Pros: I had no idea G.SKILL was making gaming accessories now so this was a pleasant surprise to review! I would love to shake the hand of the person in charge of the design for this keyboard. I would bet he/she/they are all gamers because it has anything you could ask for in a gaming keyboard.

The RGB lighting is crisp and bright, but diffused enough it won't keep you awake if you have your computer in your room (and leave it on at night). The construction is VERY sturdy. There is no flex, creaks, squeaks, or rattles on this beef cake. An added bonus to the weight is it will not move on you during an intense gaming match.

I love that they included replaceable keycaps and a container for the spares that attaches TO the keyboard itself! Never again will you have to look in your various bins and boxes wondering just where in the heck you left them. Speaking of attaching to the keyboard...the mouse slack keeper is worth half the price of this keyboard itself. Something so incredibly simple is just amazing to have. No more sniper shots ruined by a catch on your mouse cord.

The media keys, macros, function keys and mode selectors don't get used as often but they work a charm when needed. As long as this thing lasts (of which I have no doubt) then I don't foresee a reason or want to change to a different keyboard anytime soon.

p.s. I LOVE the on board volume level. It reminds me of an 80's boombox and it's the perfect touch.

Cons: Like most vendors stepping out into the programmable peripherals space, their first gen software is over complicated and hard to use. I've used Corsair's CUE and Razer's Synapse and just like those it's really rough the first go around. I'm hoping it gets updated going forward to make it a little more user friendly, but it gets the job done for now. (G.SKILL, maybe add a tool-tip if I hover over a button so I know what i does? Some of those icons mean absolutely nothing to me so I end up clicking and trying to figure it out on the fly).

My beloved volume roller and status bar can be finicky at times. For instance, if I roll it down to lower the volume it will go down two bars and then jump back up one, and then back down one bar. Same goes if I roll it to the up position. It feels "glitchy' and would be much better if it was just a slow, smooth transition.

For some reason I keep hitting the CAPS LOCK key way more often than on my other keyboards I've used. The layout doesn't look drastically different than my previous KB but it activates on accident more than I would like. This is most likely user error, but I noticed another reviewer stating he/she had a similar issue.

Other Thoughts: The included palm rest does nothing for me. I have larger than average hands and I found it changed the resting position of my hands too much. For fellow large handers, skip it.

*full disclosure, I was offered this item in exchange for a review*

Pros: Feels great, love that RGB, MX red in my mind just the best switches out there.

Cons: However it doesn't work with macbook pro as I expected. That sucks a little bit.

Pros: very smooth keystrokes. Individual key lighting is great. Different key light templates to match different macro sets are a major plus. The added replacement keys for gaming are superb and feel great when gaming. I love the layout and design of the keyboard. The Audio, Mic and USB pass through are a plus as well. The audio scroll wheel and controls are great.

Cons: The keystrokes were a little too long for me, I added some orings to the keys and it really helped the travel of the keys for me. The keys set up to high for me as well, I would have loved for the base of the keyboard to actually house the keys instead of the keys just sitting on the top. Software on the keyboard and the OS software are very buggy. Randomly the keyboard would go dark for about 2 seconds and then light back up. The software was not as intuitive as I think it could be, so many times while configuring it I felt that you just stumbled upon what you needed instead of it being easy to navigate and find what you needed.

Other Thoughts: Overall I loved the keyboard. Despite its flaws it is still a great keyboard and a lot of thought went into this design, and you can tell it. Final execution of the software side I felt was a little lacking, but not un-usable. I had to place orings in all the keys to reduce travel, not for a noise reduction. I rather enjoyed the clickity-clack of the keys as you typed, but the travel time was killing my typing. After installing the orings it did help the key travel a lot and did assist my typing greatly, but the orings added back the feeling of the rubber membrane from my old keyboard. This in my mind really defeated the reason for owning a mechanical keyboard in the first place as well as restricting the “smooth” feeling for the keystrokes. All in all this is a great keyboard and I would recommend it on a design and looks level only. For the price you may be able to find a keyboard with less bugs.

Manufacturer Response:

.
Hi Brian

Thank you for your G.Skill purchase and review. Glad to hear you like the special design and unique features of the RIPJAWS KM780 RGB keyboard. With many options to configure, this keyboard can be customized to each user's exact personal preference. With the highest quality build construction, the keyboard can be utilized on any computer, and heavily used on a daily basis. With regards to keystroke, you may want to consider different switches with tactile or clicky feedback if your main purpose is typing. Key height is slightly taller and can take some getting use to, but it makes for much easier and effective cleaning. Your feedback is greatly appreciated as we continue to improve software and firmware to enhance the function of the product. Keep an eye out on the Official G.Skill Download page for all the latest updates and information. Over time you will find many upgrades for this keyboard as we continue to unleash it's full capabilities. For any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us directly.

Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT

Quality and customer service are our top priorities.

Tech Support Email: ustech@gskillusa.com
RMA Dept Email: rma@gskillusa.com
G.Skill Forum: http://www.gskill.us/forum/

External Link(s):

RIPJAWS KM780 RGB Downloads|

Pros: Very sturdy construction.
RGB lighting with multiple lighting effects available.
3 separate LED color profiles that can be saved to keyboard's onboard memory and accessed with 3 corresponding keys.
Cherry MX switches.
Audio & USB pass-through ports plus volume control built-in to the keyboard.
On the fly macro recording. Also the option to edit almost every key's function through software.
Lots of customization available for n-key rollover, polling rates, repeat rates, sleep settings.
Includes an onboard timer that will activate either onscreen display or lighting effects on the keyboard.

Decently priced compared to other high quality Cherry MX RGB keyboards.

Cons: The metal support bar that wraps around the outside adds two inches of unnecessary width to the keyboard and makes it look much less sleek/professional.

RGB LEDs:
Does not offer RGB(16.8 million color) lighting for static key LEDS. Lighting effects have to be turned on for RGB color control over the LEDs. While in static lighting mode only 24 colors are available. Even when using the lighting effects RGB color editor it is impossible to reach a "white" color. There is always a bit of pink glow showing through the keys. This is much more pronounced when using the 24 available colors for static key lighting. Whites, greys, some blues, and other colors all have the same pink glow showing through them. This makes it very hard to match existing system LED color schemes. Also, when using some of the available lighting effects such as Ripple & Reactive the background color resets to a default red between effects with no way to edit this default color.
This is a huge con since every advertisement and description of this keyboard I've seen states, "independent per-key backlighting in full 16.8 million colors".
When using the audio passthrough hitting certain colors with the lighting effects causes a high-pitched whine through the speakers or headphones. Does not seem to effect the microphone passthrough.

The G.Skill software seems to have a lot of unnecessary steps when editing LED preferences. This could be toned down to be much easier and much more accessible for users.

The braided and sheathed keyboard cable is very stiff and hard to manipulate.

The wrist/palm rest is way too short/small to be of any use. While attached, the curve of my hand rests just over it with the ball of my palm and my wrist still lying on the keyboard tray.

Other Thoughts: The metal support bar should have been totally hidden inside of the rectangular brushed aluminum body of the keyboard without the extended "wings" and front piece showing. The extra 2 inches of width leaves barely any room for a mouse on two separate keyboard trays in our home. Make sure you take note of the size when purchasing and measure against your own available space.

Many complaints about the false advertising for the RGB PER KEY lighting in the G.Skill forums are only answered with responses like, "we are currently working on improving the software". The advertisements do not change and the description here on Newegg and other retailers remains the same. Hopefully this is something G.Skill knows they will be implementing soon through their software and not an outright attempt at misleading customers.

I would much rather the key's switches were lowered into the inside of the keyboard's body instead of poking up through the way they do. Seeing the plastic switches and the LED glow showing around them is just aesthetically unappealing to me. I would rather the lighting only visible through the key's character etchings.

All of my cables are meticulously bent, folded, wrapped, velcroed, and tucked away. This keyboard's cable makes it a little more difficult than it should be to achieve due to it's stiffness.

The added mouse cable clip is a small but nice addition. Keeps my mouse in place according to where I may push the keyboard to.

The added "gaming" keys are a very ugly red color in my opinion. I like the shape and texture but think they should be a matching black, or almost any other color.

Manufacturer Response:

.
Hi Marcus

Glad to hear you like the solid construction of the keyboard and many customize-able options. Each special feature can be set up to you personal preference so you are absolutely comfortable in using the keyboard and fully utilizing capabilities. Your thorough feedback is appreciated, and you can be certain many of the things you mentioned will be revised in future revisions. As far as the software and firmware, please keep an eye out on the official G.Skill download page for the latest upgrades and information. Updates are frequently released to improve functionality and enhance capabilities, so you can expect the keyboard to be much better. For any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us directly.

Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT

Quality and customer service are our top priorities.

Tech Support Email: ustech@gskillusa.com
RMA Dept Email: rma@gskillusa.com
G.Skill Forum: http://www.gskill.us/forum/

External Link(s):

RIPJAWS KM780 RGB Downloads|

Pros: Cherry switches. Wrist rest is comfortable. Lighting is decent. Media controls are easy to reach. Keyboard has some heft to it. Overall function and build quality are some of the best I've ever seen.

Cons: There is not the community driven RGB profile support like you get with Corsair's products - you have to create your own profiles within the limitations of G.SKILL's software, which takes a bit of getting used to. Still, though...this is more me being picky than a true negative.

