Disassembly

Most metal frame/case keyboards are easier to disassemble than plastic case variants, and the Cooler Master SK630 is no exception. There are 14 countersunk screws with Phillips heads underneath or between keycaps, as seen above, and then there is a sneaky 15th screw hidden under one of the rubber pads on the top at the back. A precision Phillips screwdriver comes in handy here. With these screws removed, it is as simple as lifting off the top piece to allow for enough room to move the two pieces apart, although not fully just yet.


There is an internal USB cable connecting the bottom ABS plastic panel to the top piece, which goes from a daughter PCB on the bottom piece to the primary PCB itself. The daughter PCB contains the USB Type-C port, and there is also a lot of insulation to prevent electrical shorting from metal frames touching the daughter PCB, as well as providing more room for the screws to occupy in this otherwise tiny case. The primary PCB employs a fairly unique two-tone color scheme with a cream white on the outside and black on the inside. Solder quality is really good, with the the markings on the PCB close to the capacitor telling us it was finalized on September 4 last year and is customized for the SK630 alone.


Powering the Cooler Master SK630 keyboard is a Holtek HT32F1634 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller with up to 64 KB of programmable flash memory onboard, and 16 KB of SRAM. There are also three Macroblock MBIA043GP LED drivers for the RGB lighting control. The switches are soldered through the aluminium frame and on to the PCB, making them hard to take apart without a de-solder job. All the components, including the switches, LEDs, and capacitors, are soldered to a multi-layered PCB.

Before we move on, be advised that disassembly may void the warranty and that TechPowerUp is not liable for any damages incurred if you decide to go ahead and do so anyway.