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- Date:
- Sunday , October 05, 2003
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
AOpen AK79D-400 MAX
The AK79D-400MAX is AOpen’s bid for dominance of the AMD arena. Read on to find out how well this board takes on the rest of the nForce and KT-600 based solutions…
Introduction
AOpen has traditionally catered more towards the OEM and system builder markets than to the enthusiast market in the USA. They have always marketed some very innovative designs and features with their mainboards and they are now stepping up efforts here in the USA to broaden their market. Their latest foray in to the AMD sphere is based on highly renowned nForce2 Ultra400 chipset.
The AK79D-400MAX is latest AOpen board based on the NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset. The NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset supports all AMD processors including their performance line of 400 MHz FSB processors. The chipset also support memory running in Dual Channel mode specified up to PC3200 speeds. Like all current motherboard offerings, the AK79D-400MAX is a feature complete solution. The following components are built-in to the motherboard itself: 3 ATA-133 ports; 2 SATA-150 ports; 4 in-built USB 2.0 capable ports and 6 total with 1 header supporting 2 ports; 2 IEEE1394 capable ports through 2 headers; integrated 10/100 Ethernet; 6 channel audio; and serial, parallel, and PS/2 port support.
Main Specifications Overview:
CPU | AMD Athlon XP/Duron |
Chipset | NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 / MCP-T |
FSB | 100/133/166/200 |
BIOS | AWARD BIOS |
Memory | 3 DDR DIMMS, up to 3 GB |
Expansion slots | 1 x AGP, 5 x PCI, 1 x ACR |
Onboard IDE | 2 x ATA 133 connectors, 1 x ATA 133 and 2 x SATA 150 connectors through the Promise controller |
USB 2.0 | 4 rear panel / 1 header supporting 2 ports (6 ports total) |
AGP | AGP 4x/8x |
Audio | 6-Channel NVIDIA based SoundStorm solution with bracket based S/PDIF input and output |
NIC | 1 x 10/100 NVIDIA Ethernet controller in rear panel |
Detailed Mainboard Specification List:
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Board Layout
AOpen chose to follow a pretty standard box layout, nothing really standing out in their implementation or box design. They included the standard complement of manuals and drivers CDS, as well as 2 ATA 133 IDE ribbon cables, a floppy ribbon cable, 1 SATA cable, a bracket containing 2 IEEE 1394 ports, a bracket containing a game port and 2 USB 2.0 ports, a bracket containing both RCA and optical S/PDIF input and output ports, and the rear panel shield.
AOpen did a commendable job on the board layout. There are a few problem areas on the board however. The most glaring thing missing from the board was the ATX12V connector. It is not an AMD requirement, but we have come to rely on them being there as they have become commonplace in the industry for a reason. The extra power connector can aid in board stability during high stress situations encountered especially during overclocking, if utilized for other power draining resources, or at least that has been our perception. The main reason this header was added on many AMD boards was due to enthusiasts loading up the 3-pin headers with 7000 RPM fans and burning the board's PCB up. Our other concern is the proximity of the DIMM slots to the AGP slot, discussed below.
There is no version number apparent anywhere on the board, but the serial number is clearly seen. AOpen chose to use capacitors from the following manufacturers: United Chemi-Con (Japan, USA) and Variacom (Slovenia). The capacitors marked KZE and KZG were manufactured by United Chemi-Con, and those marked GL were manufactured by Variacom. The capacitors marked with an M come from an unknown manufacturer.
The CPU socket area is clear of capacitors and other obstructions. AOpen even included the 4 mounting holes around the socket, and left enough space around them for trouble free mounting of water cooling hardware. The Northbridge chipset is to the left of the CPU socket, and is passively cooled. AOpen chose to use an above the motherboard mounting mechanism to hold the Northbridge’s heatsink unit to the chip. This allows for removal and replacement of the heatsink without having to first remove the motherboard from the case. Just above and to the left of the Northbridge is the BIOS monitored SYSFAN2 header. Just below the rear panel and above the Northbridge is the JP28 jumper which enables system wakeup based on activity on the rear panel PS/2 connections. The BIOS monitored CPUFAN1 header is below the CPU socket and along the board’s edge.
The 3 DIMM slots are located a good distance below the CPU socket and Northbridge. Unfortunately, there is little room between the left side of the DIMM slots and the AGP slot. This means that it would be impossible to seat or remove memory with an AGP card seated in the system. Below the DIMM slots is the ATX connector, with the 2 IEEE 1394 headers and the floppy connector below and to its left. To the right of the floppy connector is the Standby LED. This LED glows with an active power source connected to the board.
The MCP-T Southbridge is located just below PCI slot 2. Notice that it is passively cooled by a small aluminum heatsink. Just below the Southbridge chipset is the CMOS battery, with the primary and secondary ATA-133 ports just below the battery. AOpen chose an interesting alignment for the CMOS battery, in that it is perpendicular to the plane of the board. This makes for easy removal of the battery. To the left of the secondary ATA 133 port are the jumpers to configure the Dr. Voice BIOS module, the unmonitored SYSFAN2 header, and the DIE-HARD BIOS. The Dr. Voice module vocalizes boot up type problems through the on-board and/or system speaker. The DIE-HARD BIOS is an EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory) chip that can be used for BIOS settings backup and retrieval. The DIE-HARD BIOS configuration jumpers are located just above the BIOS chip, which is directly above the DIE-HARD BIOS chip. To the right of the BIOS chip is the Dr. LED header and the USB 2.0 header. The Dr. LED device is an LED based BIOS diagnostic bracket. To the left of the Southbridge chipset is the Promise SATA controller, with its 2 SATA ports and single ATA 133 port. Note that the Promise controller does not support hardware RAID. To the left of the BIOS, along the board’s edge, are the front panel header, the on board speaker, and the CMOS reset jumper. The Case Open detection header is just above the IDE3 port, along the edge of the board.
The AK79D-400 MAX comes with a total of 5 PCI slots, 1 ACR slot, and an AGP slot. It would have been nice if AOpen would have opted to include an additional PCI slot instead of the ACR slot, but 5 PCI slots should be more than enough. The GAME port header is between the middle of the ACR slot and the edge of the board, with the infra-red and the COM2 headers above it. The AUX-IN port and the S/PDIF input/output header (used to connect to the S/PDIF input/output bracket) are above PCI slot 5 along the edge of the board. The JP2 jumper, which controls whether Dr. Voice uses the on board speaker or the system speaker for output, is between PCI slots 4 and 5. The CD-IN port is located above PCI slot 3, with the front audio header located above PCI slot 1. Note that the rear panel audio ports will not function unless pins 5/6 and 9/10 on the front panel audio header are jumpered.
The AK79D-400 MAX contains the following rear panel based ports: PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports; a parallel port; a serial port; 4 USB 2.0 capable ports, a 10/100 Ethernet port, and 3 analogue audio ports.