The PC market may not be the high growth opportunity it used to be, but there’s still plenty of business to be done around computer peripherals and custom systems. And with a new generation of transformative processors coming in 2011, the PC market may get a boost this year.

This CRN Need To Know list takes a look at a wide variety of hardware infrastructure vendors that build all of the necessary parts that compose today’s computers, from the graphics cards and memory to the hard drives and chassis.

Key Executive: Simon Chen

ADATA offers memory devices that range from DRAM modules to USB flash drives, memory cards, SSDs and portable hard drives. It originally had focused on DRAM modules.

Key Executive: David Kenyon

AMD offers central processing and graphics processing technologies. Along with PC and workstation microprocessors, AMD delivers motherboard and embedded chipsets and server processors.

Key Executive: Scott Richards

Antec specializes in media components for the home entertainment space, including its Performance One Series, the more cost-efficient New Solution Series and the Veris family.

Key Executive: Antonio Viana

ARM is the leading IP supplier in semiconductors with 600 processor licenses sold to 200-plus companies. It licenses IP to Intel and OEMs, which manufacture system-on-chip designs.

Key Executive: Ben Thacker

Asus offers motherboards, laptops, servers and mobile phones. It also produces components for other manufacturers, including Apple, Dell, Falcon Northwest and Hewlett-Packard.

Key Executive: Mingyi Wang

Founded in 1980, Biostar went from manufacturing mainboards for the XT form factor before shifting to add-on cards and from the SI/OEM market to selling its branded products to channel partners.

Key Executive: Tse-yu Chen

Cooler Master specializes in computer cases and chassis as well as power supply units and processor coolers; it works with several OEMs such as Nvidia and AMD to produce cooling solutions.

Key Executive: Ruben Mookerjee

Corsair brings high-performance components to the PC gaming market and specializes in very high-performance memory, ultra-efficient power supplies and more.

Key Executive: Bob Klase

EVGA offers Nvidia-based computer hardware, mostly GeForce graphics cards, as well as Intel-based motherboards. In 2009, EVGA introduced the first four-way SLI-capable motherboard.

Key Executive: Yeh Pei-Chen

Gigabyte manufactures motherboard products, including the first motherboards with USB 3.0 support. Offerings include a Dynamic Energy Saver with a multigear power phase design and more.

Key Executive: Mike Cordano

Hitachi GST is a subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd. focused on storage. Its products include 7,200 RPM and low-profile 7mm drives, aimed at offering high-capacity storage at low levels of power consumption.

Key Executive: Steve Dallman

The world’s leading semiconductor company in terms of revenue, Intel developed and popularized the x86 microprocessor architecture now found in the vast majority of traditional PCs.

Key Executive: John Tu

Kingston is an independent memory vendor with products inside devices that include desktops, laptops, servers and printers as well as consumer electronics and handheld PCs.

Key Executive: Werner Heid

Logitech offers peripheral PC products such as mice and keyboards, as well as remote controls, gaming controllers and stereo speakers. It now delivers Logitech TV for viewing content in high-definition.

Key Executive: Gary Goodman

This data storage company serves a variety of PC customers. Its Fantom Drives are aimed at providing high-quality, reliable storage; and its products are covered by a comprehensive warranty policy.

Key Executive: Andy Tung

MSI, also known as Micro-Star International, is one of the largest manufacturers of graphics cards and motherboards in the world. The company began producing its own line of notebook PCs.

Key Executive: Jay Puri

A specialist in GPU technology, Nvidia also develops chipset technologies for workstations, PCs, and mobile and handheld PCs. Nvidia is now moving toward making its own CPU products.

Key Executive: Mai Kosla

Patriot makes memory module and Flash memory products, including Extreme Performance, Signature Lines and Flash Memory solutions. It also provides services within the memory module industry.

Key Executive: Doug Albregts

South Korean vendor Samsung offers storage devices for a range of digital content as well as sensitive data. Samsung also offers energy-efficient hard disk drives, optical disc drives and SSDs.

Key Executive: John Vossoughi

Seagate produces a range of storage devices, including 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch hard disk drives, SSDs and hybrid drives with rotating media and flash memory.

Key Executive: Charles Liang

SuperMicro’s products include “superservers,” motherboards, chassis, power supplies and accessories. It is active in a variety of markets including embedded, storage and networking. But its main focus is on designing and manufacturing server technology.

Key Executive: Patrick Mani

Toshiba’s storage division began offering hard disk drives in 1967. In addition to HDDs, the company offers optical disk drives, SSDs and NAND Flash memory for consumer electronics, computer and automotive applications, as well as retail and mobile.

Key Executive: Jeff Volpe

ViewSonic is known for its display products but offers a range of products including tablets, desktop monitors and projectors. ViewSonic boasts several all-in-one PCs as well as the small-form-factor PC Mini and the Viewbook mobile PC.

Key Executive: Tod Yagi

Western Digital offers hard drives and SSDs for PCs and workstations, as well as external and portable storage devices. Its products are featured inside military, aerospace, manufacturing and telecommunications systems, and digital video recorders.

Key Executive: Young-Pil Lee

South Korea-based Zalman builds a number of different computer components, from heatsinks and fans to water cooling solutions and quiet power supplies. The company also recently got into the 3-D display technology business with its ZM series.