Monday, November 22, 1999

The performance tests results

All tests were all performed under Windows98.

The system setup was as following:

Motherboard: Iwill VD133
CPU: Intel Pentium II 350mhz
Memory: 64mb of Mushkin PC133 SDram
IDE first channel Primary port: Quantum Fireball KA 9.1gig UDMA66
IDE second channel Primary port: Kenwood 48X True X
AGP slot: ATI Rage Fury 128GL
OS: Win98 4.10
DirectX 6.1

Winbench 99 CPUmark

We did not detect any significant differences in performance between the different motherboards analyzed in this test. The Iwill VD133 places last, but still scores within 3/4 of a point of third place...

Winstone 99

All the boards tested use the Via Apollo Pro133 chipset. Thus, In terms of performance, very little separates one board from another. As you can see, the Iwill VD133 takes a place in the middle of the pack, with only 4/10 of a point separating it from the group's leader in non-Overclocked mode. When Overclocked to 434Mhz, the VD133 takes second place, coming head-to-head with the Tekram P6Pro-A+ as it can be observed in the above results.

Video Sub-System Tests

The Iwill VD133 takes a position well in following
with the scores obtained in the previous tests.

Using Mushkin PC133 memory, we were able to prod our PII-350Mhz to 434Mhz, permitting us to push the Overclocking envelope. To our surprise, in this test, the Iwill VD133 proudly took position at the head of the pack.

Disk Sub-System Tests

The evaluation table below shows both the strong and weak points of the tested motherboard. No need to remind you that performance is not the sole purchasing criteria in a motherboard. Most of today's motherboards exhibit performance very close to each other, so we need additional information in order to help us distinguish the real advantages of a motherboard compared to its competitors. This is exactly where this evaluation table comes in handy.

The Iwill VD133 scored 91 out of a possible 100 points. There is no doubt that this is a highly capable board, gifted with a wide range of interesting features.

The Weak Points

The VD133's weak points are as such: The 1200mfd capacitors are, in my opinion, a bit weak and would have been better suited at 1500mfd, 2200mfd, or more, 4 memory slots - as opposed to 3 - would also have given more latitude.

The Strong Points

The VD133's strong points are these: great performance, great stability, a rich, and varied feature set, excellent Overclocking versatility thanks to support for PC133 memory, hardware monitoring that is included standard, a nice software bundle, and simplicity in installation, and use. The well thought-out packaging also deserves mention, as with it, Iwill has taken note of a detail which is often overlooked by competitors... Note that an 80-pin ATA66 IDE connector is also supplied with the VD133.

Conclusions

Once again, Iwill has kept to the top of its game. The VD133 does what it's meant to, how it's meant to, without complaint. A few minor points of contention exist with the board, but utter perfection is seldom obtainable in the world. In short, the VD133 is a product that we would recommend without hesitation to anyone searching for a motherboard of superior quality.

For more information, visit Iwill.

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