Sure there are cheaper boards if x1 is enough. If 3 PCIe paths are enough, the cheapest I could find was ASRock I-H61 S1155 H61M-S which has one x16 and two x1 and that costs under 45€. For 4 PCIe paths the cheapest was Asus P8H61-M PRO Intel H61 Rev.3 (two x16 and two x1) for under 70€. The prices are from www.mindfactory.de. You might find them even cheaper on eBay or something.

EDIT: Though, they are both on H61 chipset which doesn't have SATA3, USB3 or for that matter anything else interesting.