I have long ago learned that choosing PC components by "brand" is a fool's errand. Example .... which is true ?
a) Corsair makes great PSUs
b) Corsair makes good PSUs
c) Corsair makes average PSUs
d) Corsair makes crappy PSUs
It's a double trick question because 1) Corsair doesn't **make** any PSUs, the buy from OEMs and 2) Corsair sells all of the above. For another example, pop over to the failure database over at storagereview.com and you see that Seagate made the most reliable model HD ever and the least reliable HD ever. Also, over time, companies have changed their market focus as margins take priority over quality. Asus created Asrock cause they wanted to build cheap MoBos for the builder market w/o compromising the quality enthusiast reputation. After spinning it off to an independent company, AsRock's's reputation for thin warped boards, leaking caps and 1 / 2 year warrantees became a thing of the past.
After being an almost exclusively Asus shop for a dozen years, we started to see problems in reviews, our own experiences , component selection and Tech Support with MoBos and GFX cards starting in the Z87 era. Started using a mix of boards and use experiences were better overall with MSI and Gigabyte. When Z170 rolled around, one thing that is much easier to determine os the audio solution. Almost all boards from Asus under $150 were using ALC887 or 892 wheras MSI and Gigabyte were providing ALC1150. And by the time you upped ya budget to get ALC 1150, it took the cost advantage of H or B series MoBo off the table. Starting with Z270 generation.the other manufacturers started following suit. So, by the time you get a board with an acceptable audio solution, power deliver system / VRMs, the cost advantage of Ryzen and / or non k processors MoBo / CPU combos pretty much evaporates.
If you look at RMA rates for just about any component, they are all usually perty close. But if you look at individual models, RMA rates vary wildly. Overall failure rates last period (2017-08-01) among the Big 4 ranged only from 1.43% to 1.63% . Asus had the lowest overall failure rate but had the two boards with the highest % of failures. For Z170 / Z270 boards, the failure rates were:
1,41% MSI
1,63% ASUS
1,97% Gigabyte
2,94% ASRock
Boards w/ > 2% failure rate included:
5,71% ASUS Z170I-PRO Gaming
5,59% ASUS X99 Strix Gaming
4,70% MSI B150M PRO-VDH D3
4,17% ASUS B150I PRO GAMING/WIFI/AURA
3,81% ASRock FM2A58M-VG3+
3,45% MSI X99A Gaming 7
3,17% ASUS X99-A II
2,23% MSI Z170A Gaming M3
2,19% ASUS Z170-A
2,08% GIGABYTE GA-Z170XP-SLI
Other than model specific differences like componentry and failure rate, for the most part performance is on par with few exceptions ... Factors which are pretty much "brand" other than "model" specific are a) BIOS .... preferences will depend on what you are used to and Asus maintains the lead here to my eyes by a hair over MSI ... Gigabyte is a bit back from there. And b) Tech Support wise, I have had the best experiences last 4 years with Giga, followed closely by MSI with Asus trailing quite a bit behind (waiting 3 months for a warranty replacement and a promised BIOS fix that never came along, among others).
Our current recommended budget system includes as options the $119 MSI Z370 SLI Plus (10 Power Phases / ALC 1220) and, if user has Giga preference, the Gigabyte equivalent Z370XP SLI ($134).