Last month, CMStorm released the Quick Fire Pro which is definitely a great keyboard but provided me wrist discomfort at angled positions, not for everyone though. The CMStorm Quick Fire Pro was ultimately a top quality gaming keyboard with all the bells and whistles. In fact, the NKRO feature is very useful during game play and added quality to the keys. The CMStorm Quick Fire Pro is priced perfectly for the gaming category, only $99.99. Though, how great a keyboard can be, it has to be precise and comfortable during game play for users because of constant control and erroneous key strokes to avoid death. Today, I passed the keyboard over to my epic sister, which has been playing mmo games even before me.

Today, the perfect keyboard has been introduced to me. Cooler Master has completed my mission with the CMStorm Trigger Mechanical Keyboard, though it doesn’t have the same exact features as the Quick Fire Pro, the CMStorm Trigger provided comfort to me and much more precise key stokes than its ancestor. During my compilation of tests, I noticed the similarities to the Quick Fire Pro, such as sizing, design, and angling. So since it sounds similar to the ancestor “Why do I like this one better?” simply because it comes with a detachable wrist rest for comfort and ease during usage. Let’s check out the details!

Setup

About the Product

The following information was provided by the Cooler Master CMSTORM web site and used for general specifications.

Specifications:

• Model Number:
  • SGK-6000-GKCC1 (Black Switch)
  • SGK-6000-GKCL1 (Blue Switch)
  • SGK-6000-GKCM1 (Brown Switch)
  • SGK-6000-GKCR1(Red Switch)
• Key Switch: CHERRY Black / Blue / Brown / Red
• N Key Rollover: 6
• Macro Key: 5
• Polling Rate: 1000 Hz /1 ms
• Backlighting: All Keys
• Windows Key Disable: Yes
• On Board Memory: 64 KB
• Media Keys: Yes
• Dimensions:
  • 475(L)x162(W)x25(H) mm
  • 18.7(L)x6.5(W)x0.98(H) inch
• Weight: 1260 g / 2.78 lbs

Features:

• High durability gold-plated Cherry switches rated for over 50 million key strokes
• Multi-media control keys for convenient sound control
• 5 macro keys with profile management
• 18K gold plated ultra low latency USB plugs
• Anti-ghosting 6 key rollover
• 64KB on-board memory for profile storage
• Storm tactics key for deactivation of Windows key
• 1000Hz driverless polling / 1ms response time
• Two port enhanced USB 2.0 hub
• Detachable wrist rest
• Braided cable for durability
• Non-slip rubber coating

Now that we got basic information out of the way, let’s take a closer look at the CMSTORM Trigger.

Closer look

Front of Package		Cooler Master Logo

CMStorm Trigger Logo		Short Product Description

Cherry MX Brown Switche

• Taking a closer look into the packaging, the design is quite nice and militaristic camouflage. The Cooler Master logo is usually printed on the top left hand corner, as well as the CMStorm Trigger Mechanical Gaming Keyboard on the bottom left hand corner. A large product photo printed dead center of the whole packaging including a transparent window to visibly see the CMStorm Trigger, just to the right side of the package, a small photo notice of the Cherry MX Brown switch. Since the CMStorm Trigger is the flagship model, it comes with high grade gold plated cherry switches unlike the original. The flagship model is also designed for 5 Full Programmable Macro Keys in 64KB Macro memory profile.

Rear of Packaging		Cooler Master Logo

Detailed Features		Multilingual Detailed Features

Product Certifications		Highlighted Features

• As I flip the box over, we see lots of details which is printed in multilingual languages including its product certifications. To keep things simple, the Cooler Master logo and CMStorm Trigger Logo flagship is recognized again on the back of the packaging. Realistically, onboard 64KB macro memory is definitely a very good feature to have on the keyboard due to gaming. Since the CMStorm Trigger adapts up to 5 Macro swappable profiles, basically lock and load an average 40 actions per profile which is plentiful for any game possible.

Right side of package		Left side of package

• On the right hand side of the package printed with Storm Tactics and three logos meaning serious strength, security, and control for the CMStorm Trigger. The left hand side is printed again with remembrance of its flagship model as well as system requirements for Windows Compatibility.

Bottom of the package		Top of the package

• Beneath the package on bottom, there isn't much to see but the Cooler Master log. Directly on top of the package,we can see the CMStorm Trigger image which has multiple ports from the right top corner of the keyboard.

Opening the package		Inside the package

What's in the package?!?!		Amended Notice to the Users Guide

Users Guide		A postcard to visit www.cmstorm.com

2M Braided Mini USB Cable in the package		2M Braided Mini USB Cable out of the package

• Now, opening up the package, we get a slight glimpse of the CMStorm Trigger and Users Guide. After removing the product from packaging, we have the following readable contents: Users Guide, Amended Notice to the Users Guide, and a postcard to visit www.cmstorm.com. It isn't required but most importantly visit the page where you will be able to download the actual software for Macro control.
• In the package, you will find the two meter braided mini USB cable to connect from keyboard to PC. Unlike the CMStorm Quick Fire Pro, the CMStorm Trigger doesn't provide cable management for the keyboard but simple convenient access which is likable for me. In addition to the package, the Cooler Master CMStorm Trigger comes with an add on wrist rest which definitely "WOOS" me.

