Can i use a cheap keyboard for gaming?

CaptainSirBacon · Oct 12, 2015

Recently my keyboard which was a microsoft 2000 wireless stopped working it was great i had no problems with gaming but i bought the logitech k120 after and it should be here soon. I was wondering will i have any problems with this keyboard while gaming. I really don't care about macro keys but whats the worst that can happen. Im planning on keeping this for 1-4 years

Shneiky · Oct 12, 2015

Why would you have problems? You can game on whatever you want.

jimmysmitty · Oct 12, 2015

The only downside to cheaper keyboards is the limited amount of keys that can be pressed at once. You can still use it for gaming but might run into limitations if you try to press more than 3 keys at one time.

Suztera · Oct 12, 2015

You can use whatever keyboard you find comfortable.

Dan425811923 · Oct 12, 2015

Just know that going from a mechanical to a membrane is horrible.

USAFRet · Oct 12, 2015

Some people game on $7 keyboards, and crush everyone else.
Some people game on $250 keyboards, and lose miserably.

What works for you?

Dan425811923 · Oct 12, 2015

USAFRet :

And I use a 90 dollar keyboard and do good but not like super good.

CaptainSirBacon · Oct 12, 2015

jimmysmitty :

The thing is though im using my brothers keyboard right now untill mine comes its a logitech k330 and i can press 6 keys at once and this is a cheap keyboard also and its wireless

jimmysmitty · Oct 12, 2015

http://forums.logitech.com/t5/Keyboards-and-Keyboard-Mice/Logictech-K120-help/td-p/793209

Might want to read that. Looks like this keyboard has a lot of ghosting issues.

While the K330 is a cheaper keyboard it is also about $35 dollars more than the K120.

CaptainSirBacon · Oct 12, 2015

jimmysmitty :

I've also seen reviews where people say its great for gaming and they've played many games weird though and i think the only reason why logitech k330 is more expensive is cause it has media buttons and its wireless
I found this btw http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/125039-13-k120-logitech-keyboard-handles-3kro

jimmysmitty · Oct 12, 2015

Looks like they have a very dependent 6KRO. I guess only testing it will tell you if it will work for you.

jaguarskx · Oct 12, 2015

Generally speaking any keyboard will do for most people. But wireless keyboards can have issues.

I use a 7 year old keyboard. I forgot the brand because the name wore off and the backlight is so dim not that it is more or less pointless... but it still works fine for playing games. I got an old keyboard from around 2000 that I kept just for emergency purposes. It's pretty sturdy. I think I can use it to bash in a few heads and it will still work fine. The blood should help spruce up the blandness of a beige keyboard.

CaptainSirBacon · Oct 12, 2015

jaguarskx :

I bought a wired one cause my old one was wireless and it broke so yea. plus wired ones are usually cheaper

jimmysmitty · Oct 12, 2015

Wired is superior to wireless as there is less latency although a lot of newer wireless gaming keyboards compensate for this.

James Mason · Oct 13, 2015

As long as the games aren't online competitive ones, you won't have issues.
Only games like LoL, DOTA and CS:GO require the ability to press as many keys as possible in the shortest time frame and have no delay as well.
But if your trying to move diagonally and reload your gun or throw a grenade you'll need an "expensive" mechanical keyboard.

cats_Paw · Oct 13, 2015

You are not allowed to use cheap keyboards for gaming, The gaming community will stop you! (If that sounded ridiculous, its because it is).

You dont really need expensive keyboards, but many people like them, due to various reasons:
-Features like backlight, stop/play music, etc can be sometimes helpful if you listen to music while playing but you dont want to alt-tab to change a song or pause the music (can be quite good in streaming).
-Mechanical keyboards can be good in some cases, but to be fair everyone is different and mechanical keyboards will only become very important in tournament level competition, if ever.
-Size matters, and your hands and finger size also matter so some people just want a keyboard that fits their needs.

James Mason, I dont know about lol DOTA or LoL (I played only cs go and Id never say that fast pressing was important there), but if there is one game that for me required speed is starcraft broodwar and starcraft 2.

