Cost per Performance
Cost per Performance is probably the most subjective category. Everyone makes different amounts of money. Because of this fact a $100 keyboard might not seem like that much to someone running a massive water-cooled rig. On the other hand, your standard gamer is going to look at a keyboard in that price range as the last keyboard he ever buys.
This is a category I had to look at and say with all the features that each keyboard offered in direct comparison with each other how would the price of that unit reflect my desire to purchase it?
If you want to examine a couple particular instances you can look at the opposite ends of the spectrum. The S.T.R.I.K.E. 7 was $299 when I reviewed it. It has everything. But it also has an astronomical price when it comes to a keyboard. The Rosewill RK-8100 was $30 when I reviewed it but you couldn’t pay me to hook it back up to my computer. These things all play into ‘Cost per Performance’ and ultimately control the outcome of your purchase.
The one thing I can leave you with is that Prices change but the keyboards stay the same. So if you see a keyboard that you want, patience is a virtue that can provide some serious relief to your wallet
Overall Winner
During this article I tried to touch on a few standout keyboards that I had the privilege of reviewing throughout the year. Each category had specific winners but consistency is the key .If you’ve looked at the graphs throughout this article you’ll notice one keyboard at the top or near the top of every category. That keyboard would be the Corsair K90 Illuminated Gaming Keyboard.
The K90 is hands down the best keyboard I’ve reviewed in 2012. At the time of reviewing the CM Storm Trigger I thought I had seen the best of the best until Bob placed the K90 on my desk. This keyboard is extremely comfortable, extremely durable, reasonably customizable, and relatively well priced for what is included in its packaging.
If I had to recommend one keyboard for purchase the K90 will be that keyboard until some product comes along and takes its crown. If you want to read a more in-depth review of the K90 head over to the review I did a month of so back. Congratulations to Corsair and I hope this is just the start of excellent gaming input device products that we’ll be seeing from an up and coming computer peripherals company.
So what was your favorite gaming keyboard of 2012?