Iwill KK266 Socket-A KT133A ATX

Learning to Win

The KK266, just like the MSI K7T Turbo, does not feature a full HSF unit on the 8363A North Bridge. Iwill simply puts a regular chipset heatsink on the North Bridgewithout any thermal compound. This is pretty typical of what we'd seen in the days of the i440BX, but we've already seen that the 8363A runs quite hot, especially when overclocking. We'll see shortly whether this would affect overclocking.

There is no fan on the North Bridge

No thermal compound to be found between the heatsink and the North Bridge

Iwill is known for its solid products and above average stability. However, if we look at the previous KT133A motherboards we have reviewed, their stability is quite a bit above average already, for example neither the MSI K7T Turbo nor the ASUS A7V133 crashed once in 48 hours of our torture test, which is very impressive considering the fact that our average crash rate on the torture test is 5 to 6 times in 24 hours. What that means is that if Iwill wants to compete, they will have to make the KK266 just as stable.

The combination of the careful layout with five 2200uF and sixteen 1500uF capacitors around key components, the KK266's stability comes out neck and neck with MSI and ASUS, with no crashes in 48 hours of torture test. While this trend is great for the consumer, it means we may need to find a more torturous torture test soon. Of course, that's a sacrifice we're more than willing to make in the name of stability.

Our evaluation sample didn't include the optional AMI IDE-RAID controller. If you want it, just look out for the KK266-R, which is otherwise identical to the board we tested. The controller chip will be located right in front of the second and third PCI slots, and the two connectors will be in front of the DIMM slots.

Silk screen for two extra IDE connectors

Silk screen for the AMI controller

A single jumper chooses RAID or standard Ultra ATA 100 operation. If you choose Ultra ATA 100 support, you can connect up to four Ultra ATA 100 devices (two devices per channel). With RAID enabled, the AMI controller supports RAID 0, 1, and 0+1 modes, which are the most popular anyway.

Iwill has always done a good job with their manual, and that carries on to the one included with the KK266. The 120-page manual contains all the details on jumper and BIOS settings that you need to know. It has graphical instructions on how to install CPU and memory, as well as all the software drivers and utilities. BIOS settings are discussed in details inside the manual as well, along with information on RAID setup.