Smurf Shoes

You should put this in the build log section.... It needs to be shown to the masses.

Its not quite as simple as getting two physical adapters. The 5 pin DIN to PS/2 will work no problem. However, the little adapter that only passively converts PS/2 to USB will not work. You will need an active PS/2 to USB adaptor to convert the signal. http://www.clickykeyboards.com/index.cfm/fa/items.main/parentcat/11298/subcatid/0/id/124184 I used a cheapo $10 one from frys to hook up my wife's Siig Minitouch to her laptop.

Also watch out for the version that has the black ALPS. They are the quiet linear version and the general consensus is that they are pretty terrible.

Lian-Li PC-7FN http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112345 Would be my personal choice. Does not have all the bells and whistles like some other cases, but $109 for all-aluminum is just plain awesome.

It uses green ALPS which are basically white alps with a softer spring. They are similar to MX blues but have a higher actuation point and have a slighty higher actuation force. The build quality is not quite on par with the rest of the Ducky lineup, but it's not bad. My biggest complaint with mine is that it does not sit flat on my desk. Its not too noticable when typing but I still like to slide a credit card under one of the feet to keep it stable. That being said, I still use it over my Rosewill which is of a much higher quality but uses MX reds. I don't think ALPS get enough recognition in the mechanical keyboard world.

My paperclips have worked pretty well for me so far.

good ol'fashioned non-adjustable 400dpi.

All I got is some holes dremeled out on the motherboard tray.

I like the green alps that I have. They are kind of like a poor man's MX blues, with a slightly higher actuation force. My wife has white alps which I think are amazing to type on but are a bit of a strain to game on. I think they have an actuation force around 75g which is similar to what MX greens would be. e

You really can't blame Newegg unless It took them forever to get it to UPS or FedEX. Did you track your shipment? Its possible a mountain pass is closed or there was some other delay. When I had Amazon Prime my 2-day shipping always came about a week late during the winter due to poor weather conditions. I should also add that I need to go pick up a cable from USPS that I ordered from Amazon 3 months ago. So really you can't bash the retailer for something the courier messed up.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823201052 Could get white keycaps with that. The Filco keycaps should be a perfect fit. http://tigerimports.net/sunshop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=13411 I think black with white keycaps would be the best bet. That way you have more flexibility with what you put on your desk if you are trying to color match. A Fractal case with a black and white keyboard would look really good.

What kind of mouse do you have? Some mice do not play well with certain mousepads. Does the qck not have enough friction? Personally I love the qck with my wheel mouse optical.

Pop open the right hand side panel and rout your cables behind it. Other than that its looking good.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163935I dug up where I saw that and giving it a second over I realized I got a good amount of information wrong. The CM rep was talking about the quickfire pro and trigger, not the rapid. Sorry for the misinformation.

I think CM made the switch from Costar to some factory in China. That being said, I doubt anybody will notice. It still looks like it retained its solid build quality and the removal of any type of branding certainly won me over. It looks like my Ducky might get replaced sooner than expected.

Microsoft Wheel mouse optical or Intellimouse 3.0. Just check your local thrift store every now and again or pick one up from ebay.

I'm running Windows 8 with AMD graphics and yes, there are some driver issues to deal with. I'm running into a problem where my 2nd screen will act up every now and again when I'm watching youtube and the display on my main monitor does jump from time to time. Thing is I still prefer windows 8. The boot times are awesome, task manager is a huge upgrade, Metro UI is an easy fix and honestly not that bad. Most of the people who hate Windows 8 have never tried it, or had it set in their mind that they were going to hate it before they tried it. For gaming I have had no issues with it at all. Windows 8 has of quirks, most of which Ive grown to like. If you can get over some of the quirky features you will find a very solid OS underneath.

Generic Dell keyboard?

Sounds like either the motor is burning out or the there isn't enough voltage getting to it. Did you fiddle with the fan control settings at all? I've never experienced it with a GPU fan, but its a problem I run into a lot when I try to undervolt case fans. All fans do have a minimum startup voltage that needs to be met to give them a push to get going. Set manual fan control with MSI Afterburner or Catalyst or Nvidia CC or whatever you use and bump the minimum fan speed to 100% and see what happens.

Good choice. I have a RK-9000 and it has outstanding build quality. Mine has not had any issues yet, but it is a common problem with a lot of keyboards with detachable cables. If it does die and its not under warranty, It is a simple fix with a soldering iron.

They share the same Taiwanese factory as Filco and they are both very high quality boards. I did hear somewhere that CM moved operations to China but I'm not sure if it will make a difference in build quality, or even if its true. Personally I like the Rosewill since it has the num pad.

CM Quickfire or Ducky Zero are about the same price and about as low as you can get for MX Blues. I personally prefer Ducky.

They are very good at what they do which is performing well at near silent sound levels. I think Scythe GT's or Noiseblockers are a better deal while industrial grade fans like Deltas or San Ace (which are actually pretty quiet at low RPMs) are better performers. On a different note. I actually like the Noctua color scheme. A 70's themed build with Noctuas would be fun.

ratcheting screwdrivers that are magnetic are hard to come by. I use a Craftsman which is a cheap knockoff of the Snap-On. What I do is store it in a bit magnetizer. You can see it in the background.

I thought about it but the cable on it is really heavy/stiff as is. I was thinking of stripping it and replacing it with something more flexible like paracord. I would also still have to desolder the cable which I already tried and failed. Fortunately I have 3 spares.