Ok, With some of the reviews I was a little worried about buying this board. Glad I made the decision. I will address my issues first.
Code 55. Yes it showed up first boot. I powered down and double checked everything. Everything was set correctly and all pins were firmly in the right spots. Second boot Code 55. I had already updated bios to the latest build. Turns out the board simply will not run my ram at 3000. It seems to consider it an unstable overclock and throws code 55. I am at work so I don't have the numbers but it ended up running at 2900~, No idea why, but it simply don't run the full 3000 without code 55. I simply set the bios to auto detect and I was good to go.
Code 44 After first successful boot I ended up getting this code. Everything seemed to work fine, but it bugged me this was showing so I started digging. Turns out this code is thrown when the system comes out of sleep. Now the thing is I was cold booting so that was a bit confusing. It ended up being fast boot. Windows 10 stores info on second boot to speed up the system. The board thinks this is a wake event for whatever reason.I turned off fast boot in Windows 10 and bios. The code magically went away. For the record I did not see a speed reduction in cold boot with these two options disabled. I boot in a few seconds, literally.
Code Ao This poked it's head up after code 44. Turns out this is simply a code stating Bios was handing the system over to Windows 10. Nothing to fix on this code. It stays for a bit then jumps to code 99, normal operation.

Ok, here is the positives I encountered while building/using this board.
I read that the motherboard was laid out badly. I did not have this issue. As a matter of fact I am a little OCD and wire management could not have been achieved as well without this layout.
The board has software that allows you to intelligently overclock your system while in Windows 10. It stress tested the machine and suggested a safe overclock with a single mouse click. I am running at 15% stable. Very impressed how integrated overclock is on this board, for the record I did not use the CD, I got on the website and downloaded the latest version of the software. It works very well.
Stability, very stable. Once I got the the codes out of the way I have been running very stable even with the overclock. No issues at all. Boots up fast.
The board is very good looking. Enhances the look of my build. Clean and well designed. Even has color options for the onboard LED. This thing is a beast.

Here is my build.

Tower: http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Liquid-Cooling-Computer-CA-1E7-00M1WN-00/dp/B015U7LXO4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

Processor: http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Boxed-I7-6700K-Processor-BX80662I76700K/dp/B012M8LXQW?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s02

Operating Sysem: http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Home-System-Builder/dp/B00ZSI7Y3U?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s04

Motherboard: http://www.amazon.com/MAXIMUS-VIII-HERO-LGA1151-Motherboard/dp/B0126R4F8W?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s03

Ram: http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-64GB-3000MHz-Memory/dp/B016ORTSRS?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s04

Hard Drives: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-SATA-Internal-MZ-7KE1T0BW/dp/B00LF10KTE?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s04

Liquid Cooling kit: http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-PACIFIC-RL360-Cooling-CL-W113-CA12SW/dp/B01BI0X9MQ?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s05

Network Card: http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Archer-T9E-Beamforming-Low-profile/dp/B00TQEX7AQ?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

Router: http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Nighthawk-X8-Tri-Band-Quad-Stream/dp/B015PD3HOC?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

Power Supply: http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Modular-Crossfire-Warranty-210-GQ-1000-V1/dp/B017ICWP82?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s03

Video cards: http://www.amazon.com/Geforce-GTX-Titan-NVIDIA-900-1G600-2500-00/dp/B00UZPYXGC?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

Bluetooth: http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Bluetooth-Adapter-Raspberry-Compatible/dp/B009ZIILLI?ie=UTF8&keywords=blue%20tooth%20donggle&qid=1463404068&ref_=sr_1_sc_1&sr=8-1-spell

Suggestions:

If you go with a big build try and find an open tower. I feel like a standard closed tower will generate to much heat. (my opinion)

Build slow. You are in no hurry. Take you're time, check and double check. Use the manual it's very informative.

Check your parts list. Make sure everything is compatible before you hit that buy button. There are some good compatibility programs out there that will help your double check your parts compatibility. Look at the motherboards website for a compatible parts list.

Buy it, you won't regret it, this thing is a beast.

