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However there have been some boards that I felt were definitely solid and award-winning products such as the D815EPFV . This is the board that introduced us to a new addition to the Analog Devices AD1885 analog Codec called Sound Max with SPX. This was a very excellent sounding software addition that used the basically useless CNR slot by means of an add-on card featuring surround sound and digital outputs for pure clean sound. Since then the boards that have passed through the lab have been very mediocre and this is most likely due to Intel focusing on making the chipset rather than trying to make a better motherboard. Intel has and is still known to make the most robust and not to mention stable and compatible chipsets on planet Earth. This and developing CPU technology at a breakneck speed have kept them at the forefront of the PC and server marketplace. A few days ago I received a motherboard from my friends at Intel that once again I feel is a very solid product as it has all the right stuff in all the right places. The 850EM series of boards are worthy candidates for the high-end desktop marketplace and although they are not geared toward the overclocker's crowd they offer enough goodies and performance to still gather an enthusiast's eye. Remember not everyone wants to overclock and that is not the only personification of the enthusiasts as many people like the idea of a simple, but fast and stable PC environment. 
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Well first off I must say that in the past many of the motherboards made by Intel were rarely part of the fast and furious club and generally fell into the stable but ho-hum category. This is one of the reasons that Intel boards have never been a real favorite with the major throng of enthusiasts. The limitations in active control of both the CPU clock and FSB speeds are very enthusiast unfriendly.