I used Asus exclusively from about 2001 and 2011 ... to my eyes, the other players were a bit behind. Since Z77 however MSI and Gigabyte have made great strides and Asus has slipped substantially. Recently I compared user reviews on newegg and was disturbed about the following:
No. of negative newegg reviews ( 1 or 2 eggs) on boards i have used in the past.
Z87 Asus Formula - 24%
Z97 Asus Formula - 44%
Z87 Asus Hero - 17%
Z97 Asus Hero - 23%
X79 WS - 23%
X99 WS - 41%
X79 Rampage IV - 24%
X99 Rampage V - 36%
That's an average increase of 63% in just one generation. And while those reviews are certainly impacted by inexperienced users, there is no relevance as users didn't get any more inexperienced between Z87 and Z97 or X99 and X99.
Right now my immediate "go to board" below $200 is the MSI GD65 which goes for $170 here in the states. The Asus Hero is $210 and is comparable in features, components (slight edge to MSI here) and negative reviews (17% / 25%) to the Hero but is $40 cheaper. Another plus for MSI is that they have a clear edge over Asus and EVGA on the GFX cards so
At the higher price point, $250-$300, I have been using the Asus Maximus Formula but the 44% negative reviews give me pause....almost double the last generation and that one is in my previous rig and it's been problematic.
As for Gigabyte, it's hard to say from a consistency standpoint as they have changed the model lines between Z87 and Z97 so it's harder to compare year to year numbers. Their GFX cards are as good as MSI's though and their power delivery on the MoBos generally is as good and mostly better than the a lot of the competition.
I have been holding off on some Z97 high end builds until I saw how the X99 and Z97 Asus high end boards did .... given the above results I am not encouraged
The MSI MPower X99 has 17% negative reviews and the MSI MPower Z97 only has 16%.
The Gigabyte X99 has no negative reviews but only 3 reviews.... but board looks interesting; same for the Z97 Gaming G1
As for Tech Support, seems everyone is horrible these days..... no longer a matter of who's good and who ain't more like "degrees of horrible"..... most of my experiences have been w/ Asus obviously but what has great 2 years ago is now incredibly bad .... no doubt given the number of issues raised in the negative reviews, staff is a bit bogged down. MSI has answered my questions when i have called with an issue but then again, I haven't had any serious problems.... Gigabyte have almost no experience with but you'll see complaints abound with all 3 on their forums.
prices w/o VAT
MSI Z97 GD65 - 103.97 GBP = 133.067 EUR
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-z97-gd65-gaming-intel-z97-s1150-ddr3-pcie-30-%28x16%29-2-way-sli-3-way-crossfirex-d-sub-dvi-d-hdmi-a
Asus VII Z97 Hero - 142.97 GBP = 183.019 EUR
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-maximus-vii-hero-intel-z97-s1150-ddr3-pcie-30-%28x16%29-quad-sli-crossfirex-d-sub-%28vga%29-dvi-d-hdmi-
I want spend max. 170 euro for MOBO. 
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