Hello fellow OzBarginers,
I am a Keyboard noob, only started watching some YouTube videos on keyboard mods recently.
However, I couldn't resist the cheap deal on GAMAKAY LK67 Keyboard Customized Kit, so pulled the trigger for a beginners project.
Now, I realised LK67 has north facing LED plus its tray mount which makes it little more confusing with compatibilities.
So I need some help please…
1. Any Recommendation on Compatible Switches?
I am preferring linear types (as all my current keyboards are either tactile or clicky switches, I wanted to try linear switches this time)
After some quick research, I think Gateron Yellow Switches would be a better choice but there are so many variants of Gateron Yellow.
So, would you kindly point any decent compatible Gateron Yellow switches?
Are these ones from PCCG is a decent buy?
Its only 45 switches/pack so I have to buy at least two packs… dont know if $30 (plus free shipping at the moment) is a decent price…
Also I cant find any details if these are 3 pins or 5 pins (again I am a noob when it comes to mechanical keyboard, but I heard 5 pins are better than 3 pin switches)
Or can I buy these even cheaper from other places? Amazon have lots of Gateron Yellow Switches, but I am confused which one to pick and also not sure if I am missing out on any cheap deals somewhere else…
2. Any Recommendations on what type of Key Caps to buy in budget?
I understand Key Cap preferences are subjective, but as this has is north facing LED, it makes my options little harder.
I would probably skip Cherry Profiles, maybe XDA Key Caps are safe bets?
But please provide some guidance what sort of key caps I can buy cheaply that will fit in LK67 without any issue.
Thanks in anticipation.
The Gateron Yellows you linked will be fine.
They are 3-pin, and $0.33 per switch is definitely down the cheap end but not the cheapest. I wouldn't worry too much about the specific types of Yellows, they will all be pretty similar to you, so just grab whichever ones you like the look of (and are cheap + ship fast)
If you can see a picture of the bottom of the switch, the "pins" are the two metal legs, plus the big cylinder leg in the middle. 5-pin will have two additional plastic legs on either side of that centre cylinder. Example image here.
5-pin is "better" for stability, but not absolutely necessary. If your PCB supports 5-pin then it will support 3-pin as well, but not the other way around (because the 2 extra legs will have no holes to slot in to). From the picture it looks like the LK67 supports 5-pin so either switch type should be compatible.
Keycaps, again I probably wouldn't overthink it, just grab whatever you like the look of. OEM are pretty common after Cherry and are "normal" looking.
If you compare keycaps profiles in this diagram you can get an idea for how they look. Different keycaps can take getting used to and some you will just hate or find hard to type quickly/accurately on.
The main thing would be if you care about backlighting make sure the keycaps you get are shine-through.
Hope this helps, good luck!