Closer Examination

Taking a closer look at the G.Skill Ripjaws KM780 RGB, we can see that G.Skill used a clear font that is easily read. I am sure if you read my reviews often, you will probably be sick of me saying this by now, but a clean font is far better than any 'gaming style' font - it appeals to a far wider audience and looks far more mature.


We have recently seen a lot of functions that are made accessible by using a function (FN) key. With the KM780, you have dedicated keys for most of the usual features, which is great! The first two keys I am going to show you are simply the Windows lock and LED brightness keys. The latter is a little more complicated and is a timer. I will go over it more a little later on, but it is a nice way to set yourself a reminder.


With this little cluster of keys we have a on-the-fly macro record key and mode keys which effectively change layers, meaning that the six dedicated macro keys are effectively eighteen as you can record them all to switch between layers to use them. Recording on the fly is really easy. First, make sure you are in the mode you want to be in by pressing M1, M2, or M3. Now, press MR and the macro key you want to record to before typing in what you wish to record. Press MR again to finish recording. On-the-fly recording records delays also, so be mindful of that. To use the macro, simply press the G key you recorded it to.


At the top right of the keyboard, we have dedicated media keys consisting of stop, previous track, play/pause, next track, and mute. I am a big fan of dedicated keys as there is just something so satisfying about them, especially when you are in game since you won't have to worry about using an FN key.


There is also a dedicated volume control wheel. It works very well, and right beneath it is a visual volume indicator.


The 1.8 m cable for the G.Skill KM780 is rather chunky due to the number of cables in it. It splits into four cables with gold-plated connectors at their ends, which is to enable an audio pass-through as well as a USB pass-through. The cable has a tightly woven, braided sleeve that seems quite tough. The connectors are all protected with rubber to ensure they don't bend out of shape.


On the rear of the keyboard we can see the audio and USB pass-through that is made possible with the cable we previously mentioned. There is also a switch for you to change between 6-key rollover and NKRO. Also on the back of the keyboard is a cable holder for your mouse. It can discreetly be tucked underneath the board if you do not wish to use it, but I quite like having my mouse cable elevated to stop it from dragging, and this method was just as effective as my usual mouse bungee.


G.Skill decided to go with the ever-popular Cherry MX switches for their KM780 RGB keyboard, which are always great to see. Cherry MX switches are often considered the best with many cloning them. With this sample, I chose to go with Cherry MX Reds, soft linear switches with a 2mm actuation point. This switch type is very popular with gamers.



You can also clip this little case onto the metal bar at the rear of the keyboard. It houses some spare keys as well as a keycap remover. The spare keys have far more aggressive contours to them to make sure you can always find your WASD keys whilst in game. They all have grooves, which gives them a completely different feel to that of other keycaps.


The keycaps that come with the G.Skill Ripjaws KM780 are of good quality, and light shines through them very well. The extra keycaps are somewhat less to my liking as they have a strange glossy red look and the contours on their WASD keys are a little too angled. This is mostly personal preference, though, as the build quality is fine and they do their job well.


Moving toward the wrist rest, we can see it is a soft plastic inside a harder plastic shell. It is very comfortable to use and is actually quite stylish. It has two sets of clips at each end to allow it to attach to the keyboard.



The clips click into place securely, and removing the rest of these is easily done if you need to. Such clips do have a habit of breaking if you are a little rough with them, but overall, they do their job well, and if you look after them, they will be fine. With the wrist rest attached, the keyboard does look quite large, but is still comfortable to use.


Flipping the keyboard over, we can see the sets of feet that are used; in each corner, there are nice rubber feet to stop the KM780 from slipping, and at the rear, there are also feet to allow it to be elevated to sit at a comfier angle. I had no problems with any of these during testing.