Isn't it just the chipset standard? I mean, if the chipsets are manufactured by reputable companies (like Infineon, Micron, etc.) then why would you avoid the new standard "like the plague" if it works on your chipset?
The "new standards" are the 32x4 and 64x4 DIMMs. Only the newer 3rd party chipsets (such as Via) support this standard, since Intel has basically ditched SDRAM in favor of RDRAM.