Disassembly

Disassembling the iKBC F87 is really simple since there are no screws keeping the top and bottom panel pieces together. There are instead multiple plastic tabs that hook into each other, and you need to take a thin, flat object to pry them apart. As per usual, be careful lest you scratch the plastic. Once done, remove the internal USB connector from the PCB to separate the middle piece from the bottom plastic panel piece.


The middle piece has the switches soldered through the metal plate and into the red PCB, which was finalized on August 16, 2016 as per the label here. There is a piece of insulating rubber on the PCB by the USB connector, although I am not sure why given the absence of any metal screws here. Solder quality here is nothing to brag about and could be improved. There are unshapely peaks everywhere, including some that are close to each other.


The component choices are well done, with the usual tantalum caps strewn in between as well. Powering the iKBC F87 RGB is a Macroblock MBIA043GP LED driver, the 32-bit ARM Cortex Holtek HT32F1654 MCU, and 4 Mb of flash memory from the 25Q41BT flash module. The LED driver has been used before with other RGB keyboards, including the Vortex CORE RGB engineering sample I received, without any issues, but everything is limited to hardware lighting control only. As per usual, the iKBC F87 RGB uses a multi-layered PCB.

Before we take a look at the driver, be advised that disassembly will void the warranty and that TechPowerUp is not liable for any damages incurred if you decided to go ahead and do so anyway.