How to Use Silencing Rings to Make the Ultimate Gaming Keyboard

Good morning/afternoon/evening! It’s me, the author, and lately I’m totally hooked on CS:GO!

Recently, while browsing Twitter, I often see people using K65 (silver switches) or K70 (silver switches). I also use a K95, which has silver switches too, and with one small tweak I was able to take full advantage of the input speed of a silver-switch keyboard. So this time, I want to share that method!

Table of Contents

What Is a Mechanical Keyboard?

There are many different types of keyboards out there.

• Membrane
• Pantograph / scissor-switch
• Mechanical ← the focus of this article
• Electrostatic capacitive contactless

Mechanical keyboards are known for fast response and excellent durability because each key operates independently. I think most gamers basically choose this type.

What Are Silver Switches?

The appeal of a silver-switch keyboard, in one sentence, is that “inputs are incredibly fast!” The reason is that the actuation point is designed to be extremely shallow. A typical mechanical keyboard needs to be pressed about 2.1 mm, but a silver switch registers an input after the key is pressed only 1.5 mm.

I think it is a great fit for FPS players who are fighting in fractions of a second.

Drawbacks

However, silver switches also have a major drawback. Because the actuation point is shallow, there tends to be a slight delay between releasing the key and the input turning off. The inconvenient part is that the input can remain active if you only lift your finger slightly.

Solution

That is why I recommend installing silencing rings! They are originally cushions that soften the impact sound when a key bottoms out, but installing them makes the bottom-out depth shallower and physically makes the point where the input turns off shallower as well.

In my case, I actually use two silencing rings on each key.

For reference, Laz and crow from Absolute, Japan’s strongest CS:GO team, apparently use three silencing rings on their K70 keyboards.

Quote: “Aiming for Asia No. 1”: Interview with Japan’s strongest CS:GO team SCARZ Absolute and legend Noppo as they take on the Asian qualifier for Taiwan’s “ZOTAC CUP MASTERS CS:GO 2018” in June

crow: Hmm, I am also the type who changes gaming devices pretty often, but I have been using the “Corsair K70 RGB RAPIDFIRE” keyboard for a long time. At an overseas offline tournament, I got to try the keyboard Laz was using. It was the same model, but it felt different, so I asked, “Did you do something to it?” and he told me he had put in silencing rings.

Laz: It shortens the travel range where the input responds.

crow: The keys return faster. That is why I use three of those rings. I really cannot change away from this now.

Products I Bought

Closing

This time, I introduced a customization method that solves an input-related drawback of silver-switch keyboards. Personally, my input accuracy improved enough that I could really feel the effect, so please give it a try!