AOpen AX4SG Max

Review by Michael Tran on 05.21.03
Managing Editor: Harry Lam
Motherboard provided by AOpen
MSRP $229, ESP $209

Conclusion:

I was astonished of the huge number of features that AOpen has packed into this motherboard, with it's 8 USB 2.0 ports, Firewire support, Software RAID, Serial ATA, and S/PDIF support on the onboard soundcard. AOpen has really pulled out all of the stops on this motherboard (and hell, it's not even their top of the line mobo), and it's also representative of the quality that AOpen puts into their motherboards. Not to sound like a geek or anything (fat chance) but I was drooling on how flashy the board looks with its sleek black PCB, that unique but appealing stand up battery clip, the chromish look of the aluminum heatsink for the northbridge, and clean layout. This fresh stylistic look along with the large myriad of features has earned the AOpen AX4SG Max our Recommended Product Award.

Pros:
-Lots of innovative features and support for a wide range of hardware.
-Very nice implementation of the Springdale chipset
-Supports 800MHz FSB P4's and DDR400
-Onboard RAID
-Sleek and clean look

Cons:
-Problems with Watchdog and BIOS (but tested off of a pre-release board)
-Expensive compared to competing motherboards (but hopefully this should level off as 800Mhz FSB CPUs become more common)