Hello Beyond fan headers do not dictate the functionality of the control parameters. The superI/O and firmware does.
While the number may be the same the functionality is different. On the ASUS board you can define min and max RPM values based on temperature value. The GB board offers a very limited slope based option than does not have a lot of granularity. It does offer control but is limited additionally the chassis fans are linked which is not flexible as it means chassis one slope value will be assigned to chassis 3 why would I have my front intake fan running at the same as my back chassis fan?
The GB boards does not offer UASP Support and has no software to allow for this type of adjustment ( as it is both a hardware, firmware and driver implementation that is required ) As the chipset does support the native Intel PCH USB 3 ports which are XHCI 1.0 if you use windows 8 you can have UASP support but only under windows 8 not windows 7 which would have the Intel ports still operate under BOT and not UASP.
You can check out a review to even see how the GB board performs. They also use a VLI HUB which while solid does have some varying compatibility issues at times although it has been improved upon with driver updates.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1882/13/
Sound is a complicated topic that really varies from person to person and on the source and the playback equipment. That being not i would disagree on even a basic sound card not seeing an improvement from integrated audio the VRMSS alone would allow for increase volume range ( which is independent of clarity, tonality, soundstage or other subjective perceptions ). Additionally the rated operation of a codec is influenced by the trace layout and the soothing capacitors used on the board ( they are caps built up around the codec ). All these factors and more including EMI and crosstalk all reduce the rated specifications of the codec.
Example would be a 898 or 889 or 892 or via 2120 if it is rated at 110DB it will actually only operate at or around 92 to 98DB because of external factors. This does not mean you cannot get a good experience or good enough experience on an integrated codec but i think the investment in a better card for a low cost is definitely worth it. In the end though to each his own.
Not sure where you got superior? From the ASUS board offers a digital PWM with advanced power delivery and control ( just like the GB does but ASUS of course has been leading the industry in this regard for multiple generations ) it was only for X79 and Z77 that GB finally transitioned to digital when ASUS had been using the advanced design for years ( X58, P67, Z68 etc ). The Capacitors are 5K FP caps vs the 2K caps used on the ASUS board.
Not sure where you got durable if that is assume just form the name? The ASUS board while not offering a dual bios does offer a non soldered chip. This is a big advantage as even with a backup chip the rom can become corrupted and fail to post and "rollover" to the secondary chip. In this event you are left with a board that fails to post and must be RMAed. ASUS uses non soldered / socketed roms it is removable this means you can replace it regardless by getting a replacement mailed to you. Additionally the board offers USB bios flashback which allows you to low level overwrite and recover a rom the same way it is complete in a service dept. This can be completed due to a special IC that allows this to occur even if the board fails to post ( additionally no CPU, Memory or even GPU is required ). I think this is a more advanced and failsafe backup than a basic backup rom.
Price wise looking at Newegg the GB board is 149 and the ASUS board is 149. I think for the additional functionality and feature offer that provides a better value. Even if the ASUS board had a higher price looking at features and functionality it would be justified.
The extra power is not needed any board vendor that communicates that is not be honest. This is why we only put additional power on highest end multi gpu board where they may be putting extremely heavy load ( under colder environments where the board power efficiency can also drop ). This value point in my opinion is mute and has zero value to a real world users even one that overclocks. This is only a value point for the extreme user.
The Debug LED in my opinion varies i have a lot of users who do not understand them or think they can just Google the Debug code not realizing that different vendor have different bios/uefi and have different Debug values. What we do offer is eay visual QLED diagnostic system so when you building the system if you run into an issue with the post with the most common item which is generally memory you will have an LED next the memory go off. Additionally we have MemOK which is a hardware IC which can help to troubleshoot and initialized failing memory or mixed modules or even provide a clr cmos effect without erasing all your other defined values.
You are correct it does the ASUS board does not offer onboard buttons but last time i checked you use your board inside a chassis and those buttons have zero benefit to a user when inside a chassis. It is a nice touch sure but would I prefer to have better fan controls, usb charging, better usb performance, the ability to recover my corrupted UEFI and more over onboard buttons. For me and I think most yes. But that is a preference consideration.
Everything communicated is factual without any fluff being communicated. In regards to less useful features do not see where that was shown and less reliable not sure how that is proved or shown as well. ASUS board are used by more SI's than any other vendor and there is a reason for that alone the reliability and stability our boards have shown.
Hope this clarifies any questions you posed or had and if not feel free to PM me. Enjoy the rest of your day.