Best of DIY Computing: Readers’ Choice series

That AMD’s share in this chart is the smallest and behind Intel is somewhat surprising, considering its new Radeon RX 9000 series of GPUs have met with positive acclaim from reviewers and gamers alike – thanks to its good performance and value attributes. The momentum that once ate into NVIDIA’s share seems to have stalled, reflecting consumer hesitation as NVIDIA’s software stack becomes harder to ignore on the high-end graphics cards, while Intel has come out of nowhere with a firm mid-range contender.

Looking ahead, 2026 could be more competitive. NVIDIA is expected to launch the “Super” variants of the 5070 and 5080 GPUs and AMD needs stronger messaging around FSR and power efficiency. Intel’s GPU roadmap is still rather grey for 2026 and the once-mighty giant could do well to focus its priority on its CPU and enterprise businesses.

Best Graphics Card Brand – ASUS

ASUS and its gaming sub-brand ROG takes the top spot again with 47.6% of the votes, and its lead still feels fairly secure. Much of that comes down to consistency: ASUS has continued to set the benchmark for graphics card designs (its Astral RTX 5080 and 5090 cards are truly impressive), pushed even more efficient thermal profiles, and maintained strong availability across both NVIDIA and AMD lineups. Then there’s also the Strix and TUF models, which remained familiar choices for readers who simply wanted something dependable without burning their pockets – relatively speaking.

Gigabyte and MSI, at 18.1% and 16.5% respectively, appear to have benefited from a more active year – thanks to new NVIDIA and AMD GPUs. Both brands leaned into refreshed designs for the RTX 50 series, and Gigabyte in particular gained attention for its solid-performing Aorus GeForce RTX 5080, which also won our Tech Award’s Best Graphics Card (RTX 5080) award. It’s also worth noting that the smaller brands like Zotac, Sapphire, Galax and Powercolor have all seen a small increase as compared to last year – seemingly at the expense of MSI.

In 2026, it’s very likely that ASUS / ROG will still be the dominant brand even in the absence of next-generation GPUs (apart from the impending RTX 50 “Super” series). It will also be very interesting to see if brands like Zotac and Sapphire can continue to increase their marginal gains.

Best CPU Brand – Intel

Intel still comes out on top with 54.4% of the votes albeit a massive drop from last year’s 66% and this year’s result feels more like inertia than a reflection of performance leadership. 2025 was the year AMD’s flagship Ryzen 9 9950X3D has been widely praised by reviewers (including us) and end-users as a “complete” CPU for both gaming and content creation, pulling ahead of Intel’s Core Ultra series in raw speed and power efficiency. AMD is the one setting the pace in 2025.

So why does Intel still clinch the Best CPU Brand title? Familiarity and ecosystem confidence go a long way. This is very likely due to a large portion of mainstream users having spent years on Intel platforms, and they still associate the brand with stability, broad motherboard support, and fewer “hiccups” when building or upgrading. That kind of reputation doesn’t vanish the moment benchmarks swing in the other direction.

AMD’s increased 45.6% share suggests it has gained serious mindshare – probably the largest share in years, but came up a tad shy to truly tip the scales in its favour. Some buyers may still be sitting on older Intel platforms, waiting for a full system refresh before considering Ryzen, even as they acknowledge AMD’s current lead.

Can AMD convert its performance into votes in 2026? Well, 5% isn’t a lot between Team Red and Team Blue and if Ryzen 9000 trickles into more mid-range builds and OEM systems, we could see the gap narrow further.

Best SSD Brand – Samsung

Samsung retains its position as the top SSD brand with 25.3% of the votes despite a small dip, and much of that comes down to longstanding trust. Even as competitors stepped up in 2025, Samsung’s reputation for strong controller technology, consistent firmware support, and wide retail availability continues to resonate with upgraders who just want something reliable. The company’s latest 9100 Pro is an impressive SSD option for enthusiasts, and our benchmarks show that the SSD king is not going to lose its crown easily.

Meanwhile, SanDisk (WD) moves up to second place with 16.3% this year, overtaking Seagate – which drops to fourth place with 8.2%. It’s a remarkable turnaround for both brands. The middle of the chart tells its own story: Kingston and HP literally dropped out of the race while Crucial and Corsair gained marginal footholds. Of course, we know by now that Crucial is exiting the consumer SSD market and pivoting to AI-related businesses. So, in 2026, there will be one fewer brand for consumers to consider. But which of the remaining brands here will step up to fill the – small – void? Stay tuned.

Best Motherboard Brand – ASUS

It isn’t just the Graphics Card Brand category, but ASUS / ROG also continues to dominate the Best Motherboard Brand category with 57.3% of the votes. It’s a small increase over last year’s 56%, seemingly eating shares up from Gigabyte and Asrock. Across both Intel and AMD platforms, ASUS’ higher-end ROG and more affordable TUF boards remained popular choices in 2025, thanks to reliable BIOS updates, strong VRM designs, and a reputation for stability.

Gigabyte’s 2025 lineup offered competitive features at friendlier prices, especially for mid-range Z890 and X870E boards but I suspect enthusiasts and mainstream consumers are simply more aware of ASUS (and ROG) options thanks to a more proactive digital and on-ground marketing activities. It also doesn’t hurt to have some very nice collaborations, like the ROG x Hatsune Miku PC, which captures our imagination. Meanwhile, MSI’s steady 17% mirrors another solid year, while ASRock’s smaller 5.8% result could have been impacted by its less-than-stellar reliability reputation, which took a further hit earlier this year.

So how would 2026 look? For my money, I’d say ASUS remains the favourite, but if Gigabyte and MSI continue refining their feature-to-price balance, the vote gap may narrow. But not by much.

That wraps up the Readers’ Choice voting segment for the Best of DIY Computing, but be sure to check out the results in these other categories that we’ll be publishing over the next few days:-

• Part 1: Best of Personal Computing Brands
• Part 2: Best DIY Computing Brands (this article)
• Part 3: Best Mobile Tech Brands
• Part 4: Best Lifestyle Tech Brands (coming soon)
• Part 5: Best Home Appliances Brands (coming soon)
• Part 6: Best Home Entertainment Brands (coming soon)
• Part 7: Best Service Provider Brands (coming soon)
• Part 8: Best Tech Brands in Gaming (coming soon)

Lastly, don’t forget that we’ve also published our Editor’s Choice results here to help you get the best of the best gear.

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