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Recently, we were presented with the
opportunity to review one of
Iwill's Socket-A
motherboards. We haven't had much experience with
Iwill's products here at HotHardware, so we jumped at the
opportunity to get their KK266Plus in our lab. There
is no denying that Iwill has made quite a splash lately,
releasing a string of high performing, well equipped
motherboards targeted directly at the
enthusiast market.
The board we'll be taking a look at today,
the KK266Plus is a "revamped" version of their original
KK266R, based on the VIA KT133A chipset. The KT133A
has been very popular among the overclocking community,
but has been overshadowed by the wide variety of DDR
capable chipsets available today. Let's dig into the
KK266Plus and see what it's capable of, and find out
whether or not there is a place for this mobo in your
rigs...
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| Specifications / Features of
the Iwill KK266Plus |
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Not missing
much... |
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Click any Image for an
Enlarged view...
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Processor:
- 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
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Audio:
-
Support 6 channel
speakers (5.1 configuration)
-
32-voice HRTF-base 3D
positional audio
-
Supports Microsoft
DirectSound 3D and Aureal A3D
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Supports EAX sound
effects (Environment Audio eXtension)
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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
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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...
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| The
BIOS, Layout and Quality
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