Name your favorite PC hardware Brand

[Black64]

Just a interesting thread about which brand we like the most for the different parts in our PC's. There are so many out there it's hard to choose. The reason? there are so many factors. To name a few

1.Price

2.Reliability

3.Cooling

4.Features

5.Included accessories

6.Brand Name (Cough..Corsair...Cough)

7.Personal History

8.OC ability and/or modifiability

 

 

So I am wondering what your top brands would be.

 

 

Here is mine

 

Cases---Cooler Master

Cable management(this is the sole reason I picked CM over Antec) Cooling, Mod capabilities, Build quality, features.

 

PSU---OCZ

Always have used them, Reliability, Build quality

 

CPU---AMD/Intel

Can't decide. It's ether Price or Performance.

 

GPU---HIS

Only reason is price.

 

HDD---Samsung

Reliability, Had a 500GB, been running for 5 years now

 

Motherboard---ASUS

Features, Auto-OC, Stays Cool, Easy to use bios

 

CPU Cooler---Noctua

Quiet, Very cool and has a great "WOW" factor, Build quality

 

RAM---G-Skill

Price, Performace and Color

 

(By the way if I missed any brands please let me know i will add them!)

Edited April 1, 2011 by Black6464

[IVIYTH0S]

ADD BFG NOAW!!!

 

 

 

 

Cases---Cooler Master

Based entirely on my new infatuation with the HAF 912, it's amazing for the money. (used to love the Antec 300) but the 912 has way better cable management and nice features for longer video cards too.

 

I'd love to know who made my case....an undead Compaq case, it's very accomdating with it's sides ripped off and all lol.

 

PSU--- PC Power and Cooling

Used Generics in prebuilds, meh. Used an Ultra before this, thought it was good until it obviously couldn't handle anywhere near 600W. Have been running the same PSU and love it!! Has been reliable for me (even though it's my second after I blew up the first lol), the first one blew up and still worked for another couple months, that's dedication!

 

CPU---AMD/Intel

Can't decide either, I've only built Intels for myself but have built many AMDs as of late (for others) and love them. Wouldn't hesitate either going either way to whoever best fits my budget!

 

GPU---BFG

Mainly since this is the manufacturer of whom I've frequented the most and gave me no troubles. Every nvidia card I've run has been a BFG (they were always the best deal when I was going for an nvidia card). Can't believe they went under

 

HDD---Seagate

I'm down with WD and Seagate but I have like 5 seagates now since they're always a better deal and they haven't failed me yet! I love these drives, each with a different use. I'll recommend Seagate drives to anyone.

RMA Count for harddrives from me

WD: 2 times

Seagate: 1 time (my fault, with the 7200.11 firmware issue, I just didn't update the firmware and took my chances...paid the price of losing 600GB of anime over stubborness )

 

 

Motherboard---Gigabyte

When I started computer building my friend said "get Asus they're the best" so my first, second and third motherboards were Asus. I then bought a Gigabyte and it was night and day better than the Asus' before it, but that's probably more because it's chipset was known to be far better than the first three boards (Asus ones were 975X then 680i then 780i, Gigabyte was P45). The gigabyte's bios was what made me love it, it didn't have any fancy schmancy naming scheme for settings. It told you straight out what things did, made overclocking my Core 2 Quad a dream!!! Also the cooling on that particular board was legendary!! I have taken a liking to my friend's P67 MSI for the very same reason, it's bios was EVEN easier to understand. I have an Asus now since it was a deal I couldn't pass up but like it's older brothers, it took some getting used to.

 

CPU Cooler---Cooler Master

Because they boldly make one of the best coolers for the money! (The Hyper 212+) sure there are better but noone, other than Sunbeam have attempted (and succeeded) such an incredible value in CPU cooling.

 

RAM---OCZ

Simply because they, like BFG, offer the cheapest product or memory in this case when I need it. I'd buy any memory that was cheap lol, memory is memory is memory!

Obviously none has failed me yet

[HatersGonnaHate]

Case: Antec or Cooler Master

Aesthetics meets function with both

 

PSU: Corsair

Personal preference after reading stellar test results of their various models

 

CPU: AMD

Price, Price, Price Because I enjoy getting to the tweaking and I'd rather not pay astronomical fees for the right

 

GPU: XFX or Asus

I appreciate the cooling and quality

 

HDD: Seagate

Because I haven't needed to RMA any yet, unlike their direct competitor

 

Motherboard: ASUS

Features, Quality, Cooling

 

CPU Cooler: Truthfully I've never been satisfied by what I've tried, so I'll take the suggestions I see in this thread

 

RAM: G-Skill

Results

[VaporX]

Cases and PSUs I vote Antec. They have always delivered a solid product at a reasonable price.

