On a more general note, the thing you want to avoid is some manufacturer pushing the boundaries of "fraud" in which they tout certain features of a product and then ship the product without those features. Such was the case with a thermal fan controller I bought (can't even remember the name of the company now . . . ). I was stupid enough to order three of them based on their spec and promotion material. Once I called to complain, the tech-support guy over in Industry or Vernon refused to return my calls after the automated message promised it.
With mobo makers, I doubt you'll find such a thing. Further, between the big names, they rise and fall in quality with every new socket generation, but all seem to strive to maintain or increase market share through quality improvement. I've had ASUS, Intel, eVGA and Gigabyte motherboards, some with nVidia chipsets, others with Intel chipsets.
Check and compare multiple reviews; look for knowledgeable forum posts. Customer reviews at the Egg, for instance, need to be evaluated for customers lacking experience and the bias toward reported shortcomings in the frequency count, because complainers are more likely to post reviews than non-complainers.