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Teardown

Like most metal top-plate keyboards, G.Skill hid all the screws under the key caps. There were 21 in total, including one hiding under the G.Skill logo. (It’s quite difficult to get this keyboard apart unless you’re willing to put a few nicks and scratches on that pretty top panel.) There were three more on the bottom.

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You can take out a few screws to remove the metal bars all along the KM780; to get them all off, you’ll need to find the two screws on the bottom that are hidden under two of the rubber feet. There are four total screws holding on the side bars.

The bottom of the chassis is plastic, and the top assembly is all one piece and consists of the metal top plate and the attached PCB.

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Most of the dedicated M and media buttons are securely sandwiched between the top plate and PCB, but the three-button Timer, Windows, and brightness toggle buttons have their own assembly that’s connected to the PCB via a ribbon cable. When you pull the keyboard apart, this assembly hangs loose, so take care not to damage it. The volume roller has its own separate little PCB module.

The USB and audio passthrough module is mounted on the bottom part of the chassis instead of the top. The cable assembly is also connected thusly, and it’s firmly secured so as to avoid any possible damage from tugging. Where it enters the chassis, is splits into two cables; one runs to the USB/audio passthrough assembly, and the other connects to the PCB.

The welds on the PCB are about as clean and precise as possible. Each is uniform, and there’s hardly a trace of stray solder anywhere.