Cherry MX Red or Black better for gaming?

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Limp Gawd
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Dec 26, 2009
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Does anyone know if Cherry MX Red or Black is better for gaming? I would think the red since they are on the Corsair keyboards?
 
Does anyone know if Cherry MX Red or Black is better for gaming? I would think the red since they are on the Corsair keyboards?

From what I've personally felt in the stores comparing red and blacks, they're basically the same thing except the blacks have a lot more resistance, making them harder to push down, the reds are very light and easy to push down. To determine which is better for gaming, would likely be a personal pref. I think you'd have to try them yourself. I purchased the k60 from corsair, I love the keyboard, it's elegantly simple. One problem I noticed however is that the keyboard appears to be smaller than the standard keyboard layout, though I'm not 100% sure on that. I have a feeling it is a bit smaller though. WTB cherry red sexy simple keyboard with a standard size layout. The k60 would be perfect if it was a tad bigger, the left and right sides of the keyboard are chopped off too, could have used a more finished edge there, for hand support. My personal qualms. :)
 
I would think the red since they are on the Corsair keyboards?

I hope you're kidding, just because one brand markets a "gaming" keyboard doesn't mean its switches are better. For instance razer markets the blackwidow with mx blues, thermaltake has blacks, corsairs have reds and so many more.

Switches are mostly preferences so whatever makes you feel more comfortable would be the "best" gaming keyboard. That being said, it also depends on what games you're going to be playing because keyboard usage on RTS's like SC2 is more similar to typing than FPS. From my experience blacks/reds are more comfortable for FPS while i liked blues for SC2 as it gave a "rhythm" to builds.
 
Your reasoning is incorrect, but I love my reds for gaming. The lightest touch and I'm jumping, crouching, reloading, whatever.
 
I will second HeavensCloud's love of reds. I have a Leopold with them for gaming and they are fantastic. Some (maybe more?) love the blacks though - my advice would be to try and get your hands on boards with both and test them out if at all possible. Also, keep in mind that the red and black switches don't have tactile or audible feedback, and many prefer the blue or brown switches for everyday typing. For instance, I use a brown-based Filco for typing and the red-based Leopold only for gaming. If you are looking for an 'all-in-one' keyboard and do heavy typing, you might also want to consider browns as they are a good compromise between the blues and the red/blacks.
 
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I tried out blues, reds, and browns... I honestly couldn't feel the tactile bump in browns half the time while typing, it's just way too subtle imo, and reds felt better for gaming, so reds won out. Blues are nice for typing but they're louder and I wasn't crazy about them for gaming.

It's all highly subjective really, best bet is to try a few out, you can return keyboards to Amazon w/o paying restocking. I haven't tried blacks... Tried reds on a K90, browns on a Rosewill, and Blues on a Razer BWU (arguably not the best exemplar of a mechanical keyboard out there but w/e).
 
Reds are probably best for gaming as they're suited for quick key presses. But they're not great for typing - blues are best for typing by far.

At the end of the day you can read about people's comments all you want but a lot of it is down to personal preference and you need to try them for yourself.
 
I got a K90 a couple weeks ago and I'm not sure I'm in love with the reds for gaming. The actuation force is light and the actuation point not distinct. That sounds nice ("good for quick presses") but in practice I find myself making a lot of incidental key contact, particularly in the WASD cluster... so I'll be running forward and then start drifting to the left because I'm accidentally depressing the S key just from resting my finger on it. For typing I love the feel of the mechanical keys vs a membrane, even with the reds, and I'd like to give the browns a shot for typing purposes.
 
For typing I love the feel of the mechanical keys vs a membrane, even with the reds, and I'd like to give the browns a shot for typing purposes.

I liked my browns for awhile but the very slight tactile bump wasn't as much fun as blues/clears/ergo clears. Now that I've tried all the mx cherries i've begun to try out alps, greens aren't that bad.
 
Blues are nice for typing but they're louder and I wasn't crazy about them for gaming.

It's all highly subjective really

To further prove this point

I've used a friend's keyboard with reds. Granted, it wasn't an extended period, but I FAR prefer blues for everything, including gaming.
 
I bought a Steelseries 6gV2 with blacks and they have grown on me quite a bit. The initial impression was that the keys took slightly more pressure to activate than I would like, but after using the board for a few weeks I no longer notice.

You really need an extended test drive to really appreciate the switch type it seems.
 
I got a K90 a couple weeks ago and I'm not sure I'm in love with the reds for gaming. The actuation force is light and the actuation point not distinct. That sounds nice ("good for quick presses") but in practice I find myself making a lot of incidental key contact, particularly in the WASD cluster... so I'll be running forward and then start drifting to the left because I'm accidentally depressing the S key just from resting my finger on it. For typing I love the feel of the mechanical keys vs a membrane, even with the reds, and I'd like to give the browns a shot for typing purposes.

My experience with this keyboard matches yours. The accidental keypresses were occasional, but they did occur. It just wasn't for me. The K90 also has a pretty large footprint, if that matters to you.
 
To further prove this point

I've used a friend's keyboard with reds. Granted, it wasn't an extended period, but I FAR prefer blues for everything, including gaming.

Same with me.

I went from the Logitech series, to the Steelseries 6GV2, to the Corsair K90, to the Das Keyboard Professional (non-silent). I am planning to stick with the Das, including when playing games. I don't focus on any one game or genre and feel like like the Das Keyboard will win out.
 
To further prove this point

I've used a friend's keyboard with reds. Granted, it wasn't an extended period, but I FAR prefer blues for everything, including gaming.

