8,000 Hz mechanical keyboards continue offering more than low input lag

Enlarge / Corsair K70 RGB Pro. (credit: Corsair)

Razer introduced a widely available keyboard with an 8,000 Hz polling rate last year, so it hasn't been surprising to see rivals follow suit. Corsair today released the K70 RGB Pro mechanical gaming keyboard, which also claims to report to the PC 8,000 times per second instead of the standard 1,000. But as with other 8,000 Hz keyboards we've seen, that stat may not be what actually sells you on the keyboard. In truth, most people won't notice the difference between 8,000 Hz and the traditional 1,000 Hz.

Corsair's announcement of the K70 RGB Pro doesn't put a huge focus on the keyboard's overboard polling rate. The press release points to the Axon technology that the company says is "up to 8x faster than standard gaming keyboards," but there is no specific mention of 8,000 Hz or even the term "polling rate."

Corsair's new 8,000 Hz keyboard ranges from $160-$170, depending on the mechanical switches. (credit: Corsair)

Corsair also didn't provide an input lag claim, but some 8,000 Hz keyboards point to an input lag of as low as 0.125 ms (1 second divided by 8,000 reports = .000125 second). The K70 RGB Pro's product page does highlight the polling rate and 4,000 Hz key-scanning rate (elsewhere on Corsair's website, the company claims its Axon processor can deliver input lag of as low as 0.25 ms).

Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments