Even the big mobo makers have issues. One had a bad problem with defective SATA6 or something.

I've had good luck with everything from top-of-the-line Asus to cheapo ECS mobos. Never had a bad one out of the box.

I tend to stick with Asus or MSI for quality. But, that's just my personal preference. If I'm building a cheapy rig, I might get MSI low-end or use ASRock.

Another good thing to invest in is a quality PSU too. PSUs are notorious for going out because of just one substandard component.