CORSAIR VENGEANCE K90 & M90
ERP: 129.99 (Keyboard) $79.99 (Mouse) | Website: www.corsair.com
Recommended Award
$
210 for a matching mouse and
gaming combo isn’t cheap.
Regardless of what vendors promise,
at the end of the day there’s a cheaper
gaming combo that’s about $100
less that won’t make you significantly
worse at a game of Battlefield or COD.
Keyboards and mice like these two
are for the hard-core gaming crowd.
In fact this particular set at least
where the keyboard is concerned
is for the semi pro or professional
gamer. That group of people who
take their gaming to the next level
where every advantage they can get
will matter. Much like with graphics
cards, CPUs or anything like that
we tend to buy the best and most
expensive parts not because they
are markedly superior to cheaper
components. We buy them because
we’d like to believe that should we
decide to peruse 3DMark records or
join a professional gaming league, we
have the hardware for it already.
More than that, a lot of us buy these
peripherals because they are just
cool to own. Much like nobody needs
4-way graphics, nobody really needs a
mouse with 15 buttons. There simply
isn’t a usage scenario that would
necessitate so many buttons on a
mouse. Keep in mind that this isn’t
unique to CORSAIR but others such
as LOGITECH (G700) have similar
products which defy logic but for
some reason hold an esoteric appeal.
With the CORSAIR K90 in
particular, despite disliking this
keyboard’s aesthetics, the feel of
it has grown on me. I had changed
from a trusty LOGITECH G15 so I
could see how feasible it was to
live with the K90 and I have to say
I’m impressed. It’s of much better
build quality, sure enough it looks
dangerous and you do not want
this falling on your feet but then
again this keyboard could probably
withstand a hurricane. The feel
of it is what’s remarkable. I wrote
this review on this very keyboard
and it feels great to type on. The
buttons respond quickly and the
mushy button press I had grown
accustomed to with the G15 is gone.
The K90 is precise, responsive
and I’m never unsure of which
button I pressed. How odd then
that a keyboard made for gaming is
actually better to type on than most
typist keyboards I’ve used.
In a gaming context which is what
this keyboard is about it exceeded my
expectations once again. For a gamer
like me who is light years away from
being anywhere close to competent
in most FPS games, I could actually
appreciate the difference between
this and the G15. There’s a lot more
that a professional gamer can extract
from this keyboard than I can, but if
it works for a “n00b” like me, then
it’s sure to work wonders for the
seasoned FPS player.
The mouse, well I’m not entirely
moved by it, the left face has far too
many buttons. RTS fans may love it,
but I suspect I’m not the only one who
finds them more than unnecessary.
Other than that the mouse feels
very good, it’s sturdy without feeling
cumbersome. It glides easily enough
and the sensitivity is second to none
as it’s a little smoother than both my
Sidewinder and Razor Mamba.
Despite the initial impressions, I
like the K90 keyboard, the M90 less
so, but together they do make a
compelling argument for the asking
price especially in comparison to
more expensive alternatives which
may offer similar features, but
nowhere near the build quality and
feel of these two.
[ Iron-Synapse ]
The Score
8.5/10
Issue 18 2012 The OverClocker 47