Iwill KK266 -- Your opinions?

[Quad]

just read the review at amdmb.com Linkified

so what do you guys think of it? personally, i like the layout, the isa slot...and fact that amdmb got up to 159mhz fsb! wow!
think it's better than the msi/asus/abit solution?

 

[slpaulson]

Well the MSI isn't out yet. I think right now the iwill would be my top choice.

 

[Regalk]

Read lots of good reviews so I just ordered one. MSI should have been on the ball here too bad. I am overlooking the A7V133 in this case even though the latter is still a good board.

 

[snuggy]

Sweet board! Memory benchs w/o tweaking blow my mind (compared to my MSI 815E Pro).

 

[Insane3D]

Those memory scores at 159mhz are not too impressive. My KT7A-RAID @ 150mhz 2-2-2 gets a score of 642/702, the KK266 with almost 10mhz more memory speed only gets 505/645. I am very happy with my KT7A. Say what you will about Abit, but they are still the kings of overclocking IMHO...

 

[PlunX]

I just ordered one.. It should be here sometime next week.

 

[DaddyG]

There is a new 'modded' bios available for the IWILL which offers the same speed options as ABIT. Makes the IWILL clock for clock equal to ABIT and it still gets higher FSBs (course these are somewhat useless as most PCI devices crap out). You can get the BIOS at FULLON3D. The reviewer at the site simply RAVES about the IWILL.

 

[IntelConvert]

As soon as I get my tax refund, I'm definitely getting a KK266-R with a 1.2Gig (266Mz FSB) T-bird. So who knows, before too long I may be changing my name to AMDconvert.

 

[Insane3D]

DaddyG:

Interesting...are there any sites with the memory performance at 155+ FSB with the new Iwill Bios? Maybe I will try this board with another 1.2ghz for a second Anandtech Seti cruncher....

 

[nino]

One thing that is being overlooked by everyone is the fact that the Abit boards have always supported lower voltage settings than their competitors which means that they will better support future processors. I remember when I had to sell my old BX boards because they didn't support the lower voltages of the PIII's but if I bought the Abit board I would have been set. It looks like the same is true with the Abit Socket A boards. It appears that the KT7A goes from 1.1-1.85V but the Iwill goes from 1.5-1.85. I'm sure that as the manufacturing changes of the AMD lines improve then the cores will need lesser voltages and so you might get better life out of the Abit boards.
If anyone has an Iwill board would you please flash it with the latest biosadn tell me if it supports voltages of 1.1V. Most reviews (and their manual) says NO but one review site said yes.
I am becoming very skeptical of review sites because it is becoming very apparent that they aren't doing as thorough a job as they used to do. If you have an Iwill then send me an email at nino@purdue.edu

 

[IntelConvert]

That's a really good point nino. I too had to dump my old BX board because it didn't support the P3's lower core-voltage. BTW, what's the Palomino's core-voltage?

 

[nino]

No idea...anyone?
The celerons went from 2 volts to 1.6 (or 1.5) so I'd personally like some reassurance on the Iwill before I buy but I need to know by Monday. I sold my Intel system and my wife will kill me if I don't replace it quickly as she needs it for her school work.

 

[DaddyG]

Insane3D, check out FULLON3D, Jacki0, posts here and at Hardocp. Pretty sure he has benches posted. He thinks this mobo is the second coming

 

[LoSKhan]

*bump* Im probably going to get this mobo and would like to know everything I can. Did anyone find out about the voltage range? Thanks.

 

[nino]

I'm pretty sure that the voltage range is 1.5-1.85. I mentioned this to one of the review sites and they changed it to 1.5-1.85 (previously 1.1-1.85). I'm in the same boat as you. I NEED to buy NOW but I'm wondering if I should even sweat the 1.1-1.5 range.
I'm trying to find out...
1) Can Iwill change the range via BIOS or is it hardware limited?
2) Will the future AMD processors be pin compatible with socket A and if not then point A is moot?

Let me know if you find anything out at nino@purdue.edu

 

[Dulanic]

The only thing I don't like is the 100 and 133+ jumper... that can cause problems for OCing a 100FSB CPU to 133FSB, you may need to change the L6 bridges to change the default multplier.

 

[nino]

I was just about to buy my kk266's when I found this. I've called Iwill tech support (949)753-5488 and have asked them if it is a bios tweak or an actual hardware issue and I got the "dunno" response. Why do they have tech support in the US if all the knowledge is in Taiwan? They should just route me to an English speaking person in Taiwan. Anyway, they said it'll be a couple days before they know so I'm counting on someone knowledgeable to know the answer. I pulled the following off of viahardwares site.

