IWill KK266Plus KT133A Motherboard Review

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• Supports Socket A for AMD Athlon and Duron processors
• Supports AMD Athlon processors from 700 MHz to 1.6 GHz and higher
• Supports AMD Duron processors from 600 MHz to 950 MHz and higher
• 3-Phase Power Solution
• Provides 46A power for future higher frequency AMD Athlon processors

Chipset:

• VIA Apollo KT133A chipset(North Bridge Controller)
• VIA VT82C686B chipset (South Bridge Controller)
• C-Media CMI8738 MX sound chipset (6 Channel with SPDIF)

Bus Frequency:

• Supports DDR266/200 MHz FSB
• MicroStepping Iwill CPU Frequency Setting
• Bye-Bye Jumper IWILL Smart Setting (Software CPU Frequency Setting)

System Memory:

• 3 x 168-pin DIMM Sockets Support up to 1.5 GB of PC133 Memory
• Supports PC133/PC100 SDRAM and VCM Memory Types
• Supports 64/128/256/512 MB SDRAM Modules
• Supports 3.3V Unbuffered/Registered DIMM
• On Board IDE:
• Dual ATA 100/66/33 IDE Channels
• Supports ATAPI IDE CD-ROM, ZIP-100 & LS-120

I/O Interface:

• 1 x FDD (Floppy Port)
• 2 x ATA/100 IDE Ports
• 1 x PS/2 Mouse (supports auto swapping)
• 1 x PS/2 Keyboard (supports auto swapping)
• 1 x Parallel Port
• 2 x Serial Ports
• 4 x USB Ports (2 x optional)
• 3 x Audio Ports (Line-IN/Line-OUT/MIC)
• 1 x Game/MIDI Port
• 1 x Chassis Intrusion Header
• 1 x Internal IR Header
• 1 x SMBus Header

• Support 6 channel speakers (5.1 configuration)
• 32-voice HRTF-base 3D positional audio
• Supports Microsoft DirectSound 3D and Aureal A3D
• Supports EAX sound effects (Environment Audio eXtension)
• Supports SPDIF via IWILL SuperAudio (optional)

  Expansion Slots:

• 1 x AGP Slot (AGP 4X/2X Mode; 32-bit/66 MHz AGP Protocol)
• 6 x PCI 2.2 Bus Master Slots
• 1 x ISA Slot

  BIOS:

• 2 Mb EEPROM with Flash Protection
• "Bye-Bye Jumper" IWill Smart Setting
• PC99 Compliant
• Supports Plug and Play (PnP)
• Supports ACPI 1.0
• Supports APM 1.2
• Supports DMI 2.1

  Power Management:

• RTC Alarm
• Wake ON LAN (WOL)
• Wake ON Modem (WOM)
• Windows 2000/98/95 Power Off

  Special Utilities:

• Acrobat Reader
• Audio Rack Sound Utility
• Auto Run IWill Power Installer CD with Tools and Manual
• Hardware Monitoring Utility
• Trend-Micro full-function PC-Cillin Anti-Virus program

  Package Contents:

• 1 x Iwill KK266Plus motherboard (ATX Form Factor - 12 in x 9.5 in)
• 1 x User Manual
• 1 x Iwill Power Installer CD
• 1 x ATA/100 IDE cable
• 1 x Floppy cable

THE BUNDLE:

The Iwill KK266Plus ships with a "standard" bundle.  With nothing to truly differentiate it from competing products.

In the box you'll find a driver / installation CD, an 80-Conductor UDMA/100 IDE cable, a floppy cable, an above average user's manual and the 2-port audio bracket and connector cable necessary to fully utilize the on-board audio. The KK266Plus also has headers for additional USB connectors, but unfortunately the necessary hardware needed to take advantage of these connectors is not included.

INSTALLATION:

Installation of the KK266Plus is very straight forward.  There are only three jumpers that may need to be set...one to enable or disable the on-board audio, and another to set the default FSB of your CPU.  Although FSBs can be altered in the system BIOS, their range and divider is affected by the setting of the jumper.  If the default FSB is set to 100MHz., FSBs from 100MHz. to 132MHz. will be selectable.  If the jumper is set to 133MHz., the FSB can be cranked all the way up to 166MHz. The third jumper allows users to adjust the Vio voltage to either +5 or +10%.

Because the KK266Plus complies to the ATX standard, physical installation is as easy as lining up a few stand-offs, tightening a few screws and plugging in the power supply and switches...just like virtually every other motherboard currently available...