Top motherboard brands based on Taiwan business insiders are the following:

Ranked in order:
1) Asus (includes Asrock)
2) Foxconn
3) ECS
4) Gigabyte (includes Axper)
5) MSI

Asus & Gigabyte will be merging or having a joint venture... I'm leaning on Foxconn right now... they are experts in making motherboard components and decided to have their own motherboard business also...

Foxconn also manufactures, assembles & subcontracts ALL Acer desktops.. They also make the iPod line for Apple..

Reason why Asus boards conk out is due to them tweaking/overclocking components... results are very good performance but they won't last... But they offer a 3 year warranty so check out stickers on the board and you will get some picture of your item is still under warranty.