"Trailing the Mustang by a month, Palomino will bring the second-gen Athlon core to the mainstream/performance desktop market. Built to compete directly with Intel's Pentium 4, Palomino will include the same enhancements as the Mustang, minus a large amount of L2 cache, and support for the 770 chipset. Initially debuting with 512K of L2 running at full speed, as opposed to Pentium 4's 256k, Palomino already has a leg up. Like the Mustang, the second-gen Athlon core allows increased clock speed on an identical process, allowing 1.5GHz using AMD's standard copper .18Micron process. Greater speeds will be possible with a die shrink to .13Micron, occurring in Q3 2001. Some versions will share the Mustang's 133MHz DDR FSB. This processor will also have reduced power consumption considerably, allowing mobile Athlon platforms for the very first time.

Chipset support is much more available, by virtue of the Palomino's use of the standard SocketA configuration. Supporting chipsets include AMD's 760, 760MP, VIA's KX266, and older PC133 platforms, such as VIA's KT133. Supporting up to 2 processors in SMP with either 760MP or KX266, Palomino shoots straight for Intel's stranglehold on the corporate workstation market."

This really makes it interesting as they mention that the power consumption will drop considerably which implies voltage and I've seen specs on another site that listed the voltage at 1.3volts. Uh-oh. What to do?

Good news...
Can upgrade to Athlon II or Palomino or whatever they're going to call it because it looks like the KT133 and hence KT133A chipset will work and it'll be pin compatible to socket A !!

Bad news...
If you buy anything other than the Abit KT7A you might not be able to use them because the voltage doesn't drop lower than 1.5 volts (most KT133A boards). This is ONLY bad news if you need more than a BIOS tweak to drop the voltage.

Quick...does anyone know what Abit did with the BX chipsets. They were the only ones that allowed you to use the current board when you went from PII's to PIII's because they had a lower starting voltage than everyone else. Does anyone remember if this was a BIOS fix on their part or not?

 

[Biggs]

"Bad news...
If you buy anything other than the Abit KT7A you might not be able to use them because the voltage doesn't drop lower than 1.5 volts (most KT133A boards). This is ONLY bad news if you need more than a BIOS tweak to drop the voltage"

The Asus A7V133 can drop to 1.1v as seen right here while the MSI K7T Turbo-R can drop to 1.3v also seen right here.

 

[nino]

I stand corrected IF the reviews are correct. I've already posted how I've seen some really incorrect ones last week. Down to 1.1v is great but 1.3v still might not cut it.

How about someone giving some information that solves this problem though....

 

[NucleusWDS]

You can see another review here @ AMD3D.com

I-Will KK266-R

 

[nino]

Does anyone know? I thought that we had a wealth of knowledge here at AT.

Seriously though, can I ask those of you who are interested in the kk266 to call Iwill and try and make this issue a priority. If enough people call then they will include it in the next bios IF that is all that is required. I posted the number up above.

Thanks in advance to those who got off their asses and made the call...

Nino

 

[IntelConvert]

I will (no pun intended) also call Iwill tech support (tomorrow) re: whether or not the voltage is BIOS selectable, and will post whatever I find out in this thread.

 

[IntelConvert]

Ok, I just got off the phone with Iwill's "tech support" and as nino implied, they are a joke (just the fact that Iwill's local tech support is seemingly so inept, makes me much less enthusiastic about their mobo)!!! :disgust:

Anyway, they told me that they have had other calls on this matter (I'll bet!) and should soon have an answer...

 

[classy]

Most motherboard tech support departments suck. Aopen and Asus are not to bad. But most are not very good.

 

[nino]

You guys are going to love this.
Go to overclockers.com and they have a link that says the Iwill and Abit boards will work just fine (since they are almost identical) and the Asus board might not. Either way, I bought 2 KK266's today. See-ya Abit. More bang for the buck on the Iwill. I emailed everyone (and their brothers) at Iwill and got a couple replies (from Taiwan) suggesting that they would be able to and then I emailed overclockers.com and got the response that I was looking for. I can't believe how awesome of a job they did answering my questions. Oh yeah, I bought the KK266 w/Duron 700 w/heatsink for $189 at mpipc.com and they are also selling the mobos solo for a decent price.
Nino