Big B
HWF Godfather
This is more directed at the newbies building there PC's, but if you want my and other peoples opinions, here is some info on what companies are suggested for certain items. While other companies may not be listed, it is because I'm trying to go by personal experience.
Motherboards
These are companies I would personally recommend:
-Asus--Very solid motherboards. They tend to have jumpers and are a tad pricey, but great stuff overall.
-Abit--If you want overclocking, step inside where Abit is king. These tend to be a tad expensive as well, but are generally solid. Pretty easy to set up with a jumperless design (save for clearing CMOS)
-AOpen--nothing fancy, but these are generally solid boards that just work, and do that very well.
-ECS--These are basic motherboards, for the most part. If you're looking for features or lots of overclocking options, look elsewhere.
-Gigabyte--They don't tend to be the best for overclocking, but they tend to be a company that offers some very tricked out motherboards with lots of goodies. If you want a board with PATA RAID, you'll want to check out Gigabyte.
-Iwill--So far, I've been happy with the stability of my P4D. The company is aiming at producing server-level motherboards and it shows in their motherboards and reputation. If you don't see much of them, it's because they've all but withdrawn from the enthusiast/home market to concentrate on server products.
-MSI, or Micro Star--All around solid, well priced motherboards with plenty of hardware features.
-Tyan--noted for server-class motherboards, these are fairly skimpy on hardware extras on consumer motherboards, but are very stable motherboards.
-Soyo---They seem to be making a slight comeback. If you're looking for a board to overclock the crap out of, look elsewhere. On the flip side, the offer some very solid motherboards with loads of extras. Soyo is being purchased by PCChips, which also owns ECS.
-SuperMicro--extremely high-quality boards. Unlike the others mentioned, this company produces boards for Intel CPU's only. They make mostly server boards and these tend to be quite expensive (starting at $300USD--$900+)
Video cards
These are video card companies I would recommend.
-ATI--You want your Radeon? Buy the "Built by ATI" ones. This company has done a real improvement in the drivers arena.
-Gainward--Like overclocking? Gainward is known for their highly overclockable cards. They tend to have a rather skimpy software package, and tend to be slightly expensive.
-Hercules--While they no longer produce nVidia based cards, the GeForce 2 and 3 lines were excellent. If you want to color coordinate your system, they use blue PCB's (printed circuit board). Hercules has recently dropped out of the video card biz due to some conflicts with ATi regarding designs.
-MSI--Like their motherboards, MSI's video card lineup feature solid, well priced cards that usually come with some great hardware goodies.
-PNY--They've never been the flashiest or highest OC'ing, but they work. Generally, they're priced pretty average.
-Sapphire--One of the oldest partners for ATi, they've got good cards at reasonable prices. Not the absolute cheapest, but they won't break the bank.
Motherboards
These are companies I would personally recommend:
-Asus--Very solid motherboards. They tend to have jumpers and are a tad pricey, but great stuff overall.
-Abit--If you want overclocking, step inside where Abit is king. These tend to be a tad expensive as well, but are generally solid. Pretty easy to set up with a jumperless design (save for clearing CMOS)
-AOpen--nothing fancy, but these are generally solid boards that just work, and do that very well.
-ECS--These are basic motherboards, for the most part. If you're looking for features or lots of overclocking options, look elsewhere.
-Gigabyte--They don't tend to be the best for overclocking, but they tend to be a company that offers some very tricked out motherboards with lots of goodies. If you want a board with PATA RAID, you'll want to check out Gigabyte.
-Iwill--So far, I've been happy with the stability of my P4D. The company is aiming at producing server-level motherboards and it shows in their motherboards and reputation. If you don't see much of them, it's because they've all but withdrawn from the enthusiast/home market to concentrate on server products.
-MSI, or Micro Star--All around solid, well priced motherboards with plenty of hardware features.
-Tyan--noted for server-class motherboards, these are fairly skimpy on hardware extras on consumer motherboards, but are very stable motherboards.
-Soyo---They seem to be making a slight comeback. If you're looking for a board to overclock the crap out of, look elsewhere. On the flip side, the offer some very solid motherboards with loads of extras. Soyo is being purchased by PCChips, which also owns ECS.
-SuperMicro--extremely high-quality boards. Unlike the others mentioned, this company produces boards for Intel CPU's only. They make mostly server boards and these tend to be quite expensive (starting at $300USD--$900+)
Video cards
These are video card companies I would recommend.
-ATI--You want your Radeon? Buy the "Built by ATI" ones. This company has done a real improvement in the drivers arena.
-Gainward--Like overclocking? Gainward is known for their highly overclockable cards. They tend to have a rather skimpy software package, and tend to be slightly expensive.
-Hercules--While they no longer produce nVidia based cards, the GeForce 2 and 3 lines were excellent. If you want to color coordinate your system, they use blue PCB's (printed circuit board). Hercules has recently dropped out of the video card biz due to some conflicts with ATi regarding designs.
-MSI--Like their motherboards, MSI's video card lineup feature solid, well priced cards that usually come with some great hardware goodies.
-PNY--They've never been the flashiest or highest OC'ing, but they work. Generally, they're priced pretty average.
-Sapphire--One of the oldest partners for ATi, they've got good cards at reasonable prices. Not the absolute cheapest, but they won't break the bank.