Left side of Product		Right side of Product

F1-F4 Keys for LED Backlight Control		Media Keys

Audio Keys

• Looking closely to the keyboard on the left, there are shortcut buttons to switch five macro profiles of choice, depending on gaming preferences. Noticeably now, every single key is laser marked inscribed for LED Backlighting and no more worries for smudging off the printed letters or using in the dark. In addition to the shortcut keys, there are also backlight LED control, media keys, and volume control keys which is very useful now instead of reaching for speakers.

Rear of the product		Etched CMStorm Logo

Product Label		Rubber Feet and Kick Stands

Close up of Product Label		Left: Attaching the Wrist Rest Pad

Center: Attaching the Wrist Rest Pad		Right: Attaching the Wrist Rest Pad

• From the back of the product photo, there is a large etched CM STORM logo providing noticeable flagship for the Trigger. Also labeled with a thick and glossy sticker for recognition its product certifications, model, origin, and CMStorm logo. The Triggers design is much more slick than it's ancestors, providing more support with its six rubber grips and two kickstands. Directly on bottom of the keyboard there are three slots where you may attach the wrist rest which is optional of course.

Left side of the Product		Right side of the Product

Overall look from the right side		Overall look from the left side

• From the left and right side of the product, the body design is simple but we can see the soft nonslip rubber coating for trim also wrapped on the wrist rest. In comparison to the CMStorm Quick Fire Pro, the angled slope from top to bottom is thinner which makes it much more comfortable for me during any productivity.

Bottom Front design		Bottom Front design

Top side without Kick Stands		Top side with Kick Stands

USB Port Connection and Power Adapter Plug

• from the side bottom of the CMStorm Trigger there isn't much to see but the top portion displays two 5V powered USB ports for additional peripherals and a micro USB connection to the PC using the long two meter braided mini USB cable. The CMStorm trigger does offer the option for additional power adapter incase the two current 5V USB ports require more power to run the peripherals and maxing out two additional LED levels which is a nice optional feature.

Setting up		Close up

Overall setup		CMStorm Trigger in Use

Backlight LED Option 1: Standard Control		Backlight LED Option 2: Bright Full Lit

Backlight LED Option 3: Dim Full Lit		Application

Macro Studio		Application Profiling

• After putting the product to use, the first thing I wanted to do is check out the Macro and Backlight LED. So I went over to the CMStorm website to download the Trigger software and checked the macros setup, there are plenty of options that you can possibly think of but depending on game play as usual. After playing with the LED Backlight options, I found only 3 levels to play with not including the two additional levels with the plugged power adapter. The first option is basic arrow functions including combination of active macro keys, the other two option is full keyboard lit either bright or dim.

Testing

As usual, testing a keyboard is basic. First test is always chatting and office productivity which went very smoothly for me, especially compared to the previous CMStorm Quick Fire Pro. I am so glad the CMStorm Trigger has the option for the wrist rest to lay on, otherwise I may have possibly looked around for others but i'm all set for any game play. I also noticed the big picture in accuracy when typing on the CMStorm Trigger where it just didn't happen with the Quick Fire Pro, this is a big boost for loving the keyboard.

So the next big step is to play games. Since these are Cherry MX Brown Switches, they are made medium resistant to last 50 million key stokes and the actual point of responding circuits aren't hard to reach. It reacts to the slightest key strokes on the Cherry MX Brown switch providing sensitive response/feedback time at 1ms which I love as an added bonus. The first game tested is DC Universe, since it is a MMORPG, the game isn't hard to control because of repetitive key sequence most of the time and mellow scenery throughout missions with friends.

The next test is much harder because it deals with skilled FPS games. The tested games are FEAR2, Left 4 Dead2, and BF3 which is tested without Macro profiling. Using the CMStorm Trigger without Macro profiling wasn't hard to adapt for me, simply because we all play games without Macro. Turning on the Macro Profiling does give hands down performance, many say it's cheating because you can accomplish the impossible in one second, which, usually would take 5-15 seconds time. As a honest player, I will have my Macros locked and loaded but not for normal game play because macros should be used only to take down other Macro profilers. On a good note, it is possible to get banned for macro-ing in game play but only some servers or games.

Conclusion

After testing the office productivity and smooth game play experience, I love the fact that it came with an add on wrist rest pad for support with a high quality product feel to it. The CMStorm Trigger will provide me equality and security playing against other macro players, when needed. The fact that I am able to load and Trigger multiple Macro scripts to profiles is very convenient for game play or switching games, there are plenty of Macro scripts for every any game out there. The adjustable red LED backlight compliments the CMStorm product line including the Cherry MX Brown Switches, so we don't have to worry about sequential or rough key stroking because it is made to last around 50 million stokes. The cost for the CMStorm Trigger is $119.99 which is perfect for a flagship product that includes locked and loaded features. Pulling the CMStorm Trigger is highly recommended to anyone that games on! Based on the overall review, UMLan would like to provide the Cooler Master CMStorm Trigger Mechanical Keyboard a score of 10/10 perfect score based on the following pros and cons listed below.

Some pros we found:

Affordable Price for a gaming keyboard
Wrist rest pad
Cherry MX Brown Switches
Adjustable Back light LED
Numerical Key Pad
Media Key
Macro Profile and Software included
Rubberized feet
Heavy enough not to move in game play

Some cons we found:

None that I could find