When we think of SiS graphics, we usually think of low cost, low-end cards or integrated offerings for the entry-level 2D market, with the possibility of some rudimentary 3D capabilities thrown in.

We know you want to play games, so we've put 18 PCI Express graphics cards under the microscope to see who really does the job the best.

The X800XT is at the cutting edge of gaming technology at the moment, and no card demonstrates this better than the PowerColor X800XT. It combines a killer price (for a high-end card), excellent performance, and a respectable bundle.

If your PC is less of a speed demon and more of a dinosaur then it's time to upgrade your CPU. We put the latest low, mid and high end processors to the test.

There’s only so many times I can herald the coming switch from analog TV broadcasts to digital, so I’ll just dig straight into this impressive digital television card.

This card performed well in 3DMark01SE, producing 14,739 3Dmarks and falling just behind the top performing AOpen in this category. Unfortunately, it fell slightly behind the competition in the 3DMark05 high stress test, and even fell behind two of the three X700Pro cards on test.

This card was the second poorest performing X800 XT on show in 3DMark01SE's DirectX 8 tests, with roughly 400 3Dmarks between it and the Gigabyte RX80X256V. But DX8 testing certainly isn't everything these days, and ABIT's card put in a good showing to take fourth in the DirectX 9.0-based 3DMark05, putting it on par with the Labs winning PowerColor X800 XT and GeCube card.

While the epithet 'multimedia PC' used to be bandied about to over-hype any PC in the mid-'90's that was capable of playing music, rudimentary video, and games, the descriptive was overused so much on sub-par PCs that the impact of any real multimedia capabilities was diminished in the wash of pretenders.

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.

One of the most striking things about Pioneer’s entry this month is the cosmetics: it’s 24hr karaoke bar meets street-racing BMW. And lots of blue LEDs! And these LED’s can get a little annoying – especially the super bright “headlight” LED’s. They shine directly ahead, and at desk height they beam straight into your eyes. There is also a large, illuminated ‘Xfinity’ etched into the front door of the case. Suffice to say this case won’t be to everyone’s taste. But otherwise, the rest of the externals are OK – the top mount houses two of the six total USB ports beneath a tidy flap, and a large power button with a good action.

Although the dual-band NETGEAR WAB501 was an excellent PCMCIA card and scored well, we rated the single-band 802.11a NETGEAR HA501 higher because of its ability to cope with dire signal conditions.

The BenQ DC2300 is a 2.1-megapixel camera with 2,048 x 1,536 optical resolution, 8MB internal memory, fixed focus, and built-in flash. It stores images and video in MMC and SD card media, has a USB interface and takes AA batteries. A fairly low priced camera, the DC2300 offers white-balance modes, metering modes and exposure adjustments.

Like the MSI X800XT-VTD256E, Sapphire's offering represents bang on average performance. But, unlike MSI, this doesn't offer the feature set to offset the higher price.

Excellent audio with a cool factor.

ATI gives the integrated graphics world a kick in the arse, John Gillooly feels the vibrations.

Unlike the Surecom EP-9500 access point, this Surecom PCMCIA card featured a clean and uncluttered software interface

The Canon A300 is an entry level 3.2-megapixel camera with rather plain specifications and an average range of photgraphic features.

Once the lens shutters are opened, the Canon PowerShot S50 powers up and welcomes you with a tone. Similar to the smaller Canon IXUS 400 in terms of features, it too ships with a 32MB CF card and AV cables. With fairly easy to navigate menus, the S50 also features video capture and a thumb-sliding preview mode.

The Mega 2801 has one of the coolest features seen on a HTPC: it lets you play CDs (but not DVDs) without the computer turned on. It has two red buttons on the fascia that let you choose between CD or PC.