Performance

GIGABYTE's new FORCE K7 gaming keyboard is made for gamers looking for a few extra tweaks. The performance of a membrane keyboard is definitely not as good as that of a mechanical-based keyboard; however, membrane keyboards are usually cheaper and less noisy. GIGABYTE tweaked the mechanisms to keep the distance to actuation as small as possible, and the keys are flatter, like what you would find on a notebook keyboard. This keyboard is then very flat, but it is still reasonably comfortable to type on. Typing on a membrane keyboard is more fatiguing than on a mechanical keyboard with, for instance, Cherry MX Red, Blue, or Brown mechanisms. The FORCE K7 is nothing special in terms of typing comfort, and the key mechanisms are no faster than those of a regular membrane keyboard. GIGABYTE included WASD anti-ghosting to up gaming performance, which is enough for regular FPS gamers, but those using arrows keys and the numpad will find this keyboard's limited anti-ghosting capability annoying.

Like its bigger brethren, the FORCE K7 allows you to adjust its back lighting in terms of power and color. If you are a modder, this is probably an alright feature, but most would settle for one color and three or four levels of brightness. Having as many back-lighting options on a budget gaming keyboard feels a bit unnecessary. We would have preferred a good driver suite or regular backspace key.

The keyboard performs well during normal FPS gaming, but GIGGABYTE's layout changes will annoy once you need to type something. Typing efficiency is very bad due slight changes around the backspace- and enter-key areas. This does not affect gaming performance in any way, and you do get used to it if you use nothing but the K7. The use of ultra-slim key tops is ok as well, but typing mistakes are easier to make because the tops are flatter than on normal keyboards. GIGABYTE definitely sacrificed performance for aesthetics here, which is a bad idea for a gaming keyboard.