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But what exactly is this jargon, and is it worth prioritizing or simply another marketing buzzword?
What is a polling rate?
The Corsair K70 Pro Mini features a polling rate of 8,000Hz and a scan rate of 4,000Hz
Simply put, your keyboards polling rate is the speed at which your rig sends information to your box.
An 8,000Hz polling rate means your keypresses will be reported 8,000 times per second.
Your keyboards scan rate measures how many times the rig itself checks for new inputs per second.
Thats why 8,000Hz rates were introduced.
Should you care?
Theres a big but here.
In that split second, a 1,000Hz gaming keyboard has reported your inputs 250 times.
A 4,000Hz keyboard will report 1,000 times.
An 8,000Hz keyboard will report 2,000 times.
Thats just not necessary for casual players.
And thats before we even dive into the importance of pro-action rather than reaction times in more competitive gameplay.
8,000Hz gaming keyboards are here because brands dont know where else to take their decks.
Dont get me wrong, Im all for moving forwards.
Gaming keyboards may well all feature 8KHz polling as standard in the future.
Im not against higher polling rates - its a very odd hill to die on, after all.
But I am against paying for something you wont want, need, or use.
Unless youre an esports professional you dont need to worry about your gaming keyboards polling rate.
All these thingswillmake a tangible difference in how your deck runs.
