Mechanical keyboards and gaming PCs have gone hand-in-hand for quite some time in offering PC gamers the ability to use keyboards with greater variety in their switches and abilities, with the ever-popular Razer BlackWidow Chroma getting some notable upgrades this year.

Razer has announced that a new upgrade to its most popular gaming keyboard line with the BlackWidow Chroma V2, which updates the keyboard with a variety of new features compared to the previous generation of the acclaimed mechanical keyboard.

Specifically, the BlackWidow Chroma V2 will incorporate a new switch option to coincide the keyboard's other choices between Razer Green and Razer Orange switches, with the keyboard to also include the option of the new Razer Yellow switches. Razer explains that the Yellow switch provides a "linear and silent design and reduced travel distance," which allows players the ability to have keys "pressed faster than ever before."

The company also added that the design of the Razer Yellow switches are "meant for FPS and MOBA players who press certain keys thousands of times over the course of a match session," and that the keys are rated to 80 million keystrokes, making for the highest keystroke mark among current mechanical keyboards in the generation.

Along with the new option for Razer's Yellow switches, the BlackWidow Chroma V2 will also incorporate a new wrist rest that attaches magnetically to the keyboard, allowing players to either attach or detach the rest for added comfort during use. As with the previous model, the Chroma V2 will also allow players to utilize up to 16.8 million color options and a variety of effects with the keyboard's LED lighting, create custom key and lighting profiles for certain games, and more. A further breakdown of the keyboard's features are below:

·         Razer™ Mechanical Switches with 50 g actuation force (Green)

·         Razer™ Mechanical Switches with 45 g actuation force (Orange / Yellow)

·         80 million keystroke life span

·         Razer Chroma™ customizable backlighting with 16.8 million color options

·         Ergonomic magnetic wrist rest

·         Razer Synapse enabled

·         10 key roll-over anti-ghosting

·         Fully programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording

·         Gaming mode option

·         USB pass-through

·         3.5 mm 4-pole audio pass through jack

·         1000 Hz Ultrapolling

·         Braided fiber cable

The Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2 mechanical keyboard is available and shipping now from Razer, while other retailers will begin offering the keyboard later this month. Pricing for the new V2 is the same as the previous generation of the BlackWidow Chroma at $169.99/€199.99. For a closer look at the upgraded keyboard, you can check out a gallery of hi-res images below: