll be able to place it the place you wish to get the comfiest place. In one sense, that is good, as pushing it proper as much as the sting of the keyboard made all the things really feel only a tad too excessive and cramped. On the opposite hand, it’s a proper ache within the bottom, because it’s one more factor to maneuver and re-position when you ever wish to regulate the place your keyboard sits in your desk. This is extra me being lazy than the rest, so I in all probability shouldn’t complain an excessive amount of, as I actually fairly favored the texture of its soft-touch rubbery end beneath my palms and it genuinely made typing much more snug over lengthy durations of time.
Remove the wrist relaxation’s rubber caps at both finish and you should use the groove to retailer your spare key caps.
Having come straight from the blue Cherry switches of the HyperX Alloy Elite, nevertheless, I need to admit that the purple switches on the GK80 do in truth really feel a fraction softer and fewer forceful throughout on a regular basis use, which, relying in your private swap desire, would possibly make them much less suited to reams and reams of typing.
There’s not a lot in it, in all equity, because the GK80 nonetheless supplied greater than sufficient tactile suggestions and total consolation whereas I used to be writing these very phrases, for example, and I hardly ever made any errors or needed to decelerate my typing pace as a way to accommodate its completely different typing fashion. Overall, although, I feel my private desire lies with the sharper, cleaner keystrokes of the blue Alloy Elite – however that’s to not say you’ll additionally like them higher as nicely.
In phrases of noise, they’re simply as rattly as one another to my ears. The GK80’s clacks are barely decrease in tone than the high-pitched Alloy, however neither of them are any much less family-friendly than the opposite. As a consequence, you’ll nonetheless want to make use of them out of human earshot, except in fact you notably take pleasure in having your respective housemates or members of the family use your head as goal observe in a bid to get you to kind extra quietly.
My solely actual concern with the GK80 is the positioning, or fairly labelling, of its media keys. From a standard seated place, I can barely make out the symbols on every of its 4 devoted buttons, and it’s not till I lean proper over them that I can really see what I’m urgent.
Sure, you possibly can in all probability memorize the place of every media key, however would it not have harm to make them a bit extra seen?
That’s higher…
That’s not very handy if you’re mid sport and wish to whack up the quantity or mute it altogether, as you’ve nonetheless received to make a aware effort to look away from the display to be sure you’re not about to burst your individual ear drums by urgent the flawed key. Given the quantity of free house slightly below them, too, it makes little sense to a) make them so small and b) have them hanging half-way off the higher edge.
Overall, although, the MSI GK80 is a nice mechanical keyboard. At £160 / simply over $150, it’s a contact dearer than different mechanical RGB boards just like the Corsair K70 Lux and quantity pad-less Asus ROG Claymore, however in some ways it’s a lot better worth for cash, as you not solely get a number of additional key caps within the field, however the movable wrist relaxation offers it much more flexibility than its rivals. Yes, I do know £160 remains to be a ridiculous amount of cash to spend on a keyboard, but when customising your LEDs all the way down to the nth diploma with out having to take care of any software program is vital to you, then it’s in all probability value the additional tenner over the Corsair and the Asus. If you’re not fussed in regards to the RGB lights, although, and simply need one thing good for typing and taking part in video games alike, then the HyperX Alloy Elite remains to be my high suggestion.
