The Best Brands Of PC Hardware And Where To Buy Them

The first tip to finding the best brand of PC hardware or the best brands of computer systems is by using Amazon.

This is the method I use to research a new piece of computer hardware...

By going to Amazon and easily navigating to a computer hardware category (I have included a link to ATX Computer Cases below as an example).

Click this ATX Computer Cases link to follow along.
(Opens in a new window).

The search results displayed are for the search term "atx cases with power supply", you can easily change this to whatever you are searching for.

You should see a drop down box near the upper right portion of your screen labeled "sorted by", and it should say "Avg.Customer Review", if it is not already set to that, then set it so that it is.

The results shown are sorted by the product with the most reviews that has the most gold stars.

So what does this mean?

It means that the first product in the list has more good product reviews than any of the rest, and from that point on, the products have either less reviews or less stars. Most of these reviews are by actual customers (real people that own the product, not marketers).

This is a valuable statistic to have when deciding what the best brand of computer hardware is, but there are some things you must take into consideration when looking at this... Keep reading to find out what they are.

This is what I do...

Take A Quick Glance:

By simply scrolling down the page and glancing at the results there are a couple of things that I look for.

1. The amount of gold stars(rating).
2. The number in parenthesis beside the gold stars (the amount of reviews).
3. Name Brands that have multiple listings.

So, the product brand with the most stars that has the most reviews is the best brand right?

Not exactly, remember when I said there are a couple of things to take into consideration? Well, here they are.

1. The age of the product could effect this rating. If a product has been available for a long time then it will probably have more reviews and possibly a higher rating than some of the newer products.

2. If a product has more gold stars but fewer number of reviews, then it may be too new and it has not had enough time for the ratings to settle from the product launch.

So what do you do?

Taking a quick glance at the first couple of pages that I scroll down, I can see a bigger picture.

What I am looking for is not a specific product, but a specific brand that sticks out... This is one indicator of the best brand, the brand with multiple listings in the first 2 or 3 pages of a search result that is based on the most reviews of actual owners of the product.

If the same brand is listed on the first 2 or 3 pages then the overall ratings and reviews from real customers should be good, and if they have multiple listings there, then it appears that the majority of people that are actually using the product, think it is the best brand...

Another thing to keep in mind is that the star ratings are an average of total ratings, but if you mouse over the stars, a pop-up window will appear showing the details.

Another way to validate this is to change the sorting to "best selling" instead of "Avg customer review", and if the same brand starts popping up there multiple times too, then I think we have a winner... and apparently, so does the majority of everyone else that shops on Amazon.

The best part about researching for the best brand this way is that it works with Amazon's Desktop Computer Page, Amazon's Laptops Page or just about any other product that you may be researching to find the best brand.

Keep this in mind, once you find a certain brand that sticks out more than others, and find a product that you are interested in, just click on the product to read some of the reviews that are left there by other customers to determine if this product meets Your preferences and needs.

But always remember that even if a hardware component has a great review, if only one or two people reviewed it, then it still may not be the best brand.

On the other hand, if a lot of people reviewed a product and it still has a good review like a 4 or 5 star rating then it may be a good quality product. A great example of this is the Western Digital Hard Drive found below... As of the time of this writing, it has 499 customer reviews and maintains a 4.4 star rating out of 5 stars... See it here... Western Digital 2 TB Sata Hard Drive.

The sure sign of a bad product... is a lot of reviews and a low rating... This should throw up a red flag for you to stay away.

The second tip to finding the best brand of computer hardware is by references...Talking to friends or family members that may have had an experience with a certain brand and can give you their opinions. Word-of-mouth is not only great advertising for a good brand, but it is also a warning to potential buyers of a bad brand.

If there are no family members or friends that have any experience with computer hardware brands, then keep reading to see what my experiences and opinions are.

Keeping in mind that being the best brand of PC hardware is like anything else, it is just a matter of personal preferences. With most of the well named computer hardware brands, such as AMD or Intel processors, or Corsair or Kingston memory modules, deciding which one is best is just a matter of opinion.

