What is the difference between an $80 and $150 mobo?

[darsunt]

I'm looking at a asus P5P43TD at $89.99
Newegg.com - ASUS P5P43TD LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
and a biostar TPower
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TPower I45 LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
going for 134.99

Their specs seem similar and the only difference I notice is the south bridge, a ICH10 vs a ICH10R (which I think means RAID enabled). What am I actually buying when I am spending the extra 40 or 50 bucks?

Thanks

 

[Slaymate]

Better Quality Control, Higher Quality Components, Better Warranty, Better Support are a few of the factors that can influence the price of a product.

 

[Muffin Man]

they also have different chipsets. p43 on the asus, p45 on the biostar.

but from what ive read the only major difference is that the p45 chipset supports crossfire, which the biostar mobo does indeed support.

the biostar also has a longer warranty.

the asus supports ddr3 ram while the biostar supports ddr2 ram.

im not sure about the other less obvious differences though. why are you only looking at these 2 mobos though?

 

[darsunt]

I want this build to be a base for an htpc. So I need at least 6 sata ports, lots of card slots, a good south bridge, etc.
I wouldn't mind getting the asus P5P43TD spec wise, but I'm going to put in some pretty pricey parts eventually (good video card, plextor blu ray drive, maybe tv tuner, $20 super quiet case fans) so maybe as a base to my system the Asus is a bit too cheap?

 

[baron5]

Really any board at about the asus standard is fine for anything, the only reason to upgrade to more expensive boards is for the chipset features (extra pci lanes, native sata6 support etc) anything more is probably just for better bios features, higher quality components and such for power regulation as slay said, often you will also fins expensive board shave much more though put into LCB desgin which makes the building a lot easier. Having said this, don't go out and buy a cheapo ASROCK when you don't need too because you can often get whining noises and various annoyances from lower quality components.