Aopen AK77-8X Max socket A DDR400
Friday, November 06, 2002
Overall Quality Evaluation
The evaluation table below shows both the strong and weak points of the tested motherboard. No need to remind you that performance is not the sole purchasing criteria in a motherboard. Most of today's motherboards exhibit performance very close to each other, so we need additional information in order to help us distinguish the real advantages of a motherboard compared to its competitors. This is exactly where this evaluation table comes in handy.
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Aopen AK77-8X Max socket A DDR400
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Feature
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Evaluation
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Design Originality
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Component Layout
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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4
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Heatsink space around CPU
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Capacitiors
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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CPU Retention Mechanism
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Amounts of Expansion Slots
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Amount of Memory sockets
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Ease of installation
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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BIOS Setup Design
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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4
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Performance
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Overclockability
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Stability
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Bundled Software
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Bundled Hardware
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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4
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Users Manual Quality
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Packing Quality
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Nul
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Poor
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Average
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Excellent
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Top Grade
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5
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Features supported
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ATA150
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DDR400
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Wake On LAN
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Modem ring
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Pwr Fail Res
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5
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Features supported (suite)
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Sensor
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CNR
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Mouse Pwr On
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Susp. to RAM
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Susp. to Disk
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4
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Features supported (suite)
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IRDA
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Diag.
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Keyb. Pwr On
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Hardw. mon.
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Vcore adj.
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4
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Features supported (suite)
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RAID
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Alarm
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Jumperless
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Bank Intrlv.
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IRQ assign.
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3
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Total Score obtainned for this motherboard
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93 points out of 100
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Features color codes: Blue = supported, Red = optional, Black = not supported
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The weak points
Could use a thermal sensor connector
LED diagnostic panel would be better as a standard feature
The strong points
BIOS-adjustable Vcore voltage
BIOS-adjustable DRAM/AGP voltages
FSB adjustable in 1MHz increments
Excellent performance
Integrated RAID ATA133 controller (optional)
Integrated IEEE1394 controller (optional)
Integrated USB 2.0 controller
Integrated Serial ATA controller (optional)
Integrated 10/100Base-T Ethernet controller
Integrated six-channel sound-card
Support for DDR400 memory
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Conclusions
Today, AOpen has finally faced the music, stepped in-line, and release a motherboard based on the VIA KT400 chipset. The AK77-8X is that board, and it handled itself well throughout our tests, and held its own against its rivals. There is no doubt here that the AOpen AK77-8X is an excellent piece of equipment, with great Overclocking potential. The 151MHz FSB speed certainly gave us a speed boost.
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True to its nature, AOpen has demonstrated that its products are built to be reliable, and to incorporate the latest technologies. The AOpen AK77-8X is also easy to install on top of it all, which just makes it all that much easier to recommend it to our readers.
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Home page.
For more information, please visit AOpen web site.
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