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My first question is, does solder mask color affect the grade of other boards?
No.
The issue with motherboards is volume.
Most colourful motherboards are low value huge production units. Produced in sheet form in the hundreds of millions or more the the lowest Possible quantity of material that will allow for working boards most of the time.
So when you spread that majority across the volume of motherboards in the world it makes sense to adjust the price to the majority.
Think about a trailer load of sorted colour motherboards backing into the dock. 70k plus pounds.
So the few hundred ASRock and Gigabyte high end boards offset the 500 ESN boards. For example.
For every GB xT board made there’s 100s of ESNs.
Now how many people in general can tell an xT or a Slayer or a Red Death from a dell ESN or a diamond construct or a Chinese generic red on sight, from a distance, in a box of 100, from the seat of a fork lift.
Walking by? I’d miss it.
So the value difference is used as part of the averages. Rather than creating a sub group most people will get wrong that doesn’t offer that big of a price difference.
I’ve suggested before if you have a large batch of a single high end board post a photo outside of the what is it classing section. I’ll take a look.
We’re not talking a dozen though.
If you have 100 binned ASRock Taichi XRs with a bad filter there’s a point of inquiring.
And if it’s worth pursuing I’ll help you put together what info you need so you can call Chris or email and see if he’s interested in a separate quote.
Sometimes he will be. Sometimes not.
And if it’s not worth any effort I’ll tell you so. But the reality is most boards aren’t worth enough of a difference to go through the trouble. Them, or you.