This. It really all comes down to personal preference. There is no better key for "gaming". I personally prefer blues/browns, but if I had to choose red/black I would probably go with the blacks. I don't like the 6GV2 layout though.
 
Depends entirely on what you prefer. I use a poker with red switches primarily but I do have a 6gv2 that I use on a different computer. Both are great imo but I prefer the reds. There is no definitive answer to this question however.
 
I think the dogma is that blacks are best because they are stiff, and spring back faster than any other key. Outside of that there is no answer because it is personal preference. I use red now, I would like to buy a black set for fun at some point.
 
Reds are better.

Blacks are tiring. Of the three boards i own (blues, browns, reds), reds are the fastest to type on, and the easiest to game on.
 
yeah, I have blues, browns, and reds. I prefer the reds for everything, although I do like the blues slightly better for typing. I tried out a black-switched board and it was tiring for me too.
 
Something to consider is that if you have used membrane keyboards for gaming and typing for a long time and never used any mechanical keyboard prior is membrane switched need to "bottom out " to register but most every mechanical switch doesn't.

This means that a stiffer key like the MX Black that is harder to bottom out with can help if you hit the keys hard but a MX Red might feel too light to start and have you bottom out a lot to start, might feel sbetter once you get used to the action but then a MX black might be stiff .


This is why a lot of people that type a lot and touch type like the "tactile" feel of the MX Blues , becasue they can feel the bump and know it registered and hear it to an extent without pushing the key until it bottoms out.
That feedback and sound isn't as helpful most of the time when gaming and if you still bottom out the MX Blues a lot they can be too loud.

MX Browns split the difference pretty well overall for feel and there are mods like adding o-rings to the stems to dampen the sound but it really depends quite a lot on the keycap and if the switches are pmounted to a heavy plate or PCB too.

the good thing is that mechanical boards hold up really well and resale normally will get you your money back if you end up swapping boards in search of the perfect one if modding an excisting one doesn't accomplish the action you are after.

Personally I ordered a CM Storm Quickfire Rapid s/ MX Blacks that should be here on Tuesday.

I wanted MX Browns because I game slightly less often then I type and wanted some feedback but knew the MX Blues were way too loud but i had a $40 off coupon that was MX blacks only and after hearing some sound samples I saw on youtube I kinda fell in love with the sounds of the MX Blacks already.

I'm going to use the heck out of the keyboard and if the MX Blacks suck for typing or are too stiff I'll post back here .
 
Logitech K800 Illuminated Wireless keyboard with recharging cable because I'd rather have wireless over mechanical switches
 
it's up to personal preference, i dont have a problem with the blacks but the resistance is something to get use to.
 
After owning a blue switch board first, then buying a red switch one, and lastly just getting my new black switch keyboard... I have say I like the black switches the best. Blues are great for typing, and reds were just too light for me. Black switches seem to have the best feel for me for both gaming and typing.
 
I have reds and I concur with the others saying it is too light. I actually fatigue my hand while gaming because I cannot gently rest my hand on the WSAD keys or I will accidently press them down.

I think I would have preferred browns.
 
MX Browns are just as light, but feel kind of scratchy at the tactile point.

I had the same issue with MX Reds when I first tried them, but it was easy to adapt to after some aclimation time. At first I would rest my pinky on the keyboard frame to keep from accidently pressing keys while gaming, but when I got use to how light the keys were it was no longer necessary. This did not happen overnight, it took nearly three weeks to reduce accidental key presses to what was normal for me. Looking back at that effort, it was worth it; I never "tried" to like how the switches felt though, I enjoyed them from the beginning.

Edit; Basically, if you like the "action" of the switch, give it a while to get familiar with it. If you don't enjoy it from the beginning, move on to something else.
 
Imo. Reds for younger fingers, more accurate but less forgiving. I have both Reds and Browns and found the browns are the sweet spot for me.

But the result is opinionated. Try before you buy!
 
If you want clicky go blues... some people dont like blues for fps. but for strategy and most other games where you aren't holding down certain keys for extended periods of time blues are amazing
 
I have had both Red and Black.

Black for gaming by a landslide. I only game FPS, but they feel great and don't cause fatigue.

Blacks however get tiring for typing. I like my Reds for typing. This PC is a gaming PC so the black's won the battle, but if you do 50/50 I would probably stay away from blacks.
 
there is no answer to this what I like and what you like could be different neither of us would be wrong our preferences would be different.


I personally like browns best... I went and tried out as many switches as I could (luckily i had fry's near by and they managed to have demo boards with reds, browns ,blues and blacks

I settled on a WASD V1 mx-brown with dampers ....love it..

right after I got the WASD V1 newegg had some insane combo offer of celly D and rosewill RK9000 (mx red) for $24.99 w/ free shipping so I figured... I'd best get me a 2nd mechanical keyboard (for less than the god danged shipping and tax on my WASD :rolleyes:)

at first I wasn't not in love with the mx-reds then I ordered some o-rings (dampers) off amazon for $8 and put them on ... w/ the dampers I find it nearly 6 of 1 vs 1/2 dozen of the other between my WASD V1 (browns) and the Rosewill (reds) (both w/ dampers)

but that is just me..ideally you would want to try them out .. before buying.
 
Regardless of purpose, keyswitches are subjective. Buy what you like. For me that means MX Browns, be they for gaming or typing, though I'd still like to try "Ergo Clears" at some point.
 
hate to bump an older thread but no point in starting a new one. I just got a CM Storm QuickFire TK with brown keys a few weeks ago and I am not really sure it was the right choice. to be honest it does not "feel" any better than my old cheap HP or Logitech keyboards with non mechanical keys. the keys feel almost too light for gaming so I what should I try next?
 
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