Other Thoughts: Definitely recommended. Cherry MX switches. My only regret is that I went with red switches, but now that I have the keyboard and have been using it for a while, I think browns would have been better for my intended use. That's not G.Skill's fault.

Pros: -looks and feels amazing
-included keycap remover tool and additional keycaps are a plus
-Lighting is bright/dim-able
-optional lighting effects are oddly satisfying

Cons: -the RGB/Macro software could use some slight tweaking. It was rather counter intuitive at first and took longer than it should to figure it all out
-Ultra Nit-picky: personally I need a "stepped" caps lock key on this. Too easily my typing turns into rage-mode for no apparent reason.

Other Thoughts: Essential for gaming; good for typing, however, it requires some getting used too if you've never used cherry mx red switches, like me. Would definitely recommend to anyone and look forward to purchasing another iteration in the years to come.

Pros: -Everything

Cons: -It is not compatible with Mac... however, through customer service I figured out that you can change all of the settings on a PC, and those settings follow the keyboard around.

Pros: Great design
Addresses everything I wanted in a keyboard.

Cons: - software needs a LOT of work. The application will not open once installed and restarted. I have installed numerous times and configured my lighting effects only to have the software bug out on me after the next reboot. Double click desktop icon, nothing. Open as admin, nothing. Find source .exe, same deal nothing. Reboot a million times, nothing. Reinstall, works once then same issue. Amazingly annoying seeing as the keyboard still functions exactly how I set it... I just can't open the program once I reboot (G.SKILL TECH if you're reading this i'm on Windows 7 Ulitmate 64bit, Asus Maximus Hero 7, 4970K, GTX 980Ti, 480GB SSD). Please fix your software.
- replacement red WSAD gaming keys are fundamentally unusable, I have no idea whose fingers are shaped in such a way that they could ever game on those (way too much angle).

Major things the software requires:

1) Ability to set per-key colors which occur OVER lighting effects. The Corsairs do this and it's much nicer than being forced to set all the keys to the same color if you want an animated effect to occur on top (no fading to black, ever).

2) Reactive lighting effect which doesn't just fade down to 0% LED when activated. i.e. key effects such as REACTIVE happen over the top of any preset current effect - so the keys always remain lit up, but rather change with the effect. Being able to set each individually would help i.e. 'set foreground' and 'set background' colours/effects in the settings.

Otherwise great keyboard. G.Skill please address you're software it's letting down a great peripheral.

Other Thoughts: Would recommend but mention that the Corsairs would ultimately be better for less stress and ability to do what it says on the box.

Manufacturer Response:

.
Dear Customer

Thank you for your G.Skill purchase and review. Glad to hear you like the keyboard design and features. We sincerely appreciate your feedback and will surely make note of the details. The G.Skill Unified Driver System (GUDS) will continue to be upgraded so you can expect many enhancements with each update. We are currently in the beginning stages so you can expect future revisions to be significantly improved. Keep en eye out on the G.Skill Download page for the latest information. We listen to each user's response very intently so don't be surprised if you see your suggested change in a new update. For any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us directly.

Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT

Quality and customer service are our top priorities.

Tech Support Email: ustech@gskillusa.com
RMA Dept Email: rma@gskillusa.com
G.Skill Forum: http://www.gskill.us/forum/

External Link(s):

RIPJAWS KM780 RGB Downloads|

Pros: Very well made (brushed aluminum looks great).
LEDs are fairly bright and lots of customization options.
Keys are not recessed which makes cleaning simple.
Robust wires with gold plating on the connects which is a nice touch.
Price is great for what you are getting.
Free mouse-pad promo!

Cons: As someone mentioned below, documentation is a bit weak, but it's probably nit-picky to mention it.

Other Thoughts: I also have a CM Quickfire mechanical keyboard for another one of my PCs and I prefer this one so far. I love G.Skill ram so took a gamble based on the negative experiences some of the others have had below regarding the software. I have windows 10, and it looks like all major software issues and bugs has been fixed so far since beginning of 2016. I haven't had any of the problems the others have had. So I'm a happy customer at this point!

Pros: The lighting on this keyboard is very bright but has a dimming button and looks beautiful. The cherry mx red switches make this very easy to type with and isnt near as noisy as what i thought a mechanical keyboard would be. The keys are set high which I'm having to get use because this is my first mechanical keyboard I've owned and glad I made the decision to get this one.

Cons: Absolutely none that I can think of.

Other Thoughts: The cord going to the computer from the keyboard is really thick but I like that it is knowing that other keyboards with the small wires coming from them havent lasted me very long at all. Also the cord is braided which is a major plus. If you are looking at this keyboard dont be afraid to get it. You wont be sorry. They have upgraded the software for this so you dont have to put in near the effects starting out as when it first came out which is another plus. Great job GSkill, very nice product.