Corsair’s utra-fast mechanical keyboard doesn’t leave much room for disappointment
The K70 RGB RAPIDFIRE is designed primarily for shooters, and features a heavy frame of brushed aluminum that means business. When I slid it into position on my keyboard tray I actually made a hairline scratch across my desk, which sucks, but that’s how beefy this thing is.
It comes with a detachable wrist guard wrapped in a soft dimpled covering, and underneath the board you’ll find fold out feet on all four corners so you to adjust to that perfect position.
The braided cable splits off into 2 USB connections- one for the board itself and another for the on-board accessory port, meant for headsets, mice, or whatever else you might care to plug in. Next to the USB is a BIOS mode and polling rate switch. It allows for maximum compatibility when tinkering in the BIOS, and the latter lets you fine tune the responsiveness of your key presses… if you’re really into that.
The board isn’t stuffed with any extra programmable keys, which is a positive in my book, but is a negative to others. If you want these for MMOs you can upgrade to the K95. A really nice addition to the K70 is the genre-specific contoured keycaps. One set is designed for FPS’s and another built for MOBA’s. It has a Windows key lock to avoid accidental presses, and also features dedicated media playback buttons and a very nice textured volume roller.
It’s not a loud clicky board, but it also isn’t quiet.
The Cherry MX Speed RGB switches are rated for 50 million operations, which is actually a bit less than some competing switches. The keys on this Corsair board are linear, so there isn’t a tactile resistance with each press. You don’t need to bottom out the keys to register a hit, but unless you have a gentle touch you probably will still bottom them out. It’s not a loud clicky board, but it also isn’t quiet. The Cherry MX Speed key switches sit somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, with a moderate sound and smooth sensitive keys.
Besides Corsair’s exclusivity with Cherry MX, its boards stand apart from competitors with the powerful Corsair Utility Engine software. It allows for easy macro creation and assignment, as well as any key rebinding, and immensely deep visual customization. The ability to export and import profiles means that you can leave the heavy lifting to others and download the fruits of their labor for free. Like a Overwatch profile that contains color-coded lighting for the gamekeys, or unique patterns for each hero. On-board memory also lets you save your profiles to the board itself, instead of the hard drive, allowing you to take color and key profiles with you to any other rig.
If you’re in the market for a mechanical keyboard I’d suggest getting your hands on as many different key switches as possible. If you enjoy any of Cherry’s MX switches then you won’t go wrong with this board and its powerful utility software. At over $150 you’re looking for a premium product, and the Corsair K70 RGB Rapidfire is of premium build quality. This thing is a rock and it will emanate any color or pattern you can imagine. But perhaps most of all, I love its simple straightforward design. It doesn’t try to wow you with fancy angles or stuff a bunch of extra keys on it. It just sits there in all of its rectangular glory, pulses with color, and invites you to start typing.
Learn more about Corsair’s gaming keyboard lineup at corsair.com
This headset was provided by Corsair for the purpose of this review