Nitestorm
03-06-2001, 02:24
http://www.iwill.net/products/spec.asp?ModelName=KK266-R&SupportID=
http://www.socketa.com/reviews/iwill/kk266/kk266_small.jpg
The Iwill KK266 is a KT133A chipset motherboard, with Non-RAID and RAID versions. The main plus points about it are:
Supports both 200 and 266Mhz AMD processors
CPU FSB selection in 1Mhz increments
CPU FSB and multipler adjustment within the BIOS
Reviews have go it to 160-165Mhz FSB
3 x 168-pin DIMM Sockets
ATA 100/66/33
1 x AGP, 6 x PCI, 1 x ISA Slot
3-phase power supply solution
So far the KK266 looks quite good. The big plus for overclockers, apart from the fact multipler and FSB can be changed from within the BIOS, is that many reviews have achieved high FSB speeds with this motherboard. Normally 10-15Mhz more than the KT7A can do. Although in a very rare case the KT7A has been known to reach 183Mhz under certain conditions. But generally, the KK266 consistantly achieves stability at higher FSB's than the KT7A can. It also uses the 3-phase power supply solution like the KT7A, which means it can support faster processors drawing more power and also keep things on the motherboard cooler than most other boards that use only 2-phase.
I think it only uses a passive heatsink on the northbridge chipset. Which would suggest there is more room for overclocking to higher FSB's. The latest BIOS allows up to 200Mhz FSB now, means that with maybe a better cooling solution on the chipset (heatsink/fan with thermal compound on both northbridge and southbridge chips) and other components on the motherboard (mini/ram sinks on the PLL chip and MOSFETs), the KK266 could go even higher (increase in I/O voltage likely for stability though, thus the extra cooling required).
The negative points about the board are:
Currently costs a lot more in the UK than the KT7A
A jumper needs to be changed between 100-132Mhz and 133Mhz+ FSB's
The I/O voltage is changed via a jumper
Shipped BIOS memory settings are set conservatively
BIOS is missing some memory tweaking options
The jumper issue means the FSB and VIO selection isn't 100% BIOS adjustable, but isn't a major issue, more an annoyance. In that respect, the KT7A is much nicer with it's SoftMENU. To resolve the conservative memory settings and the missing memory tweaks with the shipped BIOS, the KK266/KK266-R needs to be flashed with the latest BIOS: KK266 (http://support.iwill.net/kk266.htm) and KK266-R (http://support.iwill.net/kk266r.htm)
Reviews @
http://www.viahardware.com/iwillkk266.shtm
http://www.vr-zone.com/reviews/kk266r/
http://www.overclockers.com/articles339/
http://www.socketa.com/reviews/iwill/kk266/
http://www.fullon3d.com/reports/kk266/kk266.kevin.shtml
http://www.3drage.com/hardware/motherboards/kk266/index.shtml
http://www.ocworkbench.com/hardware/iwill/kk266r/kk266rp1.htm
http://www.socketa.com/reviews/iwill/kk266/kk266_small.jpg
The Iwill KK266 is a KT133A chipset motherboard, with Non-RAID and RAID versions. The main plus points about it are:
Supports both 200 and 266Mhz AMD processors
CPU FSB selection in 1Mhz increments
CPU FSB and multipler adjustment within the BIOS
Reviews have go it to 160-165Mhz FSB
3 x 168-pin DIMM Sockets
ATA 100/66/33
1 x AGP, 6 x PCI, 1 x ISA Slot
3-phase power supply solution
So far the KK266 looks quite good. The big plus for overclockers, apart from the fact multipler and FSB can be changed from within the BIOS, is that many reviews have achieved high FSB speeds with this motherboard. Normally 10-15Mhz more than the KT7A can do. Although in a very rare case the KT7A has been known to reach 183Mhz under certain conditions. But generally, the KK266 consistantly achieves stability at higher FSB's than the KT7A can. It also uses the 3-phase power supply solution like the KT7A, which means it can support faster processors drawing more power and also keep things on the motherboard cooler than most other boards that use only 2-phase.
I think it only uses a passive heatsink on the northbridge chipset. Which would suggest there is more room for overclocking to higher FSB's. The latest BIOS allows up to 200Mhz FSB now, means that with maybe a better cooling solution on the chipset (heatsink/fan with thermal compound on both northbridge and southbridge chips) and other components on the motherboard (mini/ram sinks on the PLL chip and MOSFETs), the KK266 could go even higher (increase in I/O voltage likely for stability though, thus the extra cooling required).
The negative points about the board are:
Currently costs a lot more in the UK than the KT7A
A jumper needs to be changed between 100-132Mhz and 133Mhz+ FSB's
The I/O voltage is changed via a jumper
Shipped BIOS memory settings are set conservatively
BIOS is missing some memory tweaking options
The jumper issue means the FSB and VIO selection isn't 100% BIOS adjustable, but isn't a major issue, more an annoyance. In that respect, the KT7A is much nicer with it's SoftMENU. To resolve the conservative memory settings and the missing memory tweaks with the shipped BIOS, the KK266/KK266-R needs to be flashed with the latest BIOS: KK266 (http://support.iwill.net/kk266.htm) and KK266-R (http://support.iwill.net/kk266r.htm)
Reviews @
http://www.viahardware.com/iwillkk266.shtm
http://www.vr-zone.com/reviews/kk266r/
http://www.overclockers.com/articles339/
http://www.socketa.com/reviews/iwill/kk266/
http://www.fullon3d.com/reports/kk266/kk266.kevin.shtml
http://www.3drage.com/hardware/motherboards/kk266/index.shtml
http://www.ocworkbench.com/hardware/iwill/kk266r/kk266rp1.htm