What can I say: excellent BIOS setup, practically auto-pilot for the overclocking, and the AI suite 3 is the best motherboard utility on the market, in my opinion. I had a Gigabyte Z77 UD5H for almost 3 years, but decided to future proof for at least the next 4-5 years. When 'Skylake' came out, I just had to get it. This was one of the first boards to hit the market in the Z170 chipset, and so being a gamer, I thought the Hero would be an obvious choice. I wasn't disappointed. The manual overclock process was a breeze, and I got to 4.7 GHZ on my I7-6700k without a hitch. I've left it on a permanent 4.5 OC just because I like the voltage where it is at which is 1.265. The included software disc gives you the full utility suite to monitor fan temps, cpu speed, ram speed, voltage, power saving options, and make apps go faster with their 'Turbo App'. I thoroughly will enjoy this mobo for years to come. I hope you do too! Attached is some photos of my build, because why not:

To begin my review let me give a little background info. I am a casual gamer. I do some video editing with Avid Media Composer, some minor photoshopping, and practice SQL on my home PC. I decided that I wanted to upgrade my aging computer, because it was starting to lag. Some of the games I played at the time (such as Black OPS 3) were only playable at medium-low settings. Here was my setup:

■ AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Processor, Black Edition (HDE00ZFBGRBOX)
■ Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 Socket AM3 AMD 890GX/SB850 6 SATA USB 3.0 ATX Motherboard
■ HIS Radeon HD 6970 2GB (256bit) GDDR5 Eyefinity 2x Mini-DisplayPort HDMI 2x DVI (HDCP) PCI Express X16 2.1 Video Card Retail (RoHS) H697F2G2M
■ Corsair Memory Vengeance 8GB DDR3 SDRAM Memory Module - 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) - DDR3 SDRAM - 1600 MHz DDR3-1600/PC3-12800 - 240-pin -DIMM Red CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R
■ Corsair Hydro Series High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler H60
■ Seagate ST31000528AS-A1 1TB BARRACUDA 7200.12 SATA 72003.5 RPM 32MB 3.5IN (ST31000528ASA1)

I gave myself a $1,000 budget. I knew that the GPU would be the most expensive component. So, I started with the processor. I wanted to get a way from AMD because of the large amount of cooling required. So I ended up returning to Intel. Oddly enough I tend to alternate between AMD and Intel with every build. I settled on the Intel Core i5 6600K 3.50 GHz Quad Core Skylake Desktop Processor, Socket LGA 1151, 6MB Cache (BX80662I56600K) because it had a great benefit to cost ratio. It would have been nice to make it a i7 but I had a budget and wanted to maintain within my budget.

So, I started to read reviews of motherboards. I originally saw the ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero and loved the style of the board. I also read a lot of good reviews about it. However, I wasn't sold on going back to ASUS because I had so many problems with the M4A89GTD. For instance, a lot of times when I would power on the PC the would power on for a second then power off. I had to wait another couple of seconds then try again before it worked. So I ended up thinking I was going to buy the Gigabyte ATX DDR4 Intel LGA 1151 SATA E (6Gbit/s) Motherboards (GA-Z170X-Gaming 7). Right before I pulled the trigger, I read some unfavorable reviews for the Gigabyte board regarding BIOS issues. I had a lot of issues with my M4A89GTD's BIOS so I ended up back with the ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero.

Here's my review of the board

APPEARANCE

This is a great looking board. The gray and red accents look fantastic. You have a plastic shield that covers the I/O. The ROG logo ontop of the heat sink is a color changing LED. You can have it do lots of different things like pulsate, blink to the beat of your music, and my favorite change colors by the CPU's temperature. The color is changed through the provided software. UEFI BIOS has two options, expert mode and EZ-mode. The differnce being the amount of options and different option locations. The SATA ports on the motherboard are located on the corner of the motherboard. I liked this location because it was perfect for routing cables on my Fractal Design Define R5 Gaming Case with Window Cases FDCADEFR5BKW.

PERFORMANCE

This is the first motherboard I have ever purchased to POST without any errors. I was able to immediately boot into Windows with an exisiting hard drive (had to convert the Legacy BIOS to UEFI first) I like having a UEFI BIOS because it makes finding sections easier. However, I found that I had to take a trial and error approach with many sections. For instance, when I was assigning a primary hard drive it wasn't clear enough how this was done until I started trying different ways to assign a new primary. In a years time I have only had a couple of BSODs which is good so far. Upgrading the BIOS is a little buggy. Sometimes the BIOS recognizes that I am connected to the internet and other times I have to reboot to get it to find the internet. Although, I haven't had any issues like this in Windows. Also, on the I/O there is a BIOS update button and on the board is a power and reset button. There is a one touch overlock which works. I haven't tried to overclock it much more than that since everything runs so well. ASUS threw in a CPU installer which is a little plastic bracket that makes lining up the CPU fool proof, and works very well.

PROS

■ Nice looking board you will want to display in a window;
■ 8 sata ports (although 4 are shared) and good port location;
■ 6 USB 3.0;
■ BIOS, power, and reset buttons built onto the board;
■ One touch overclock;
■ CPU install bracket;
■ Color changing LED; and
■ No POST errors!

CONS

■ UEFI at times takes trial and error;
■ Network when updating BIOS is a little buggy;

Overall I am very pleased with this board. If that changes I will be sure to update my review.