I have never owned an ASRock board. I have owned ASUS boards. I make an effort to keep my personal experiences out of recommendations, and base the on data, statistics, market trends and reviews. I'm a firm believer that, in an educated community like OCF, the majority opinion is usually the correct one.
I don't disagree with anything you said. There is no doubt that ASUS is probably best motherboard manufacturer, bar none. There is also no doubt that most people who buy their boards are probably overspending on a overkill boars for your needs.
Speaking performance ONLY, not "bang for buck". Thats why you get what you pay for, no more, no less. Pricing consideration is only for the poor or those who can't step up in the game.
This is a, IMO, stupid sentiment that will cause you to spend a lot more money then you need to. Most here at OCF always consider price/performance. That's why i5s are often recommended over i7s. The most recommended 1155 board is $125. If you need to spend more to be emotionally satisfied with your purchase, be my guest.
I surely won't be sold on ASRock just because 1 out of 100 works for 2 years.
Bad exaggerations aren't helping.
Its not a question of need, but rather versatility or the option to overclock should I desire. Buy a low end board and you're surely confined to office apps only.
You're buying an enthusiast platform. Even the cheapest boards can OC fairly well.
If you want the best, go buy the best. I'm just going to repeat: the quality of the motherboard you buy is directly linked to how far you want to overclock. Even on a low end board, if you're on air or all-in-one liquid cooling, you are going to be thermal limited well before you are motherboard limited.
I'm also going to be a bit harsh on people who bad mouth a respectable company. Like I said before, in an educated community, the majority is almost always right, and the majority considers ASRock to be a leading motherboard manufacturer.
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Put it this way. Say I built your computer and put it in a black box. If I put an ASRock or an ASUS or a Gigabyte in there, would you ever know the difference? The point of researching builds is to get the price of your computer down far enough without making a perceptible difference, or making a perceptible difference that is worth the decrease in cost.