Favorite hardware when doing repair jobs

[NYJimbo]

I'm bored...

So how about a thread where you list ANY hardware that you swear by when you do a repair/upgrade/install. I mean anything that you trust and would like to recommend to other techs. Post specifics when possible.

I will start:

When upgrading old machines with small hard drives I will install Western Digital 80 gb drives. The WD800JB (pata) and WD800JD (sata) are rock freaking solid and cost almost nothing. I keep them in stock and even use them when I do TIVO drive replacements.

 

[Jory]

Thermaltake 430W Power Supply

They're a little overkill for some systems, but I've never had a single one arrive dead, or break after time. I know of a couple systems I replaced dead PSU's in years ago that are still running. They're not cheap compared to what I've seen/heard other people using, but for $10-20 more I'll stake my reputation on it. They have rebates on newegg constantly so sometimes I'll buy an extra when they're cheap even if I don't need it. I've never had a problem getting rebates from them and you don't see much talk of not getting it in the reviews either.

Also I've never had a problem with Corsair or Kingston RAM. That probably has a lot to do with RAM rarely breaking, but it says something about their QC that I've never gotten a bad stick.