Confirmed: Costar (Filco) still makes Rosewill RK9000

[WhiteFireDragon]

There are rumors that newer revisions of the Rosewill RK-9000 keyboards are not made by Costar anymore. I cracked it open to find out and good news, it looks like Costar still makes them. They also superglued the USB connector onto the PCB, which in the past was notorious for coming loose and losing connection. Good stuff! Looks like you're still getting Filco quality boards.

PCB has the following printing: "CST-NF104/5/6/8 Main PCB Rev 3.0" with a date code of 2011-06-28, which confirms Costar makes it. Here is a video for the unboxing, review, disassembly, and internals runthrough. For geekhack, skip the unboxing/review and go straight to the disassembly at 7:03. That might be more useful.

Pics of the PCB, USB connector, and controller:

[SmallFry]

I never knew that Rosewills had a seperate controller! That's awesome!

[Megaweapon]

Does the RK-9000I use the "Filco white" body or is it bright white?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823201052

The photos make it look bright white, but that's an easy thing for photos to be wrong about.

[Appeac]

That red plate is schmexy, wish they'd just extend it out over the LED board and sell it that way.

[nullstring]

Does the RK-9000I use the "Filco white" body or is it bright white?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823201052

The photos make it look bright white, but that's an easy thing for photos to be wrong about.

Looks like metallic white. Close to silver to me:
http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee395/techdyanmic/Rosewill/RK9000I2.jpg

[tp4tissue]

AWESome,

Thanks , great work indeed.

[tp4tissue]

Does the RK-9000I use the "Filco white" body or is it bright white?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823201052

The photos make it look bright white, but that's an easy thing for photos to be wrong about.

Looks like metallic white. Close to silver to me:
http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee395/techdyanmic/Rosewill/RK9000I2.jpg

is it "painted" or is it white plastic. ?

[tp4tissue]

costar also makes the Tte Meka G1 in White.  The photos look about the same and I read at one point it was painted.

gah,, that's probably why it looks a little "grey" in the photo, the black is absorbing some light that's refracting in the white paint.

[Hyde]

ohhhhh good job now I can confidently recommend rosewill again now that we know it's filco also they fixed the connector

[tp4tissue]

ohhhhh good job now I can confidently recommend rosewill again now that we know it's filco also they fixed the connector

well we don't know if they "truely" fixed the connector problem, but it's such a non issue because if you're too chicken sh1t to solder, you don't deserve to be in the mechanical keyboard club.

[nullstring]

So, has anyone replaced one of these controllers with a custom one?

I hadn't realized they weren't soldered in.

[nullstring]

Also, has anyone ever done this with a CM quickfire?
(disassembly photos, etc.)

[tp4tissue]

Also, has anyone ever done this with a CM quickfire?
(disassembly photos, etc.)

LOL what a newb,  yes the quickfire tkl also has removable board.

[samwisekoi]

Ok, I wanted one of these anyhow, so I will order a WHITE Rosewill RK9000 with brown switches today.  Upon receipt I will open it up to verify (on video):
1) If it is still a Costar-made keyboard.
2) If the body is painted or shot in white plastic.

I'll also look at the mini-USB, just for fun.

Can someone please reply with what I should be looking for to verify Costar is the OEM/ODM?

Thanks!

 - Ron | samwisekoi

[WhiteFireDragon]

Can someone please reply with what I should be looking for to verify Costar is the OEM/ODM?

It's in the OP. Costar boards should  have CST-NF104 printed somewhere on there. There's no reason why a White Rosewill shouldn't also be from Costar as opposed to the black one that I just opened up. But two different verifications wouldn't hurt. Just realize that you'll probably be voiding your warranty if you do this... unless you're able to put the warranty seal back on perfectly 

[samwisekoi]

Can someone please reply with what I should be looking for to verify Costar is the OEM/ODM?

It's in the OP. Costar boards should  have CST-NF104 printed somewhere on there. There's no reason why a White Rosewill shouldn't also be from Costar as opposed to the black one that I just opened up. But two different verifications wouldn't hurt. Just realize that you'll probably be voiding your warranty if you do this... unless you're able to put the warranty seal back on perfectly 

Warranty?  Is that what those little labels are that I rip off just before I start case-modding?  Huh.  Who knew?

So are you trying to tell me that there are people who (a) don't compulsively open/customize/mod all their hardware and (b) send things back if they break?  Mind = Blown! 

Seriously though, thanks for the specific info.  I'm a modder, so except for opening hard drives, I am happy to break the little labels.  I like to have a small ceremonial moment where I say to myself "here is when we violate the warranty."  Fun is where you find it!

Cheers!

 - Ron | samwisekoi

[dorkvader]

That red plate is schmexy, wish they'd just extend it out over the LED board and sell it that way.

You couldn't remove the controller that way. I like this way better. Maybe we'll have a rosewill controller replacement GB?

[drgnak]

The glue didn't help. My brother's mini-usb port still came loose eventually.

[samwisekoi]

OK. I've had my way with the Rosewill 9000 White Edition (Cherry MX Brown switches,) and I can confirm it is still made in Taiwan by Costar.  However, to my great surprise the case appears to be shot in plastic, not painted.

Pics and video to follow, but it is a nice white, and goes well with the white keys from WASD (thanks Weyman!)

Also, using the included PS/2 cable, it got 100% on the double-shift "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" test.  Not even my esteemed Model M can do that.

