Overclocker Cafe - KT400 Mainboard Roundup

VIA KT400 Based Mainboard Roundup

AOpen AK77 8x Max
Street price: $125

AOpen has always been the mainstay of stability and full features. The AK77-8X Max is no different in that effort. What is different is AOpen's incorporation of some more performance oriented items with this product to open up its appeal. Just an example is the ability to adjust the DIMM voltage. This is something new to AOpen. Lets look things over at their blending of new and old. White papers please.

Specifications

Processor: Socket A supporting AMD XP/Duron up to 2600+
FSB support: 200/266/333MHz
Northbridge: VIA KT400
Southbridge: VIA VT8235
Memory: Three DIMM slots, official support for DDR 333/266/200. Unofficial support for DDR400. Max RAM = 3 GB
On board LAN: Realtek 10/100 Ethernet controller
On board Audio: Realtek 6 channel AC97 audio CODEC
SPDIF output connector
IDE: Triple IDE channels for ATA133
Serial ATA: Promise Serial ATA (PDC20375) controller
IEEE 1394: One Firewire connection supplying two ports.
Integrated I/O: One floppy connector, six USB 2.0 ports (four external accesses, two internal connections allowing for two additional ports)

AGP: One AGP 8X slot
PCI: Six PCI slots
CNR: One Communication/Network Riser slot
Form Factor: Standard ATX

What you get:

AOpen includes with the AK77 8X Max board, a Driver and Utility disk, SATA driver disk, a copy of Norton Antivirus 2002, IDE ribbon cables, SATA 150 cable, a SPDIF connection bracket, a two port Firewire bracket for a rear expansion slot, a two port USB 2.0 port bracket for a rear expansion slot, I/O plate, manual, an Quick Reference Poster for installation. That's a lot of gear. But then again, AOpen has never skimped on including accessories in one of their product boxes.

Layout:

In looking at the board the yellow IDE connectors are immediately visible, all THREE of them. The primary and secondary channels are off the VT8235 Southbridge where the third channel is courtesy of the Promise PDC20375 that also provides for the two SATA 150 ports.