Corsair Vengeance K95 Unboxing & Overview
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2014-05-07
·
1,615 words · ~8 min read
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this video is brought to you by the Intel Core i7 4770k unlocked processor
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if you're a speed freak add an Intel 3500 series SSD to your Haswell system
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for a truly Enthusiast class experience welcome to my unboxing of the flagship
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of Flag ships of Corsair keyboards this
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is the Vengeance k95 which is a direct
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replacement for the k90 in terms of feature set and it brings some
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compelling new features with it that make it not not just a slot in
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replacement but I'd say a significant Improvement I mean I wouldn't have
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minded if they' called it the K 100 but
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I guess that sort of breaks the uh you know K and two digits after the
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numbering scheme that they were going for but the unfortunate thing about that
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for Corsair they started at 90 they could have easily done a k30 or you know
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a k you know 20 to start with but they started right there at 90 so that left
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them not a whole lot of room to move on the numbering scheme
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so the first thing that's different about the k95 versus the k90 and this
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was complaint number Uno for the k90 was
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the fact that all the key switches on
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the k95 are now mechanical on the k90
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the macro Keys as well as the F Keys
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along the top of the keyboard used rubber Dome switches in addition to all
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these macro keys right here there we go let's move over all these macro Keys
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here used rubber Dome membrane key switches all these F keys at the top as
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well as Escape used rubber domes and these guys right here used rubber domes
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enthusiasts basically went Corsair we
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think it's interesting your philosophy about how you want these ones to feel
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different tactilely so that I can tell what I'm doing when I'm not looking at
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the keyboard but we don't care what we'd like you to do is replace them with
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mechanical Keys Corsair took that feedback and implemented it with the k95
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it is fully mechanical the next thing that is different about the k95 versus
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the k90 is that it is in a different
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color scheme so you can see that we've got that same blue aluminum back plane
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that gives the keyboard a very premium
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look um did I say blue aluminum okay
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we've got that same aluminum black backplane that gives the keyboard a very
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very clean look as well as extreme ruggedness so Corsair keyboards have
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almost no flex you can see how thick that piece of aluminum is that makes up
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the unibody construction of it that goes all the way down to here we go all the
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way down to the bottom of the where the wrist rest attaches and then all the way
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up to the top it's very very rigid and another thing that Corsair does That's
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Unique is they have an extremely high distance between the bottom of the key
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cap right here and the top of the back
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plane and what this does is it gives them a very strong underglow effect
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because these keys are individually back
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lit so so these LEDs are casting light not only through the keys themselves and
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you can see there's varying brightness levels three brightness levels as well
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as off but also down on the back plane itself that gives it a very very very
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very cool effect this is one of the things that I believe sold Corsair
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keyboards because it's a very unique look um the next thing is the wrist rest
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has not been changed much from the previous gen I really like Corsair's
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implementation on the wrist rest here and that is it's different from the k70
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where they have done away with the metal screws here at the edges that make it
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extremely secure as well as I believe less prone to breakage the plastic uh
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the plastic Clips on the k70 have a pretty strong design but there's no
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substitute for these metal thumb screws that are able to attach this in a much
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more more permanent fashion and even if these broke off which I don't think they
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would they could still be guides and you could still firmly secure it with this
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on the bottom of the keyboard you've got flip out feet right here that are are
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going to allow you to change the elevation slightly as well as rubber feet here here here and here that'll
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keep it from slipping around on the back of the keyboard we find a single USB
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pass through so you can use this for your mouse or for I don't know a USB
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drive or whatever else that you want as well as a bio switch this is kind of
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unique and the funny thing about the bio switch is Corsair makes no mention of it
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no mention here no mention on the website so I will explain what it does
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it enables better comp compatibility with different motherboards particularly
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ones running Legacy bioses this was one of the other complaints that I
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personally had about the k90 was that it wasn't always compatible with
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motherboards allowing you to get into the BIOS if you press to delete in time
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so they've got four different profiles here one 2 four and eight that will
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allow you to get into the BIOS of your
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of your motherboard pretty much regardless so that's a really strong thing another carryover from the k90 is
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the media Keys which I believe are some of the best out there so you've got stop
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back play pause and forward as well as mute and a volume wheel volume wheels
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are much more intuitive and natural for me to use than something like uh
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function hotkey up on the F Keys themselves so I I love seeing them
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implemented that is that is my favorite way of doing that uh moving on down here
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we've got a Windows key lock that is also a carryover as well as the
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brightness adjustment that I showed you guys before I'm going to put it on the dimmest one just so you guys can see
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what I'm talking about here and check this out the keys are individually
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backlit they are also individually controllable here we go so you hold this
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button down and all of a sudden wo what's going on only like a bunch of
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random Keys over here on the keyboard of backlit you can change and backlight
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whichever Keys you desire so if you
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wanted to oh yeah there you go so if you
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wanted to like spell Your Name Across the keyboard you could blank out the
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whole thing oh oh oh I have not done this the most effective way but uh bear
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with me here guys so there you have it that is my feeble attempt to have the
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keyboard say my name on it instead of any kind of sort of reasonable pattern
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so there's an L I
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N N's tough u s see cool and then all
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you have to do is you press this down hold her down and you have effectively
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changed the mode so you can switch between the modes by pressing one of
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these buttons If I recall correctly there we go so by pressing this button
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you can go full back lit not back lit and then using brightness adjust you can
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turn the whole thing off entirely very cool stuff all of the G programmable G1
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to G18 keys can be programmed on the Fly
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you also have three different profile layers for each of them and that I think
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is pretty self-explanatory or you can use Corsair's gaming software in order
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to enable sort of a bunch of this functionality as well if you don't
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prefer to program things on the Fly I think that pretty much wraps it up oh
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right Cherry MX red so the k95 is still
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only available with Cherry MX red switches because these are according to
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sort of what Corsair would believe although I not necess well I'm not a Pro
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Gamer so that's part of the problem but according to Corsair for gaming Cherry
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MX Reds are still the most optimal key switches because of their extremely
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light tactile response so you they are very light button presses as well as
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their linear switch fashion allowing you to quickly and easily repeat the buttons
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in a way way that you can't really do with the tactile switches like Cherry MX
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Blues so while Blues might be more satisfying for typing this is a gaming
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keyboard so Corsair is going well you know what we're going to deliver the best product that we think is most
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appropriate for gaming and the typists can get k7s which are available with
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other key switches as well so this particular one Cherry MX red and let's
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just see if I missed anything else guys don't forget to leave a comment under
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the video let me know what you think of the k95 let me know what you think of
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the unboxing of it don't forget to like the video and share the video if you
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