Iwill WS133-N i810E Slot-1 ATX

The second part of the double edged sword is that the i810E chipset normally runs the SDRAM at only 100MHz to push Intel's RAMBUS and the i820 chipset. However, Iwill has bypassed this issue by running the SDRAM at a 1:1 clock ratio. This is achieved by setting the FSB speed jumpers to 100MHz and overriding it in the BIOS up to 133MHz CPU thus tricking the chipset to think that it is running only at 100MHz and setting the SDRAM:FSB ratio to 1:1. While setting the FSB speed in Iwill's Smart Setting in the BIOS, the memory clock is unambiguously reported right next to it. Unfortunately, the board we tested was not stable when running both the CPU and SDRAM at 133 MHz.

The overclocking options are more numerous than on most i810E boards to complement the adjustable Vcore. There are 14 different FSB speeds to select from: 66 / 70 / 75 / 83 / 100 / 107 / 112 / 119 / 124 / 129 / 133 / 138 / 140 / 145 / 150. The board is practically jumperless, with a set of jumpers to set 66/100/133 MHz or auto and a set of jumpers to adjust the core voltage and the voltage supplied to I/O components. The Vcore and VIO jumpers can both be set to increase the voltage by either 5% or 10%. The clock multiplier can be set in the BIOS from 2.0x - 8.0x; however, with all Intel CPUs multiplier locked, clock multiplier flexibility is no longer a big issue. This board performed above average and was remarkably stable at 733MHz and 784MHz (145MHz x 5.5) but, unfortunately, could not be run higher even with Vcore or VIO adjustment. The 145MHz seems to be a limit of the WS133-N because both the CPU and memory have been tested higher. It was rock solid during both standard and overclocked stability testing.

Along with quality design, Iwill was bountiful with capacitor placement. There were twelve 1200uF capacitors surrounding the CPU slot and seven 1200uF capacitors surrounding the SDRAM. To see this many options along with unquestionable stability makes this motherboard extremely impressive.

The WS133-N sports the popular Award 6.00 PG BIOS including Iwill's Bye-Bye Jumper, jumperless setup. Descriptions of the settings can be found in the right panel of the screen and there are many different system settings to allow for maximum overclockability -- a plus for hardcore hardware enthusiasts. Iwill has included multiple customizations including an Iwill Smart Setting at the top right of the bios offering CPU information and overclocking options. During POST, a couple of hot keys are listed that give you access to fail safe defaults, performance defaults, clock speed configuration, and even the Award BIOS Flash program that is built into the BIOS.

For hardware monitoring, the board sports the Winbond 83627 HF-AW chip -- which provides adequate hardware monitoring. In fact, the WS133-N monitors 7 voltages, 3 fan speeds and CPU temperature. Also, the temperature is read from the CPU's on die thermal diode instead of being reported via thermistor. By including three fan connectors, there should be plenty of cooling options. Two are placed near the CPU slot with one at the front left of the WS133-N. Iwill also opted to place two external thermistor headers at the front left corner of the board and to the left of the CPU -- a nice added frill.

Iwill has placed two compact LEDs on the board -- one to designate system power and one to show the DIMM slots are receiving power which is especially useful given the Suspend to RAM (STR) options. On the flip side, other than the two lights, the power management options are the same as most other boards these days. For the users who wish the computer to turn on in the presence of network activity or an incoming call, both wake on LAN and wake on modem ring headers are available. Also, the BIOS can be set to turn on the system at a specific time so the computer can wake up before you. The CPU fan can be shut off when the system suspends to quiet things down a bit. ACPI support is built into the BIOS for added power management under an ACPI compliant OS like Windows 98 or Windows 2000. The system can be configured to power on via hot key or mouse click. Another nice feature which is often disregarded is the added ability to choose what power state to return to after a power outage (or when using a surge protector). If 24/7 system operation is mandatory, this feature is perfect.

A recently added feature to a number of motherboards is the Suspend to RAM (STR) option, which uses minimal power and is much quicker than suspending to the hard drive. After suspending, the ATX power supply continues supplying power to the RAM while powering everything else down (even the power supply). By pressing the power switch again the system returns from dormancy virtually instantly. There is adequate information on implementing this feature and upgrading Windows 98 for ACPI compliance in the manual.

The Iwill manual can be somewhat tricky to navigate, but it has plenty of information from installation instructions to overclocking advice. The driver CD that Supermicro included has all chipset and driver updates making it simple to get the system up and running. It autoruns and it is simple to choose the drivers needed by simply clicking on them one by one and your system will be set up when finishes. However, the network drivers must be installed manually. Finally, McAfee virus scan has been included as an added bonus.