Those looking for a z270 mobo note that msi has a rebate promo going on where you can get 30 back + a copy of For Honor on some boards. Asus also has a rebate of 50 but only when you also get a copy of win10.
I ordered the MSI z270 gaming pro (lol) carbon + 7700k yesterday since the board seemed like a decent mid range (sub 200) option. Because after spending half a day looking at all the z270 ATX boards it seems that almost all of them are pretty decent picks, so just take one that has the features you need at a reasonable price point and things should work out.
I'll give you guys some impressions on the carbon when I put everything together.
Some atx boards to look at in the sub-200/$200 category:
160 - Asus Prime z270-A
Seems to perform very well and has all the basic features you need + some LEDs.
193 - Gigabyte AORUS GA-Z270X-GAMING 5
Lots of features like: LEDs, dual NIC, 2xM.2, U.2, sata express, HEX screen for displaying error messages. Gigabyte also seems to have a 20 rebate promo going on for this board.
150 - MSI Z270 SLI Plus
Best value for money z270 if you ask me, but note that rebate promo doesn't apply to this mobo. The MSI gaming M3, M5 and pro carbon all share its design but have some extra features tacked on.
180 MSI Z270 Gaming Pro Carbon
Basically the SLI Plus with some LEDS and a different color scheme, rebate applies to this one though so it's essentially the same price as the aforementioned board.