 

CPU: I would have to right now go with AMD, they just have better value and their efforts at backward socket support is outstanding.

 

Graphics: I would say I am leaning toward EVGA, their customer support is outstanding, or has been for me.

 

HD: Western Digital all the way, even their SSD is a good product.

 

Motherboards: Gigabyte, they have delivered some of the neatest real world usage features I have seen over the years.

 

CPU Cooler: I am torn between Asetek and Coolit, both have great products, the style of cooler is the win for me and both companies do this well.

 

RAM: Kingston bar none, I have NEVER had to warranty a stick and I have never had a compatibility issue.

[imm0rt41]

I tend to go with ASUS for pretty much all internal parts, especially if I can get them for the same price as another brand I have not used. It basically boils down to having used ASUS parts a lot in the past with no reliability issues what so ever.

 

I have an ASUS A7N8X-e deluxe Socket A machine still running to this day. I built it in 04 or 05 right at the end of high school to get me through college. It did just that and is still running to this day (Roommate tried to run Crysis 2 on it last night...kinda ran actually lol). It has been hit by lightning twice and the 100M network port is fried, but the machine still works perfect aside from that. When I buy parts, I remember this machine and how reliable it was, and it was all built around the ASUS mobo.

 

That having been said, I just bought an ASUS 6970 and was very impressed with the build quality and overall look of the card, and I know I will remember that first impression later when looking to replace my MSI mobo to take advantage of DDR3.

[Black64]

I tend to go with ASUS for pretty much all internal parts, especially if I can get them for the same price as another brand I have not used. It basically boils down to having used ASUS parts a lot in the past with no reliability issues what so ever.

 

I have an ASUS A7N8X-e deluxe Socket A machine still running to this day. I built it in 04 or 05 right at the end of high school to get me through college. It did just that and is still running to this day (Roommate tried to run Crysis 2 on it last night...kinda ran actually lol). It has been hit by lightning twice and the 100M network port is fried, but the machine still works perfect aside from that. When I buy parts, I remember this machine and how reliable it was, and it was all built around the ASUS mobo.

 

That having been said, I just bought an ASUS 6970 and was very impressed with the build quality and overall look of the card, and I know I will remember that first impression later when looking to replace my MSI mobo to take advantage of DDR3.

 

 

"It basically boils down to having used ASUS parts a lot in the past with no reliability issues what so ever."

 

Same here!

[hierovision]

Overall I would say Corsair. They cover a relatively wide range of products from cases to SSD's, and they're consistently high-quality.

 

Cases---Silverstone (Add it!)

The best cases I've ever used. Build quality, cable management, cooling, sound reduction, etc. is all top-notch. I haven't used Lian Li yet, but until then Silverstone is the champ.

 

PSU---Corsair

7 year warranty, great reviews, great track record, great reputation.

 

CPU---Intel

P67 chipset is incredible. I have no doubt X78 will be amazing as well. Even for budget machines it's hard not to pick Intel these days.

 

GPU---MSI

Cooling solutions and cheap prices with decent support and a good reputation.

 

HDD---Western Digital

Cover the range from low power budget drives (i.e. $50 1TB SATA 2) to high performance at a reasonable cost ($80 1TB SATA 3)

 

Motherboard---Gigabyte

Value, reliability, build quality, etc. Asus is great, but the one I had before my current motherboard had a southbridge fan go out... and apparently it was super-common.

 

CPU Cooler---Cooler Master

Hyper 212+ is amazing... performs great and is $30 most places.

 

RAM---G-Skill

Price and performance. Also, new low power kits are VERY appealing.

Edited April 1, 2011 by hierovision

[broooooooce]

Case: Lian Li

(but only because I haven't bought a new case in 6 years. The stuff they have nowadays with the larger fans, the cable management, the better grills/vents, fan filters . . . these were all just a dream back then, but my modified PC65 serves me very well and looks extremely sharp.)

 

CPU: AMD

 

PSU: SeaSonic

 

HDD: Western Digital (Long life, sometimes loud though. 2 first gen 36gb raptors in raid 0 have run 24/7/365 for 8 years now) or Samsung (great experiences so far, but only a few years using their products)

 

SDD: Corsair (so far, but I've only owned one)

 

GPU: I have yet to own a graphics card that has done everything I wanted at the temps that I desire, so NOONE.

