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Conclusions -

AOpen has released a solid board with good performance numbers. While it is not consistently the fastest board we have tested, it scores highly in all areas. There are a plethora of options availiable to the enthusiast in terms of overclocking and minor tweaking. A very impressive feature is the SilentTek fan control software. Kudos to AOpen for developing features that go beyond an average nForce2 board.

A couple small letdowns are the exclusion of RAID and Gigabit Ethernet. Neither are a huge deal but several competing products offer those options at around the same price point. Sometimes it is not fair to have to choose between features like those versus SilentTek. However Gigabit Ethernet and RAID are things that an end user can add in themselves, SilentTek is not. The choice of optical and coaxial SPDIF out is a bit baffling as well instead of the inclusion of analog outs in the form of 1/8" jacks. For those looking to hook up 5.1 setups to this board, make sure that the speakers being used can take SPDIF connections.

Overall, the AK79-D Max400 is a highly recommended product. The feature set is good and for those with loud computers, SilentTek is an excellent utility. No longer does one have to choose between performance and noise levels. It would be nice to see some features added into the next revision of this board, notably RAID and Gigabit Ethernet but for those users that do not need either this is an excellent board choice. Overclocking options are generally well done with the exception of the strange way that the memory ratios are calculated.

The AK79-D gets a well deserved 8.5 / 10