Presentation and extras
It seems as if no manufacturer is satisfied by providing a generic motherboard. It seems as if vibrant colours sell well. How does the Iwill fare ?.
The box is a pleasing affair. The see-through parts are highly reminiscent of recent ABIT MAX motherboards. The support for HyperThreading, Serial ATA, 6-channel sound, amongst others, is eepicted on the front cover.
The motherboard arrives in a self-contained plastic box, with the associated extras found underneath. I must draw attention to the manual: it's very well written and makes implicit sense at all times. Each feature / function on the motherboard itself is explained in logical and intuitive fashion. As you'll see on the following page, the P4HT-S is a distinctive motherboard with a red PCB. It's a shame that Iwill haven't bundled matching IDE and floppy cables to complement and complete the package.
Speaking of cables, you receive 1 ATA133 cable, 1 ATA100 cable, a single floppy cable, and a single S-ATA cable. S-ATA, if you don't yet know, will replace standard IDE as the preferred conduit between hard drive and motherboard. It's forward-looking specification includes, amongst other features, a faster transfer speed and hot-swap ability. Unfortunately, we don't yet have any native S-ATA hard drives to test its performance.
The utility CD contains all the necessary drivers to get you up and going. It also includes McAfee's virus protection and smartcard reader software. A custom backplane complete the package. I'm surprised that Iwill haven't bundled an extra USB2.0 bracket allowing you to use the full complement of ports on offer. Most manufacturers tend to do this now, especially on their premium motherboards.
