Originally Posted by
Shadowex3
Quality with computer parts is rarely directly connected to price, if anything some of the most respected and trustworthy parts are usually significantly less expensive than others. Corsair power supplies for example as basically tied for perfect ratings from everyone everywhere with PC Power and Cooling and a 750 watt psu (easily 150 watts over what any non-sli gaming comp will EVER use) is only $110.
It's more knowing which names to buy than going by price. Since you're more intelligent than yeast and I haven't slept in too damn long thanks to finals week here's the sparknotes version, btw anandtech and tomshardware are good for benchmarks:
Motherboards: Gigabyte or Asus
Ram: Geil, mushkin, corsair, OCZ, gskill
Psu: Corsair, PC Power and Cooling (they're both pretty cheap anyway so why go elsewhere yknow?)
Graphics: XFX and EVGA the big two with lifetime warranties and 24/7 support plus overclocker friendly policies.
GraphicsATI: ATI first party or Sapphire are good, otherwise look at the heatsink and warranty information.
Soundcards: Some x-fi's are fakes without the real chip, check wikipedia for a list of the real hardware x-fi cards.
Heatsinks: Noctuas are suprisingly good, Thermalright (especially the TRUE) is the next best bet. Anandtech ftw.
Fans: Noctuas for dead silence at the cost of air, yate loons for a middleground, delta for "Screamers".
Thermalpaste: Arctic silver, Ceramique, IC diamond, arctic cooling mx2
Bling: Heatsinks, fans, and lights/accessories are cheapest from SVC.com instead of newegg.
CPU: Dependant on benchmarks and your budget.
Cases: Antec's got some good ones, Cooler Master is kinda the de facto leader. Look for steel and 120mm fans.
Peripherals: There's a reason the best warranty service is nicknamed a "Logitech lifetime warranty".
Screens: I've pasted a link to the thread on different flatpanel panel tech a dozen times. IPS or MVA/PVA is better.
Mousepads: Find an office depot and get a ~$10 "deskpad".
Headphones: Audio Technica or Sennheiser, don't buy into the surround sound or "gaming" BS. trust science.
Also it sounds ridiculous but if you get a less expensive case buy some fine grit sandpaper, cases without any rolled edges are like boxes full of razors.