AOpen AK33 SocketA
Motherboard
About a month ago I reviewed
a SocketA board made by Azza. Although I was quite impressed with its stability
it left a few things to be desired. I decided to start looking around for
another board that might satisfy my SocketA interest better. Turns out that
the AOpen AK33 is quite a different board than the Azza
KT133BX. I'm sure you've all heard of AOpen - they make just about every
computer comonent conceivable. For instance, a brief look at their site shows
that they make motherboards, video cards, network components, cases, memory,
and much more. As a matter of fact, if you wanted to build a computer with
components from only one company you'd be able to do that with AOpen.
|
Features |
The
Board |
- Socket A AMD
CPU support
- VIA KT133
- Award System
BIOS
- Onboard AC97
sound
- 1 AGP, 5 PCI
- 3 Dimm slots
- 3D PCI sound
on board
- 305mm x 244mm
|
|
First
Impressions
The first thing I'd like to point
out about AOpen is that their boards come in a box that feature a window.
Why is that important? I just thought it was cool that you could actually
see what you are buying. Included in the box is a clear tray (that's how they
get that window effect) which is just about the best way I've seen to house
a motherboard in transit. Once sandwiched in this tray you know that no delivery
service employee can hurt your new board.
Inside the tray you will also
find some of the best documentation I've seen. Not only does AOpen include
the normal manual (which is very complete) - they also throw in a quick start-up
guide that folds out like a map. You can follow the guide to make sure you
make your connections properly and be up and running in just minutes.
Also in the box are the ATA-66 80 pin ribbon cable, a normal 40 pin ribbon
cable, and the floppy ribbon. I thought it was really neat that they included
a plate to replace your ATX plate for your case. This is because the AK33
only has one on-board COM port. Rather than leave the back of your case with
an unused opening under this COM port they threw in the standard plate that
should work with any ATX case. Nice touch. Speaking of throwing stuff in -
how does a copy of Norton Antivirus 5 and Antivirus 2000 sound? Antivirus
5 can be found on the disk which includes the drivers for the board and Antivirus
2000 came on its own CD.
