Compontent Brands

[vastx]

Hey folks. Was wondering what brands people stay away from in the following categories.

1-Motherboards
2-Hard Drives
a-Traditional
b-SSD
3-Video Cards
4-Memory
5-Cases

And maybe there's a consensus on the best brands for each category?

I've only ever used ECS, Gigabyte, and Asus Motherboards. I like Asus the most (really anything they make). Hard Drives, I've had issues with the IBM/Hitachis, prefer Samsung drives. I haven't ventured into SSDs yet. No consensus in my head for video cards..as far as brands I dislike or prefer. Though, I do prefer ATI currently as far as chipsets go. Memory is sorta a special case I think. I know plenty of people have built far more systems then I have..so they're more likely to try out more brands and have more cases of DOA sticks. So no personal preference there, every stick of memory I've ever bought has caused me zero issues. Cases, prefer Antec. And I suppose there's a long list of case manufacturers that make shoddy cases.

I ask this, because I haven't built a system for anyone and it's been a couple of years. Was curious if any companies have made improvements. I'd never check the specs or reviews on any Hitachi drives. Nope. No thanks. Really, just curious to what others prefer.

[Deleted]

I guess this is more what i generally look at, I rarely exclude any brands just because of their name.

1- Asus, Asrock and one or two specific MSI

a- Western Digital (Samsung Spinpoint in some rare occasions)
b- Samsung 830 and Crucial M4 (reliable, well priced, good performance)

3- Sapphire, Asus, MSI, Gigabyte

4- Mushkin, Corsair and G.Skill

5- Majority of Corsair cases rock, fractal Design, NZXT on the budget end, Antec

I don't really know you'll get anything particular good/productive information out of this. If you're looking to build something you would probably get a better and more precise response.

[vastx]

I don't really know you'll get anything particular good/productive information out of this. If you're looking to build something you would probably get a better and more precise response.

Curiosity mainly. Of course people try to buy the best product at the best price. But brand loyalty does exist for some. I've gravitated towards Samsung and Asus. Not a fanboy, hate that term. From my experience, their products are well made.

Curious if anyone else has stuck by certain companies over the years. Though I am curious too, if theres a general consensus concerning companies to stay away from. Poor product and/or customer service.

[Fascinate]

The only PC component ive ever had fail on me was an ECS motherboard, even then that thing lasted like 3-4 years and it was time to upgrade anyways. Just remember more than 50% (probably more like 70%) of negative user reviews on newegg are due to user error, not faulty parts. This obviously can vary, if mulltiple people report the same exact problem then yes, there is probably an issue with the part.

As for companies that have moved up in quality over the past couple years:

Biostar, they make very quality motherboards now.
Galaxy, i would actually put this company above EVGA for build quality.
Gskill, these guys used to be considered the low end for memory, now they are the standard.
Seagate, over the past few years they have overtaken WD for lowest failure rates.

Basically, give the little guys a chance. Most times they try harder to gain a customer base than the big guys who already have one.