Thermaltake Argent K5 Speed Review

Conclusion

The Argent K5 is by no means the first fully mechanical gaming keyboard from Thermaltake, but it is very much a departure from their usual formula in terms of the design.

As with all mechanical keyboards the majority of your money is going towards the switches themselves, and the Thermaltake Argent K5 utilises the excellent Cherry MX Speed switches. By far the most popular of the Cherry MX options are their red switches with their 45cN actuation pressure, linear response and lack of tactile feedback in the form of either bumps or clicks. The Speed options take this format and greatly reduce the actuation distance – the amount you have to depress the key before it produces a response – from the 2mm of the reds to a mere 1.2mm on the Speed switches. It takes a tiny bit of getting used to if your fingers have learnt on the reds, but once you adapt it really does beef up the responsiveness. This doesn’t just have benefits in gaming, although those are the most obvious, but can enhance your typing speed too and that’s something we can definitely appreciate.

We also like the dedicated media keys and the quality of the scroll/volume wheel. If you’ve ever used the Corsair style then perhaps you’ve felt it a little lightweight or smooth and thus difficult to control. If this is the case then you’ll appreciate the Thermaltake one which is both very heavy indeed and has clear and obvious notches in it that make it very easy to keep control of, albeit at the expense of very fast scrolling. We like it a lot. We also like the two different heights available on the feet which ensure you can find an ergonomic position to best suite your needs.

There are a few design choices that you’ll either love or hate. The main design includes a big curve on the front which we can take or leave, but it does mean that to keep all the keys at a uniform height the cursor keys and numpad are raised on a plastic base. This is less pleasant aesthetically and means the right hand side of the Argent K5 looks a bit cheaper than the left hand side. Maybe you’ll like it. It’s not for us. Other elements that are an odd choice is the very light font used on the keycaps which don’t allow lots of that glorious RGB lighting through either the key itself nor as a background glow. Again if you’ve found previous RGB keyboards too dazzling you might prefer something more subtle. Lastly the plastic underside beneath the wave means that the wrist rest doesn’t attach either magnetically or via the plastic clip connections we’ve seen on others so it moves more than we’d like and doesn’t quite fill the full, not inconsiderable, width of the K5.

Much of the Thermaltake Argent K5 strength lies in the outstanding Cherry MX Speed switches. We’ve loved them since we first got our fingers on them and time hasn’t caused our wonder to stale. We appreciate what Thermaltake are trying to do with the design of their Argent K5, and how successful they have been is a matter of personal preference. For us the benefits of the wave in catching your eye are totally outweighed by the right hand side of the K5 looking a bit cheap and schizophrenic. If it was all black, like Thermaltake’s X1 range, then yes, and if it was all aluminium like the left hand side we’d like it too. Maybe you will. That apart though the excellent build quality, suite of dedicated keys and hefty scroll wheel are enough to tip us towards the positive overall and win the Thermaltake Argent K5 Speed our OC3D Gamers Choice Award.

  

Discuss the Thermaltake Argent K5 Speed in our OC3D Forums.