Disassembly

Most metal-frame keyboards are easier to disassemble than fully plastic case variants, but MSI decided you deserve to get a lot of screws as part of the GK50 LP TKL keyboard. Indeed, there are 12 Phillips head screws that need to be removed for disassembly, and you can access them after removing several specific keycaps as seen above. There are no hidden screws otherwise, and a precision Phillips screwdriver comes in handy here. Once all 12 screws are removed, there is enough room to lift the metal frame/PCB piece off the plastic case by enough to access the internal ribbon cable connecting the two. Be careful dislodging it as the plastic connector housing is on the more fragile side.


The ribbon cable connects a daughter PCB on the plastic case to the primary PCB itself, with the Type-C port hosted on the daughter PCB rather than being integrated on the primary one. Notice also how the PCB is cut to fit the case, or rather the other way round, whereby the indicator LEDs are placed above the arrow keys. This is clearly not an off-the-shelf part, and solder quality is exceptional on this obviously machine-assembly board.


Powering the keyboard is a Holtek HT50F52 USB microcontroller, which we saw put to good use in RGB-backlit mechanical keyboards from the likes of Cooler Master, Ducky, and others in the past; it's certainly not a new microcontroller, allowing for features such as enhanced onboard storage and control or >1000 Hz polling as with a few other flagship solutions from other brands. There are also three Macroblock MBIA043GP LED drivers for the RGB lighting control, and I am again reminded of a few low-profile keyboards from a few years ago that use the same combination of hardware controllers. The switches are soldered through the metal frame and onto the PCB, making them hard to take apart without a de-solder job. All the components, including the switches, SMD RGB 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.