*Source: PC Stats (
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2183)*
___________
The simple truth is Intel's P35 Express chipset rocks. It offers excellent performance, rock solid stability, a load of features and is priced aggressively to boot. Mainstream users really can't hope for much more, but if you're looking to build a low cost entry level computer I'll bet you want something a little cheaper than P35 can afford. Well just your luck, Intel has released a stripped down iteration of the P35 called the P31 Express chipset. It's well featured, and very inexpensive.
I had a quick look around CanadaComputers.com for Intel P31 Express motherboards, and many retail for in the region of $80 CDN. If you're on a budget, this can help you build a very lean computer. Now I'm sure you're wondering why there is a price difference between the P35 and P31 Express chipsets. The main differences are what the P31 is limited to, and that includes a maximum of just 4GB of total system memory, DDR2 memory speeds capped at 800 MHz, and according to Intel, FSB limited to 800M/1066MHz.
More...