What's the difference?

[rip]

If you have o/c features in a $50 mobo, as most do, what more are you getting when you spend $120 or more for a board? Socket AM2 or LGA775 are my interests at this time. Thanks in advance.

 

[Skott]

I know on the Intel side of things the more expensive mobos ($100+) tend to have more general features as well as more OCing features. The more expensive mobos also tend to OC higher and usually have a better cooling system on the mobo to help in OCing as well as more BIOS settings to allow and aid in OCing. Your low cost (-$100) mobos dont OC very well and many dont overclock at all. They'll have fewer features and less BIOS settings. This is just some of the differences. I'm going to assume this holds true for the AMD side as well but I'll let someone else confirm/deny that.

 

[postmortemIA]

newer chipsets are initially more expensive, less supply, higher demand.

$50 boards reguarly have chipsets that are on end of life.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Abit IP35-E is only $62 AR (see IP35-E in MB forum). Has the latest P35 chipset. All Japanese caps board capable of 488MHz FSB. On-board fan controller works with 2-pin/3-pin/4-pin fan. All passive heat-sink board.