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I tested the MSI Vigor GK80 over a two week period while gaming, editing and for general use as well
After a quick discussion with MSI before we started, we were told that the first order of business was to make sure that we have the latest firmware update, so we downloaded MSI Gaming Centre.
Gaming Centre acts as a central hub for peripheral customisation as it lets you tinker with the RGB lighting, programme macros, set up hotkeys and profiles etc.
Personally, I found Gaming Centre to be better than Mystic Light in two main ways – it's more responsive to commands and is generally easier to navigate.
Macros are easy to set up on the GK80, but it is disappointing that the keyboard itself doesn't have any dedicated macro keys. This may not be an issue for everyone, but I find proper macro keys to be really helpful while gaming.
The LED options are pretty self-explanatory at the basic level – just pick your preferred colour and away you go. There are also a number of effects to choose from, so nothing to complain about here.
Finally, we have the hotkey centre which lets you disable the on-board CPU and GPU overclocking if you wish.
On the whole, Gaming Centre software is certainly better than Mystic Light, but it would still crash every now and again, so it's still not perfect.
Elsewhere, the RGB set up is clearly a class or two above the GK40. The cheaper keyboard's lighting was pretty mediocre, while the GK80's RGB LEDs are clear and offer users 10 brightness settings as well.
The detachable wrist rest also has a nice texture, but it is still made from solid metal, so it's not hugely comfortable to use for extended gaming sessions. It's also a shame the wrist rest doesn't attach magnetically to the keyboard – for £160, it's these small things which can make the difference.
In use, the keyboard was very stable and I had no issues when gaming – either in first person shooters or MMORPGs.
