G80-3000 with modified MX blacks?

uncletobai · 04 Jun 2016, 15:29

My ideal keyboard would be a G80-3000 LPCDE-2 with red switches instead of the black ones it comes with.

If I replace the springs of the MX Black switches with MX Red ones, will there be any difference to a stock red switch?
And if I get non-cherry springs, which ones would be close to the feel of MX Reds?

Thank you!

scottc · 04 Jun 2016, 16:34

Replacing the springs with MX red springs will make it feel indistinguishable from MX reds. The black and red stems are exactly the same apart from the colour. You could even swap in MX red stems for the aesthetic if you wanted.

I think that 50g Korean springs are a little lighter than stock reds, and 55g a tad heavier. I prefer 55g or even 62g.

uncletobai · 04 Jun 2016, 17:37

scottc wrote: Replacing the springs with MX red springs will make it feel indistinguishable from MX reds. The black and red stems are exactly the same apart from the colour. You could even swap in MX red stems for the aesthetic if you wanted.

I think that 50g Korean springs are a little lighter than stock reds, and 55g a tad heavier. I prefer 55g or even 62g.

Thanks for the insight!
And do you happen to know if GON's 55g springs require the same force as 55g korean ones?

scottc · 04 Jun 2016, 18:03

They should be just the same. 55g MX blacks are DanielT's favourite switch and my favourite MX switch. I don't know the science behind it, but apparently even Korean springs of the same weight as stock MX feel different (different force curve maybe?) but they're very nice. I've not used GON's springs specifically, but Spirit's were great. I honestly bet they're all the same.

photekq · 04 Jun 2016, 18:06

Don't buy that piece of junk. Find a G80-3000HAD or G80-1000HAD on ebay or locally if you can. They're fairly easy to find, and there's a bunch of advantages :

-Doubleshot keycaps instead of lasered ones
-Likely cheaper
-The older Cherry G80s are constructed far, far better than the new ones (most important)
-Vintage blacks are endlessly more smooth than new ones. Even if you lubricate new ones they aren't very nice.

Stabilized · 04 Jun 2016, 18:10

scottc wrote: I think that 50g Korean springs are a little lighter than stock reds, and 55g a tad heavier. I prefer 55g or even 62g.

I always thought 62g was around 46g actuation, so similar to Cherry MX Reds, and 55g was around 41g actuation. I am using this thread as reference.

uncletobai · 04 Jun 2016, 18:12

photekq wrote: -Doubleshot keycaps instead of lasered ones

I have a set of cherry dye sub pbt caps i'm gonna put on it

photekq wrote: -The older Cherry G80s are constructed far, far better than the new ones (most important)

They are unfortunately hard to find here and I really want a black case.
I was thinking about doing a backplate mod to the new generation g80, or at least put some foam to keep it from flexing.
Also PCB mount is an advantage when replacing the springs.

photekq wrote: -Vintage blacks are endlessly more smooth than new ones. Even if you lubricate new ones they aren't very nice.

The stem of new mx blacks is identical to the stem of mx reds, right? I never had any issue with the smoothness of reds, does it really make that big a difference?

Thanks for your input!

photekq · 04 Jun 2016, 18:16

Ah, fair enough if you're going to put on some new keycaps. Watch out for the spacebar and caps lock though. They're both off-center stemmed, so you might have some issues with compatibility depending on which set you're wanting to use.

The old G80s are PCB mount too, but the case & PCB are much nicer. It's still got flex since it's PCB mounted but they have a quality feel to them, unlike the new G80s.

If you had tried vintage browns you'd have an issue with new MX blacks/reds. It's like night and day!

scottc · 04 Jun 2016, 18:44

Stabilized wrote:
scottc wrote: I think that 50g Korean springs are a little lighter than stock reds, and 55g a tad heavier. I prefer 55g or even 62g.
I always thought 62g was around 46g actuation, so similar to Cherry MX Reds, and 55g was around 41g actuation. I am using this thread as reference.

...really? I always thought my 55g blacks felt heavier than MX reds on both bottom-out and actuation. I'm away from home for the weekend but I'll double check in a few days. I could be wrong, but I find MX reds really light but get on well with my 55s.

Alkhar · 04 Jun 2016, 20:37

Did even something similar to wiki/Cherry_G80-3494 exist in iso ?
Aka ISO g80-3000 with 6kro-nkro ? Leeku pcb excluded ?

uncletobai · 05 Jun 2016, 12:43

Does the PCB from modern G80-3000 fit in a G81-3000 case?
And if so, will it still fit if i keep the backplate from the g81?

Oh and another thing, would the 2KRO of the g80 fuck me over?
I don't play games at all but i use combos like Shift+control+arrow keys or winkey+control+arrow keys.

shreebles · 06 Jun 2016, 17:37

IIRC the backplate from a G81 3000 does NOT fit in modern G80 3000 cases.
The latter are constructed without the metal plate, so, there is no room for a metal plate in there. You can fit it in there (and you even have to make some cutouts), but the case will not close anymore.

2KRO is fine if you don't game. I think I can count on one hand how many times in the last 20 years I heard the dreaded "beep!" when you hit the rollover limit and the keys fail to register. It almost exclusively happens while gaming.

scottc · 06 Jun 2016, 17:44

You could always get a 1501 PCB with full NKRO, but that's winkeyless layout...