HWRoundup X-bit labs has posted a review of the Iwill DVD266-R mainboard, based on the VIA Apollo Pro266 chipset. The site says "the results turned out unbelievable: even Pentium 4 1.5GHz capitulated in front of dual Pentium III 1GHz on Iwill DVD266-R."

The bottom line isn't a killer endorsement, but positive nonetheless. "Those who use operation systems supporting SMP configurations, for instance Windows 2000, may find Iwill DVD266-R quite suitable for their needs."

The Sharky crew have had a stab at a VIA roadmap.

There's DDR with everything, and VIA has a Pentium 4 DDR chipset in the works called the PX266. According to the Sharks it is likely to ship in Q3 of 2001. It will sport 64-bit PCI on the southbridge and support dual-processors

As for AMD, VIA doesn't have a chipset equivalent to AMD's 760MP chipset. The word from Sharky is that VIA is going to wait for AMD to prove themselves before committing to a MP Athlon chipset.

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Hardware-Unlimited has reviewed the Intel D850GB motherboard for the P4. Apparently this is stuffed with features, but doesn't seem to be aimed at the overclocking community. Check the review out here to see what it had that warranted seven stars.

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Tweaktown continues its flood of VIA KT133 mobo reviews, demonstrating an interest this time in the FIC AZ11e motherboard. Based on the VIA KT133 Northbridge chipset with the VIA 686b to the south, this one came out on top against ABIT KT7 RAID in all eight benchmarks they ran.

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Gamer's Depot also gets in on the mainboard action today. They've reviewed MSI's new 850 Pro P4 board. It doesn't seem to be anything special, but a good all round board and stable with it. ®

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