TL;DR Also confirmed that Costar makes the Rosewill 9000 White edition, and makes the case out of white plastic to boot.

 - Ron | Samwisekoi

[Megaweapon]

Nice!  Just the info I needed.

(Although I remain skeptical of that double shift test...)

[jwaz]

Great video per usual WFD. On a somewhat unrelated note what did you think of the Fractal Design Core 1K?

[samwisekoi]

Great video per usual WFD. On a somewhat unrelated note what did you think of the Fractal Design Core 1K?

I'm trying to squeeze an i7 into a Core 1000, and want to like it more than I do. I'm having a Three Bears issue finding the right Ivy Bridge heatsink. Number 3 (not too big, not too small) should arrive tomorrow from Newegg. I'll try and finish the build on Saturday. Trying to squeeze a hot i7 in for Photoshop has been hard.

 - Ron | samwisekoi

[tp4tissue]

Great video per usual WFD. On a somewhat unrelated note what did you think of the Fractal Design Core 1K?

I'm trying to squeeze an i7 into a Core 1000, and want to like it more than I do. I'm having a Three Bears issue finding the right Ivy Bridge heatsink. Number 3 (not too big, not too small) should arrive tomorrow from Newegg. I'll try and finish the build on Saturday. Trying to squeeze a hot i7 in for Photoshop has been hard.

 - Ron | samwisekoi

Everyone who's squeezin' these days use a corsair H60/50 or  external mount H80/100

[samwisekoi]

Great video per usual WFD. On a somewhat unrelated note what did you think of the Fractal Design Core 1K?

I'm trying to squeeze an i7 into a Core 1000, and want to like it more than I do. I'm having a Three Bears issue finding the right Ivy Bridge heatsink. Number 3 (not too big, not too small) should arrive tomorrow from Newegg. I'll try and finish the build on Saturday. Trying to squeeze a hot i7 in for Photoshop has been hard.

 - Ron | samwisekoi

Everyone who's squeezin' these days use a corsair H60/50 or  external mount H80/100

Tried all that.  The H80 can fit *inside* the case, and would be plenty of PCU cooling, but then zero 3.5" drives can be mounted on the drive plate.  So with an H50-80, storage is limited to the pair of 5.25" bays plus the SSD positions on the drive plate, and probably not all of the SSD placements would be useable.  Also the Corsair waterblock/pump didn't like having the tubes pulled in that direction.  And the length of potential GPU cards would be impacted as well.

Not to mention that there is only a single 92mm exhaust fan on the rear of the case, so the hot air from the rad plus the gpu would have a hard time getting out.  And using the side vent for a 120mm intake fan (for the GPU) might cool the case, but would increase the positive air pressure quite a lot.

I physically installed:
- Stock i7 cooler (too weak)
- Cooler Master Hyper 101 with dual 80mm fans (great fit, but the push-pin mounts weren't up to the task)
- Zalman 9900 -- vertical with a 92mm fan (5mm of case clearance, but blocked the side vent fan mount)
- Corsair H80 -- push/pull using one fan outside the case (see above)

My next try will be a Zalman 7500 with a horizontal 110mm fan.  It should fit; I hope it doesn't block RAM or the first PCIe slot.

I've shot video of all of the above for a case review I will upload to my YouTube channel, 724supportTV -- once it is done.

TL;DR: OT details on all of the different water and air coolers I've put into a Fractal Core 1000 case and the associated problems with each.

 - Ron | samwisekoi

[Skull_Angel]

I use a San Ace 9S1212H4011 on a Cogage True Spirit on a 4.2GHz bloomfield (HT disabled) and even linx testing doesn't top 74C on the cores (62C max on the IHS). Aside from 120/140x2 designs, I think closed loop coolers are gimmicky in most cases, considering you get the same performance out of "high-end" air designs. The only real point to them is to open more space around the CPU (SFF cases).

[laffindude]

Costar subcontracts out manufacturing. I got to talk with some insider. I was told that many boards that are hyped as Costar boards are not made in the same factory as Filco. The Pure and Race, for example, are made by a cheaper subcontractor (Poker is made by the same factory that made Filco).

[WhiteFireDragon]

Costar subcontracts out manufacturing. I got to talk with some insider. I was told that many boards that are hyped as Costar boards are not made in the same factory as Filco. The Pure and Race, for example, are made by a cheaper subcontractor (Poker is made by the same factory that made Filco).

Thanks for this info. I don't even think anyone associates Pure, Race, or Poker with Costar. When I hear of these smaller form factor keyboards, KBC and Vortex is associated, even though I know they don't make the PCBs.

[laffindude]

I was talking mainly about the subcontractors, since they don't deal exclusively with Costar. Pure and Race ARE lower quality boards than the original Poker. I haven't touched a recent manufacture Poker, so I don't know if newer ones switched factory.

[akuJIWA]

Enjoyed the video, thanks for the information!

[Cindori]

Laffindude please answer PM :S

[samwisekoi]

Shot and uploaded a video review of the Rosewill 9000 in white with WASD keycaps added.  Decided against showing the part where I voided the warranty.

I was greatly surprised that to all appearances (including a circumspect scratch) the case appears to be shot in white plastic.  Looks good with WASD bright white keycaps.

 - Ron | samwisekoi

[ShortStock]

i am glad i ended up getting the rk-9000bri 

i was really worried about the usb problem but now i can go along with peace of mind

not a bad deal for $80 shipped when i got it