The third tip to finding the best brand of pc hardware is by doing what you are doing now... How did you get here?

There is a good chance you found this lens with a search engine. That is also a good way to discover the best brand of pc hardware, Google-It.

By searching for a computer hardware brand on any of the major search engines, you may just find that Amazon's Computer Hardware Products shows up more often than not.

If you already know what you are searching for, visit the Computer Components aStore by simply clicking the link below.

Searching For Great Deals On Computer Components?
Visit The
Computer Components aStore
and start saving today!

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Cases are no more than the house for your computer. While there are many styles, colors and sizes, the purpose of the basic computer case remains the same.

There are several formats of computer cases including the desktop case and the tower case.
The desktop computer case (which lays horizontally) was the original format of the personal computer cases and has almost become obsolete while being phased out by the tower cases (tower cases stand vertically and take up less floor/desktop space).

Most tower computer cases come in 2 sizes, mid tower cases and full tower cases and are the most common cases found.

Almost all new pre-built computer systems come in mid-tower cases as they are smaller, less expensive and cheaper to package and ship.

Full tower cases are the preference for gaming computer systems, as heat can be a big issue with any computer, the high-end graphics cards found in most gaming computer systems can produce a lot of heat and with a full tower case there is more room for air flow which is very important in keeping your system cool (unless you have a liquid cooled system).

It is possible to find a good gaming system built in a mid-tower case, but if it is not liquid cooled, you may may eventually have heat related issues with it.

My favorite computer case is....

The Apevia X-Pleasure Full Tower Case with side window and blue led fans, It has plenty of room inside for good air flow, front panel displays ambient case temperature and case fan load percentage which is adjustable via front panel control knob. All the case fans and front panel display are a soft blue led and are not distracting or extremely bright.

Besides the beauty of this case, it was very well designed with front panel and side window locks, 3 easily removable 3.5" drive bay compartments that can accommodate up to 3 - 3.5" drives each and 4 - 5.25" drive bays for mounting your optical drives.

I own the silver version but it also comes in black.
I am extremely happy with this case and feel it has been an X-Pleasure to own one.
Prices may vary depending on where you shop, but in my experiences, Amazon has always been very competitive in their prices and service.

Click Here To Search For The Highest Rated Computer Cases On Amazon

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The Power Supply makes it all happen...
The best brand of computer power supplies keeps it happening...

When choosing a power supply there are a number of types and sizes to choose from. Power supplys can range anywhere from a 250 watt to over 1000 watt and can be all on one rail or split among two rails.

The choice of a single rail or multiple rail power supply is a matter of personal preference, but just make sure the output power and available connectors are adequate for your particular computer build.

You don't want to buy a power supply that only supports a 20-pin motherboard if you have a 24 pin motherboard, etc., etc. Just remember to read the specifications of your components and power supply before purchasing.

My favorite Power Supply is....

There are several good brands to choose from , I have been currently using a Star Tech 500watt power supply and have been for the last couple of years without any problems. For a bigger name brand power supply, Corsair and ThermalTake both make a good quality power supply, just make sure you read the specifications as mentioned earlier before buying.

Click Here To Search For The Highest Rated Power Supplies On Amazon

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The Motherboard is THE most important piece of hardware in your computer, It determines what your computer is, and what your computer will ever be.

Everything you connect to your computer, in one way or another, connects to your motherboard.

Whether or not you can ever upgrade your computer system is determined by your motherboard.

The motherboard determines the type of processor and ultimately the type of "computer build" that you are building.

Motherboards also come in a variety of types and formats. The two main types of motherboards (computer builds) are AMD and Intel.

These are the 2 leading brands of processors and your motherboard type must match your processor type.

My favorite brand of Motherboard is....

Asus motherboards - I have had 3 different Asus motherboards including the A8N-SLI , A8N-SLI deluxe and the A8N32-SLI and they all performed great. I am currently using the A8N-SLI deluxe in my main computer while my wife is using the A8N32-SLI in her computer, the A8N-SLI was retired after getting the A8N32-SLI from a friend at no cost.