 

RAM: Mushkin

 

MB: Gigabyte (used to like ASUS, but a few of their boards have been tempermental with me)

 

LCD: Samsung

[Black64]

ADD BFG NOAW!!!

 

 

 

 

Cases---Cooler Master

Based entirely on my new infatuation with the HAF 912, it's amazing for the money. (used to love the Antec 300) but the 912 has way better cable management and nice features for longer video cards too.

 

I'd love to know who made my case....an undead Compaq case, it's very accomdating with it's sides ripped off and all lol.

 

PSU--- PC Power and Cooling

Used Generics in prebuilds, meh. Used an Ultra before this, thought it was good until it obviously couldn't handle anywhere near 600W. Have been running the same PSU and love it!! Has been reliable for me (even though it's my second after I blew up the first lol), the first one blew up and still worked for another couple months, that's dedication!

 

CPU---AMD/Intel

Can't decide either, I've only built Intels for myself but have built many AMDs as of late (for others) and love them. Wouldn't hesitate either going either way to whoever best fits my budget!

 

GPU---BFG

Mainly since this is the manufacturer of whom I've frequented the most and gave me no troubles. Every nvidia card I've run has been a BFG (they were always the best deal when I was going for an nvidia card). Can't believe they went under

 

HDD---Seagate

I'm down with WD and Seagate but I have like 5 seagates now since they're always a better deal and they haven't failed me yet! I love these drives, each with a different use. I'll recommend Seagate drives to anyone.

RMA Count for harddrives from me

WD: 2 times

Seagate: 1 time (my fault, with the 7200.11 firmware issue, I just didn't update the firmware and took my chances...paid the price of losing 600GB of anime over stubborness )

 

 

Motherboard---Gigabyte

When I started computer building my friend said "get Asus they're the best" so my first, second and third motherboards were Asus. I then bought a Gigabyte and it was night and day better than the Asus' before it, but that's probably more because it's chipset was known to be far better than the first three boards (Asus ones were 975X then 680i then 780i, Gigabyte was P45). The gigabyte's bios was what made me love it, it didn't have any fancy schmancy naming scheme for settings. It told you straight out what things did, made overclocking my Core 2 Quad a dream!!! Also the cooling on that particular board was legendary!! I have taken a liking to my friend's P67 MSI for the very same reason, it's bios was EVEN easier to understand. I have an Asus now since it was a deal I couldn't pass up but like it's older brothers, it took some getting used to.

 

CPU Cooler---Cooler Master

Because they boldly make one of the best coolers for the money! (The Hyper 212+) sure there are better but noone, other than Sunbeam have attempted (and succeeded) such an incredible value in CPU cooling.

 

RAM---OCZ

Simply because they, like BFG, offer the cheapest product or memory in this case when I need it. I'd buy any memory that was cheap lol, memory is memory is memory!

Obviously none has failed me yet

 

added BFG

[IVIYTH0S]

added BFG

added vote

[Nephilumos]

I picked EVGA mainly for their GPU warranty and their tech support actually know what they're talking about. But other than that, I'm not a loyalist to any one brand, but instead a few.

 

Motherboards: EVGA/ASUS/Gigabyte

I've never had any troubles with any of these three.

 

CPU: Intel

(This is my loyalist exception aside from GPU)

 

GPU: EVGA

 

Case: Antec

Aside from looking beautiful without being too over the top, they have pretty decent cable management and great cooling. My Antec 1200 is amazing(Other than having to clean the filters every month[i'm lazy]) and I don't think I'll be replacing it any time in the near future.

 

RAM: OCZ/Kingston

Although, I've used OCZ in many more builds than kingston. I've only ever had to RMA 1 set of OCZ RAM and it was quick and painless.

 

PSU: Corsair/OCZ

I'm currently running an OCZ 700w and it just keeps truckin' along. Also, who doesn't love those Corsair PSUs?

 

HDD: WD/Seagate

I've never had any problems with either of these. The only time I lost data on any of them was when I accidentally tried carving data off my 1TB drive to my 320GB drive after a long series of mishaps and formatting. Let's just say it didn't end well.

 

Have to have some illusion of selection, right?

[darkreize]

CPU: Intel right now. AMD before. Intel pretty much slays AMD right now.

 

Graphics: I would say I Gigabyte. Very stable.

 

HDD: Samsung. Their F3 series is so good.

 

Motherboards: Asus. I'm a fanboy. Been using them for years.

 

CPU Cooler: Noctua and Antec.

 

RAM: G.Skill and Kingston.