General chipset question

[sledge_sk]

Hey guys (and girls?)
For some time now i've had a great time reading this forum, found some very interesting info and also had a few good laughs along the way. Kudos to all those who post serious answers (if the question deserves them), news from around the web etc. You get the point. But anyway, there's a question on my mind now so i registered and decided to become an active participant of this forum.
So here goes: I'm planning on doing a brand new build in a couple of months (nothing too fancy or top-of-the-line mind you) and i have a pretty good knowledge of the options available to me and what i'm likely to be choosing, except for one, i dare say crucial, component, the motherboard. The way i look at it, they're all basically the same (i realize that some of you will probably stone me for this rather bold statement). I think i'll try to explain myself now: i'm not an overclocking addict (whatever the board allows me is fine), to me the motherboard serves for one purpose only, to plug in all my components, and it's also nice if it's reliable and doesn't die on me. My needs are then:
-a certain number of SATA (4 - i doubt i'll ever use more than 4 hdd's) and PATA ports (one is enough)
-PCI and PCI-e slots (don't mind if the board is SLi ready, i plan a single card, if it is then it's a bonus)
-some on-board audio (i ain't no audiophile and don't think i would know the difference between two different ones) and LAN
-supported memory speeds (667mHz or 800 or what not, it doesn't concern me much (should it?) as i've read that lower latencies can shrink the differences, plus i won't be buying the most expensive memories out there, just something very decent and brand name)
As you can see from this list, virtually ANY motherboard on the market will meet my demands. What sets them all apart is the manufacturer, the chipset and of course the price.
Manufacturer-i have a general idea on the good and the bad in terms of quality, but any suggestions are welcome. Also when i will start to look at a model in particular i'll be sure to do my research in the form of user reviews before purchase.
Chipset and price: these seem to be quite intertwined, boards built on a certain chip will generally fall under a pretty narrow price range, based on manufacturer and how many extra features they manage to cram in there (which i have absolutely no use for). Based on what i (think i) know, the performance difference the motherboard can make for the system as a whole is pretty insignificant compared to some other components (feel free to prove me wrong).

OK, so much for the 'intro' (wow, didn't know i had that much on my mind, no wonder my head felt so heavy ). Thanks to all those of you who are still with me. The big question at last!!

So, seeing that any board on the market will basically do, which one to choose?

Why not go with a cheapo VIA or SiS(do they still make those?) chipset when it has all the bits and pieces you really need and save yourself perhaps up to a 100$? How do they compare? Is the chipset what makes a good board or is it the quality of the electrical components used? Are the performance differences really great enough to justify spending all that money on a 'more popular' chipset (i use my system mainly for gaming and internet, p2p downloads)?

A big thank you to all of you who decide to answer this post, i'm looking forward to a great discussion, as there seems to be many topics on specific motheboards but very few on them in general.

P.S. If this has already been discussed, please point me in the right direction with a quick link, i wasn't sure how to formulate my question in a way that i could find info already out there.

 

[BushLin]

Always bought ASUS and ABIT for reliability, never let me down yet. If you scrimp on a motherboard you can run into all sorts of problems with poor compatibility with RAM and any cards. Lack of BIOS updates for problems with newly released products, this is even before you think of where the cost savings are in manufacturing or lack of performance. If you were going to buy a mobo with a budget chipset I'd suggest Uli who make a unique chipset supporting AGP & PCI-E as well as other solid chips http://tomshardware.co.uk/2005/09/16/asrock_939dual/index.html

 

[pcsteve]

I think It's a good choice esp. if your budget is limited. I, myself am running an Asrock 939 dualSATA2. Has the ULI chipset, which is what swung the decision, as it meant I could use my old AGP video card while I decided (and saved) for a PCIx one.

 

[sledge_sk]

OK, so i've read over that first post of mine, and it was so long that i have seemed to lost track of what i was trying to say in the first place.
I didn't really want any budget suggestions for me personally, although thanks for taking the time to find some.
The thing is, i often see in GPU discussions arguments such as: 'ok, this card performs about 40% better, but it's twice as expensive so it mig be better to go with the cheaper one'. Your basic price/performance criteria. But i never see that kind of comparison between motherboards, where IMO twice the money buys you only minimum improvements in performance. Take these two for an example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131004

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131584

Same manufacturer, same basic specs (differences:dual LAN, different audio, external SATA). What justifies the almost 80$ difference? The different chipset? What good is it to you? And i only looked at asus, if you dig around enough with other brands, you'll surely find even greater differences in terms of price, but not features. The thing that baffles me is that noone seems to care about this fact. Many people buy the higher priced boards and probably never get around to taking full advantage of the 'extra' features. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on this subject, do you also find many motherboards overpriced when actually some cheaper (not lesser quality) ones will get the exact same job done? Or do you think the current pricing and market segmentation is fine?

 

[pcsteve]

Well, in all honesty, more often than not, I am governed by budget, but common sense and personal preference plays a large part in it as far as most people go I would think. I think the current market pricing scheme is prob. about right (normal structure). You see big name brands i.e. Asus, Abit, Intel. Names you would probably associate with quality and top-end performance-wise. Each manufacturer has it's own range, usually a budget, through to mid-range and top end boards.
You tend to find if someone has a good experience with one manufacturer, they'll tend to go for them again.
I'm not in such a position to be as fussy anyway, but I do tend to go for a board that does all I want and not go for the "extra bits". I do tend to make a requirement list and stick to it.