Asus motherboards, like many other motherboard brands, are available from the more basic, inexpensive models to the high-end models.

Asus motherboards in my opinion and experience, are good quality made motherboards at a good price.

Click Here To Search For The Highest Rated Motherboards On Amazon

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If you have a website and would like to link to the "The Best Brand PC Hardware" lens,
then just copy the HTML code shown below and paste it on your relevant webpage.

<a href="http://squidoo.com/best_brand_pc_hardware" target="_blank">The Best Brand Of Computer Hardware </a>

As mentioned earlier, everyone has their own preference when it comes to choosing which brand they like best, choosing a processor (CPU) is no different.

The 2 main processor brands to pick from is either an AMD processor or an Intel processor and depending on who you talk to, will determine which is the best processor, as everyone has their own opinion.

Whichever processor you choose, you must make sure by reading the specifications of your motherboard that the processor will be supported by the motherboard.

Always keep in mind that computer hardware is like anything else, whether you are buying the best or worst brand , every manufacturer ships out a bad part every now and then, and sometimes you get a great part from a manufacturer that is labeled as the worst brand.

My favorite brand of Processors is....

The AMD brand of processors, as I have installed and used AMD processors for more than twenty years without any problems at all.

From the 1GHZ thunderbird to the 3800+ dual core to the FX-60 2.6GHZ dual core processor, they have always proven to be reliable, affordable and very fast.

Click Here To Search For The Highest Rated Processors On Amazon

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Visionman WGMI-11C700A Desktop PC
Inside the Visionman WGMI-11C700A Desktop PC sturdy and stylish HAF 912 chassis from Cooler Master, you'll find an Intel® Core%u2122 i7-2600 processor, 8GB of DDR3 1333 memory, a 64GB Solid State Drive for fast loading times, a spacious 1TB hard drive for storage, a BD-ROM/DVD-RW drive, two Radeon HD 6850 video cards in CrossFireX, and a multi-format flash card reader, all powered by an 80PLUS Certified 700W power supply. We also preload Microsoft's latest and greatest, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

A computer's system memory is just like anything else, you can get a bad module even from the best brands of memory manufacturers.

The biggest difference is the frequency that you get a bad memory module and the retailer's and manufacturer's willingness to work with you about solving your problem.

Side Note:
I would always make sure the memory I use has heat spreaders included as this will add years to the life of your memory.

Now I'm not going to name any specific retailers as this lens is just about hardware brands, but the memory brand of hardware I support and call my favorite has apparently been very quality minded as I have not received a bad module from them yet.

My favorite brand of Memory is....

Corsair XMS series of memory has shown that they take pride in the quality of their modules and has never let me down.

Click Here To Search For The Highest Rated Memory On Amazon

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Wondering if Western Digital is really the best brand of hard drives?

(Click the link below and use the drop-down box on the right of amazon's page to sort by best selling, then see how many Western Digital drives are listed on the first 3 pages.)... Bingo!

When picking a hard drive to buy, there are 5 specifications that I use in determining the best brand for me.

1. Price (as do most people)
2. Connection type (IDE or Sata)
3. RPMs (revolutions per minute)
4. Cache or Memory (size)
5. Quality (the best brand in my opinion)

(Not in this particular order)

My favorite brand of Hard Drives are....

Western Digital Caviar Black editions...

I always seem to find just the right size, speed, interface, quality and price with Western Digital.

I am currently using two 500 GB Sata drives in my computer system and have one 1 TB in my wifes computer.

Western Digital has always been my first choice in selecting a hard drive and I have never needed to look any further.

Click Here To Search For The Highest Rated Hard Drives On Amazon

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DVD / CD readers, burners, Blu-Ray and more...

Optical drives can vary greatly in price and quality, but depending on your needs you may be able to get a decent optical drive at a reasonable price.

Even though Blue Ray players are still fairly expensive, DVD/CD players and burners have come way down in price.


My favorite brand of Optical Drives are....

Sony and Lite-On are both pretty good optical drive manufacturers and both carry very competetive pricing on most of their products.

