last time also got tis kinda thread... i also reply same thing... i only use asus... ok.. i bought abit, gigabyte, msi, fic, epox, etc... but still asus better...
next would be the chipset... if buy intel, den get intel chipset, dun go for sis or watever chipset... depends which 1 u get, different chipset yield different results, and more functions... often mobos with higher end chipset also more expensive... good mobos can cost as much as 400 or more..., overkill sometimes... like if u dun use those 'deluxe' functions... if use amd, go for nvidia chipset...
next would be GFX card, i only use ATI... only bought nvidia during those days ATI is out with rage... not rade...
hdd, buy raptor... hehe... overkill... ;p think just normal sata will do...
anyway, rule is, if u only got 1.2k to spare, not going to buy anything for 1 year, den buy the best your money can buy... else if u wanna buy 1.2k for basic 1st, upgrade slowly... i suggest get the most reasonable mobo+cpu package, with reasonable hdd, get 1gig ram 1st, den get 1 hdd, then slowly upgrade ram to 2gig, hdd x 4, SLI, etc...