Several PC makers expect to have Nehalem-EX 16-core DP desktops, in fact super workstations, at the chip's launch towards year-end

This well-built compact is a solid point-and-shooter, but it struggles in low light

Creative has enjoyed a long reign as the driving force in consumer-grade PC audio for the better part of a decade.

AMD celebrated its Opteron chip's sixth birthday in a fitting way by accelerating the six-core Istanbul release to June, and by announcing the 12-core total of two Istanbul dies in one Magny-Cours package to come out half a year later.

Too many flaws make this merely a sexy-looking underachiever

Offering good quality images, this highly compact camera is a fine alternative to the award winners.

Think of sound cards and chances are you're probably thinking of Creative. Thanks to its phenomenally successful Sound Blaster line of cards, Creative is easily the leader of consumer PC audio. The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum Ex is the latest in this range, and is by far the most feature rich. The question is do you need most of these features?

When we last looked at the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 (the Platinum Ex, June 2003) we were highly impressed by the soundcard and its many functions, but felt that there was perhaps too much on offer, leaving you with many unwanted, unused and unwarranted inclusions.

The best just got cheaper. World-beating force feedback and superbly responsive steering, but not quite as good as the more expensive Driving Force Pro

Not the slimmest any more, but still amazingly compact. A very capable cam if you don’t mind the menus

sound card

The original Audigy brought ASIO drivers, SB1394 (IEEE 1394) and EAX Advanced HD to the masses, but it was criticised because some people felt betrayed by the 24-bit 96kHz specification, which referred to the DACs rather than the sampling rate.

Toshiba adds more models with Next G capabilities, but if you want to slot in a 3 SIM you're out of luck unfortunately.

Ex-Vista boss Jim Allchin is taking pre-release orders of his debut rock album from Amazon, proving there’s life after Vista.

An engineer who moved from Intel to rival chip maker AMD has been accused by the FBI of nicking top secret files on the way out the door.

A rogue group of ex-power sellers have broken away from the eBay mothership and launched their own auction site. The best bit? No listing fees.

Amanda Congdon hired by ABC and HBO.

Impressive and free antivirus and antispyware package

Impressive and free antivirus and antispyware package

Tony Scott gets key role with software giant.