Driver

With the G.Skill KM780 RGB keyboard, you can do a hell of a lot straight out of the box without installing drivers or software, but there is still some extra functionality to be gained from doing so.


This is the first screen you will see when you open up the software. As you can see, there are three main tabs: customize, setting, and lighting. There are also "Macros" and "LIGHTING" tabs.


To record a macro, click on the "Macros" tab to then click on the '+' button, name the macro, and click on the record button.


Once you have hit your record button, press whatever you would like to record. Here, I typed in "www.techpowerup.com." You can opt to record a delay, give it a default delay, or delete the delay entirely. You can delete the macro by clicking on the trash can button and copy, import, and export the macro by using the settings button.

Any macros recorded using the on-the-fly record button can be edited and renamed here also.


The "LIGHTING PROFILES" tab allows you to edit all pre-recorded lighting modes; you can change colors or speeds and can even create multiple profiles you could then change between per game.


If we go back to the "CUSTOMIZE" tab, one of its main uses is being able to reprogram every key, which is very simple to do. Simply click on the key you wish to reprogram to then click on the drop-down box and select what you want to change the key to. You can choose a different letter, a mouse function, a media function, a Windows shortcut, a macro, or even launch a program - you can basically do almost anything with a single keypress.


Clicking on the "SETTING" tab, you can change multiple options, such as repeat or polling rate and any sleep settings. You can also set up your timer settings, which you would do by pressing the timer button above the F4 key; I will go over that in more detail shortly.


The "LIGHTING" screen is where you select the lighting mode you want to use. Now, this is one area the software does feel a little clunky in since you have to click on that little red tick box next to "Effect Lighting" to change your lighting setting. Once you do, it is simple enough, and you can pick from among any of the profiles G.Skill makes available or from those you created. Before I knew that this was how it was done, I spent longer than I care to admit trying to figure it out - it just could have been a lot easier.



So I mentioned it twice already, but I can finally show you how the timer function works. First, check the box next to either "On Screen Display" or "Lighting Effect" and type in how long you want the timer to be set for in seconds.


I opted for the "On Screen Display" option for this example. The "Lighting Effect" option allows you to select a lighting mode that will activate when the timer runs out. With the "On Screen Display" option, you can add text that will show up at the top-right corner of your monitor, and you can make it flash if you want.


After you have done so, make sure you don't close the software, or at least find another way to get to this screen as you can't save the settings without pressing the "Save" button. Again, this part feels a little clunky since it could have easily been resolved with an apply button instead.


Once you have tweaked all the settings for your timer, you can activate it by pressing the timer button above the F4 key. It will flash until the countdown has finished, and once time has run out, your selected alert will show. Text will appear at the top-right corner of your monitor - it doesn't show on print screen, so I had to take a picture of it to show you how it looks.

Performance

The G.Skill Ripjaws KM780 RGB keyboard is very comfortable to use; the wrist rest allows for good posture, especially during longer sessions. Its on-the-fly macro recording is great, especially as the software allows you edit these after you have recorded them. As the switches are MX Cherry, they are great as per usual. Although Cherry MX Reds are not my favorite switch type, there is no denying their quality and their appeal.

The only real downside in terms of performance stems from the software. Saying it is bad is wrong, but it just isn't quite as good as some other software for keyboards. Some areas aren't that intuitive, and things could be done far better with just a few minor changes; that being said, the software is full of great features.

The LEDs are bright and their many settings ensure that you will find a setting that fits your needs. Below are some options that are pre-programmed into the keyboard.


The color change scroll option scrolls through some of the colors available. You can change the colors and the duration over the lighting profiles tab.


A favorite to show off colors is the color wave option. You can change the direction of the wave as well as add some colors over the lighting profiles tab.


This is one of the reactive profiles - it is a little more in depth than most reactive profiles as it actually scrolls through the colors after the key is pressed. Usually, this profile just consists of a single solid color when pressed, so it is nice to see something different.