In those games, I can feel the difference from a PS/2 connector and a USB one, and in case its not something you have had some experience with, usually is a difference of 4-25 ms that actually is a problem for me, as keys pressed on the keyboard and mice are recorded in incorrect order by the PC (usually at around 500-700 actions per minute speeds its something rather common).

However, only PS/2 fixes this, no USB keyboard can so far, same goes for mice, but I doubt more than 500 people on the planet run into this problem, so Id assume its not something that bothers most ppl.

James Mason · Oct 13, 2015

cats_Paw :

Yeah, LoL and Dota are RTS (ARTS: Action-RTS/MOBA(Multi-online-battle-arena describes litterally every online game and means nothing)) So yeah, they require the same if not higher accuracy as traditional competitive RTS games. You only have 1 "unit" to control in those games, and if you lose just the one, you can lose the whole thing.

USAFRet · Oct 13, 2015

What *I* want is a wireless mechanical of reasonable quality, that also includes a num pad.
But I'm not shelling out $170 for one.

cats_Paw · Oct 14, 2015

James, I agree that precision required in MOBA games is higher than in traditional RTS (in fact, probably by a high factor).
That being said, that is something different since it will mostly depend on sensor quality on your mice (like 98%).

Things like latency of the mice (assuming its wired), delay, etc are rather small in comparison. Keyboard? Even less.

When I say that in games like starcraft you need insane speeds, I do not mean reactionary speeds (how fast will you press a key to respond to a certain fact and how long will then you have to wait for the PC to register your keystroke) but rather in practiced set of moves that you repeat every game (like producing 20 units from 20 separate locations where you need to press a certain set of keys in a precise order at very high speeds).

In the second case, if the CPU changes the order of the orders based on the USB latency, you can go from "make 1 unit for each building" to "make 3 units every 3 buildings".

Apart from that game I have used many keyboards in the past and to be honest, the biggest problem is always to "change" from one keybaord to another since they feel weird untill you have used them for at least 2 months (in my case).

CaptainSirBacon · Oct 16, 2015

cats_Paw :

James, I agree that precision required in MOBA games is higher than in traditional RTS (in fact, probably by a high factor).
That being said, that is something different since it will mostly depend on sensor quality on your mice (like 98%).

Things like latency of the mice (assuming its wired), delay, etc are rather small in comparison. Keyboard? Even less.

When I say that in games like starcraft you need insane speeds, I do not mean reactionary speeds (how fast will you press a key to respond to a certain fact and how long will then you have to wait for the PC to register your keystroke) but rather in practiced set of moves that you repeat every game (like producing 20 units from 20 separate locations where you need to press a certain set of keys in a precise order at very high speeds).

In the second case, if the CPU changes the order of the orders based on the USB latency, you can go from "make 1 unit for each building" to "make 3 units every 3 buildings".

Apart from that game I have used many keyboards in the past and to be honest, the biggest problem is always to "change" from one keybaord to another since they feel weird untill you have used them for at least 2 months (in my case).

To everyone saying that gaming keyboards matter i actually now disagree because after having this logitech k120 just got it i had no problems playing league of legends, wow, and cs go no ghosting issues at all.

jimmysmitty · Oct 16, 2015

CaptainSirBacon :

cats_Paw :

To everyone saying that gaming keyboards matter i actually now disagree because after having this logitech k120 just got it i had no problems playing league of legends, wow, and cs go no ghosting issues at all.

For me it is more the dome keys that I just can't use. Even at work I can't use them, had to bring in my old K90.

And while it may work for you, I highly doubt professional gamers would use a K120 when they have to be able to depend on not running into any ghosting at all. As I said, the K120 looks to be 6KRO which is very small, especially for pro gamers.

CaptainSirBacon · Oct 16, 2015

jimmysmitty :

CaptainSirBacon :

For me it is more the dome keys that I just can't use. Even at work I can't use them, had to bring in my old K90.

And while it may work for you, I highly doubt professional gamers would use a K120 when they have to be able to depend on not running into any ghosting at all. As I said, the K120 looks to be 6KRO which is very small, especially for pro gamers.

1) Im not a pro gamer
2) I'm pretty sure when i take gaming that seriously i will get a gaming keyboard but for now gaming is just a hobby
3) 6kro is more than enough for most gamers unless you are really picky

Can i use a cheap keyboard for gaming?

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