Rosewill RK-9000 v2 Single-Button Speed Test
There are two metrics that I measured to determine response from a single button: how quick after a keypress can I input a second one; and how many times can I press a key in a given timeframe? These tests are obviously very dependent on switch type, but there are also slight differences between keyboards of the same switch due to the keycap used and other factors.
For each of the following tests I provided error bars. Given the random nature of these tests, my actual performance with each keyboard in each test would be somewhere inside those ranges about 68.3% of the time. That of course assumes that my arm never got tired or anything.
To determine how quickly I could mash a button I found a simple game online and played it over and over. Each keyboard was tested ten times and the score was averaged. I also calculated the standard deviation to quantify how much my results vary.
The Cherry MX Blue switches were fairly identical and slightly behind all others. The Cherry MX Red performed best at this event and was quite consistent in its results with a score of 46.2 actions in 5 seconds (9.24 Hz). Despite five of the six data points being whole numbers, they were averaged over ten data points.
The Cherry MX Black is possibly the biggest story here. Its performance suffered below the Cherry MX Brown switch, but had a substantially large range in scores. I believe this is due to the Black switches being very quick when you attempt to ride the actuation point but very slow if you must bottom out the switch due to its firmness. It is possible that when you really get to know the keyboard that you may be able to ride the activation point more efficiently. This means that the low average might be a factor of my lack of skill rather than equipment.
To determine how much latency is between button presses I developed a little Java applet to time the duration between button presses to the millisecond. Each keyboard was tested ten times and the score was averaged. I also calculated the standard deviation to quantify how my results vary.
The Cherry MX Blue switches surprisingly cleaned house with this test. It often feels very laggy when I attempt to dodge in Unreal Tournament 3 and yet when measured it performs even slightly better than the MX Red keys. I cannot really explain that.
No input lag test? With high
No input lag test? With high speed cameras as cheap as they are today? For shame.
Great review Scott, thanks &
Great review Scott, thanks & keep up the good work!
$99.99…really? I bought
$99.99…really? I bought the Corsair K90 for $99 at Fry’s and it is far superior to the cheap Rosewill in every way! The Corsair is like an Audi, while the Rosewill is like driving a Hyundai. I thought the Rosewill would be $50, considering it offers nothing other than mechanical keys! The Corsair K90 is the best looking, aluminum chassis, MMo buttons, blue backlit keys, USB port, wrist support, etc. it just looks awesome! Not sure if the Rosewill is even worth more than $40, IMO…when compared to Razer, Corsair, etc. Rosewill doesn’t look like it offers any features or creative design value for the money. Sorry for the harsh opinions, Rosewill, but you have to a LOT better and think outside the box!
Unfortunately the corsair IS
Unfortunately the corsair IS NOT fully mechanical.
Don’t listen to this guy
Don’t listen to this guy people. For one thing, are you a gamer? If you are, then by all means… Razer and Corsair will offer you more features because they are geared towards you! However, if you are not a gamer, but a serious workaholic, like me, who has a bit of money to splurge on a superior, serious looking keyboard than the Rosewill fits your niche. The Rosewill is an excellent keyboard in every way and on top of not making you look like a 16 year old, it comes with Newegg’s excellent warranty as well as superior internals, in my opinion, and better construction. The Rosewill has a very excellent red back plate that makes that occasional deep cleaning much easier. To each his own, but I say that keyboards like Rosewill RK 9000 are what seperate the keyboard enthusiast men from boys. The men can truly see and appreciate the engineering and aesthetic behind Rosewill’s design instead of just looking at how many backlit LEDs and Macro keys your keyboard has. To each his own.
great animated GIFS! Great
great animated GIFS! Great breakdown of what eash swtich is and how they work
Great review
Great review
Would love to Win
Would love to Win one
How?
“Join us as we rattle away on the lovely mechanical keyswitches of Corsair’s aluminum-clad Vengeance K60 and K90 keyboards.”
… what?
… what?
I would have loved to see a
I would have loved to see a new IBM type M keyboard (they are still made by Unicomp) as a compairison in this test as well. Those are the keyboards that all other “clicky” keyboards are measured by.
I grew up with the IBM
I grew up with the IBM keyboards. They weren’t that fantastic. I did use a sponge pad keyboard for a while until it burned out and found it to be the fastest and most accurate keyboard I’d ever used. They had to be cleaned periodically so that made them unpopular. They were also huge, heavy, ugly but they worked like a charm. They are no longer available and not compatible with any of the PC/Mac/Unix worlds of today.
I’m having a huge problem and would welcome comments by anyone:
I’m looking for a production level dual-detent keyboard. It used to be available with hall effect switches but I cannot find that configuration any more either. The problem with the cherry switches is that the detent happens before the character is registered. I used to use the detent to register the character and then began to withdraw my finger. I can’t do that with the cherry switches. The only thing I can do with them is use an “o”ring. The action would then be depress, detent would pull the key away but that would not signal my finger to withdraw so I’d have to use the o-ring for resistance but that’s too strong so it becomes an effective bottoming out.
I’m also thinking that I add a foam pad under the keycap to replace the O-ring and that would serve as the soft bottom but if I’m thinking about it, surely someone has already done it so I’m wondering how that’s working out?
Any other suggestions/comments?
If you want a full mechanical
If you want a full mechanical keyboard you should check out http://www.dsi-keyboards.com/mechanical-switch-keyboards.aspx they have a few one them on their site.