The rest of the AOpen AK72 is pretty standard for an Athlon board. Since the AK72 features on-board AC'97 sound, the ATX backplate might be the only real difference. The backplate has the standard PS/2, USB, serial and LPT ports, but there are also three soundcard connectors (mic, line-out and speaker-out), as well as a serial joystick port. There are also on-board sound connectors for voice modem and CD-in. Like other KX133 motherboards, the AK72 sports a total of four USB ports. Two are on the standard ATX backplate, and the other two are enabled through an internal connector. AOpen provides a nifty bracket connector for these second pair of USB ports. This USB connector is entirely housed in plastic and looks a lot hardier than the PCB card Asus uses with the K7V.

There are a few design issues with the AK72, starting with the two on-board fan headers. One is for the CPU fan, and the other is positioned near the bottom of the board for a front-mounted case fan. This can result in difficulty installing large CPU coolers that require two fan headers (though 2-to-1 fan adapter lines can be purchased), but is a real problem for those with a back-mounted case fan. If you use or require this type of cooling fan, purchase one with a standard 3-prong connector and use a PSU cord to supply power. Another potential problem is the location of the AMR slot. It sits right at the very bottom of the PCB and some cases have their internal pedestal attachments (or “case feet”) high enough to potentially interfere with an AMR card installation. In three of my four reference cases, there was no way an AMR card was going in there.

The AOpen AK72 retail box contains the following hardware: the AK72 motherboard, one FDD cable, one ATA-66 EIDE cable, one ATA-33 EIDE cable, and a 2-port USB connector bracket. AOpen has also packed in a Bonus Pack CD featuring an online manual, motherboard and soundcard drivers, a VIA hardware monitor program, along with Norton Anti-Virus and Crash Guard utilities. The packaged hardcopy documentation includes an “Easy Installation Guide” fold-out poster, along with an absolutely massive 165-page user manual. If you know what you're doing, the Easy Install Guide will be more than enough and offers a detailed diagram of the AK72, as well as all relevant jumper settings and internal connectors. If you need a bit more information, the AK72 user manual is certainly up to the task. I remember when AOpen manuals used to come in 10-page booklets, but this time, AOpen has dutifully printed out the entire AK72 online documentation in hardcopy form. The AK72 manual is definitely one of the better hardcopy manuals I've ever seen included with a motherboard.