I think Lightwave and Cinema 4D would be near the top of my list. 3DS Max is probably the mass user's choice (due in part to it being so widely pirated).
www.computerarts.co.uk has a software review section, their reviews are fairly trustworthy (though not in depth).
A lot also depends on what kind of work you will be needing your software to perform, you may need external plugins or the provided render engine of the software may be adequate.