In my experience, the following mobo brands have a 50/50 or greater chance of arriving DOA:
MSI
Soyo (100%)
Chaintech
Biostar
Soltek
Asrock
ECS/Elitegroup
The following brands, not arriving DOA, have a 50/50 or greater chance of failure in the first year:
Soyo (100%)
Chaintech
Biostar
Soltek
Asrock
ECS/Elitegroup
Epox (100%)
The following brands provide a negligible number of DOA's/early deaths:
Asus (5% DOA, 5% early death)
Abit (0% DOA, 1 specimen early death)
Tyan (0% DOA, 0% early death)
Supermicro (0% DOA, 0% early death)
VIA (0% DOA, 0% early death)
Intel (5% DOA, 5% early death)
This is based upon approximately 1500 mainboards that I have serviced and sold.