motherboard. Too many choices left!

sabathyus

Distinguished
Apr 9, 2009
6
0
18,510
I have it all narrowed down but the motherboard.
I'm a bit confused from all the choices I still have left. I do highend 3D animation using Maya (and a little gaming).
I need a LGA-1151 for my i5-6600K, and I'm buying a Geforce 980.
I need quality and durability, preferably an Asus or Gigabyte board.
I DON'T plan to overclock but I don't mind a few bells and whistles.
I'm budgeting between $100 and $200. , . I'm confused by all the options I have left.
I was aiming for an Asus Z170-A or Gigabyte Z170X-UD3 but various reviews make me question those choices.
Thoughts?
 

sabathyus

Distinguished
Apr 9, 2009
6
0
18,510
normally I'd agree. However the customer reviews (on newegg.com) have rated both as 3/5 because of quality issues, oddities in manufacturing, etc. Since I don't have the time to screw with such issues I need something else. Also, are the feature sets of motherboards in this tier really all that different?