I have had my Sony Dual Layer/ Double Layer DVD burner for more than a couple of years now and it still works as good as day 1.

( Whichever brand or type of optical drive you get, make sure the media you use, is supported by it).

Click Here To Search For The Highest Rated Optical Drives On Amazon

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If your a gamer or graphics artist, your computers video cards (graphics card) will be one of the most important pieces of hardware (components) of your computer. A good graphics card will make the big difference in not only how good your games will look, but also how well they will play.

Most graphics cards have their own processor and memory, The processor on the graphics card is known as the GPU (graphics processing unit) and the memory of the graphics card may be refered to as gddr (graphics double data rate) or it may just be refered to as ddr (double data rate).

The graphics card is no different than anything else , the more the faster the better... A graphics card with a 700 core clock and 1 gigabyte of gddr5 memory is a much better card than one with a 500 core clock and 500 megabytes of gddr2 memory.

Graphics cards have their own chipset too, and the 2 main choices are ATI or Nvidia. This again, is just a matter of opinion and personal preference like either coke, pepsi or mountain dew.

My favorite brand of Graphics cards are....

XFX brand graphics cards with the Nvidia chipsets have proven to be the best video cards for me, while there is a lot of good to say about the ATI chipset cards, the Nvidia chipsets cards are my personal preference.

Click Here To Search For The Highest Rated Graphics Cards On Amazon

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A good sound / audio card for your computer, paired with a good set of speakers can really enhance your multimedia experience. From playing games to watching movies or listening to music, you will find that the right sound card can make a big difference.

Though many motherboards now have good onboard audio included, for some people's taste, it's just not enough and an additional sound card may be the answer.

( note: Don't connect a great sound card to a cheap set of speakers and expect good results)

My favorite brand of Sound / Audio Cards are....

Probably one of the biggest name brands ( if not the biggest ) and most well known in sound / audio cards is the Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audio Cards.

At this time, I am currently only using onboard audio with a set of Sony brand headphones, but in the past I have owned a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Pro audio card and was extremely happy with it's performance, price and quality which makes this Big Joe's favorite brand of Sound / Audio Cards.

Click Here To Search For The Highest Rated Sound Cards On Amazon

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The monitor, like the graphics card is one of the most important pieces of hardware for gamer enthusiasts and graphic designers alike, and having the best brand of monitor shouldn't empty your bank account either.

While the monitor is important to almost anyone that uses a computer, The gamer and/or graphic designer will find that having the best brand of monitor is the only way to go.

For several years I have had a 19" (17.5" viewable) CRT monitor that served me very well, it was a KDS(Korea Data Systems) brand and it was a great monitor for the eight or nine years I owned it, But being a gamer myself, I was past due for an upgrade.

My favorite brand of Monitors are....

My upgrade went from the KDS brand CRT mentioned earlier to an Asus 24" model VW246H LCD which I can honestly say is the best monitor I have ever owned, It arrived quick and was in perfect condition with no dead or stuck pixels and was just as described by Asus.

Click here to read my personal review of this great Asus 24 Inch LCD Monitor.

So I take my hat off to both brands, Asus and KDS as both of these brands of computer monitors are my favorite.

Click Here To Search For The Highest Rated Computer Monitors On Amazon

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Below you will find a few of my favorite places to buy the "best brands of computer hardware" (and many other great items).

They are in no specific order and each one opens in a new window so you will not have to leave this page to visit them.

TigerDirect:

TigerDirect is where I bought all of the components to build my first computer and their products and service is excellent.

Click below to see what special deals on computer components they have going on this week.

CircuitCity:

CircuitCity is another great place to shop for the best brand of computer hardware, cellphones, cameras and more!

Click below to see if your product is available with Free Shipping.

Amazon:

It is needless to say that Amazon is one of my favorite places to find the best computer hardware.

Click below and see if you agree.

Walmart:

Everyone shops at Walmart, and with good reason. Walmart has something for everyone, Click below to see if they have something for you.

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D. Storing data permanently or until you delete it.
E. Motherboard
C. Central Processing Unit