Aye, I had significant issues with consumer Nforce 2, 3, 4 boards also. At least when compared to Intel boards. However, since Intel didn't make AMD compatible boards that's a moot point.
Back with Nforce 1, 2, 3 there really wasn't much competition for STABLE MB's for an AMD platform. They were all pretty much a potshot as to whether your board would be stable for over a long duration (6-24 months). Via, ULi, SiS, AMD all had their own issues.
But at that point, it was the heyday of overclocking experimentation among both consumers and MB makers. So overclockability and speed was always held in higher regard than long term stability. As well price/performance/overclockability.
The poor capacitors used back then almost universally was another factor in stability. So even while the chipsets may have been relatively stable on their own, the components they were paired up with, often weren't very good over the long term.
If you wanted stability back then you went Intel. If you wanted speed/overclocking well that was a different story depending on what year it was.
Power consumption and noise also wasn't as high up on the list. Anyone remember those super loud 60 mm fans that were like 60+ DB used for overclocking back in the day? Yeah.
With the switch in focus in the past couple years, Nvidia just hasn't been as nimble at keeping with the changing times as either Intel or ATI/AMD.
Regards,
SB