Actually it isn't surprising, that Intel's LGA1366 boards with the X58 chipset are aimed at enthusiasts and thus won't be cheap. It seems like it is not only Nvidia's Nforce 200 bridge chip but also the Triple Channel Interface that increases production costs.
Referring to motherboard manufacturers, Fudzilla
reports that boards with six memory slots will need six to eight layers. Mainstream boards normally only have four layers, while six layers are used in workstations only.
The increased number of traces doesn't just need more space but also is more interference-prone and that makes more layers necessary in order to prevent instability and data loss. It would be possible to produce X58 boards with four layers only but then the maximal number of memory slots is restricted to four, and that in turn would allow Triple Channel with three modules only or the known configuration of two Dual Channel pairs.
Intel will have to work hard on that problem. And thinking of the fact that each additional layer increases production costs by 50 percent their solution should be a rather good one, to prevent the X58 motherboard to become a shelf warmer.
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