Is there a list somewhere out there listing what card features what chipset?
It definitely looks like it is best to just stick to the better chipsets - might be a little more expensive but definitely worth the money.
You get what you pay for -- this is a valid rule of thumb throughout the whole life.
Amen !
As for the nics, Intel, Intel, nothing but intel. Since a couple of year, I put nothing but intel nics in our servers. Most of them are on-board 8257*, like 82575EB in our mos recent batch of server. Other add-on card are pro1000 with chipset 82541PI.
Regards,