virtualbox.org

I was reading some Windows 8 posts and one said to chose ICH9 in the Settings - System - Motherboard - Chipset. I tried it and my Win 8 crashes but my LinixMint seems to run faster and just fine. My Asus motherboard is listed as X58 and ICH10. Is there a major difference from PIIX3 and ICH9 settings?

Yes. ICH9 is still experimental and can cause issues especially with Windows guests.