Fantastic design and highly-configurable power make this XPS useful, desirable and good value.

A poor performer in the face of HP’s similarly-priced, touch screen-enabled rival.

Great design and comprehensive features make it a truly great Media Center PC. Only the price lets it down.

Custom design watercooling and some judicious overclocking make for a showstopping performance and price.

Nvidia’s 8800 GTX graphics card is the crowning glory of this very-fast, great-value, PC.

Not great value for money, but the XPS 700 offers plenty of power and striking looks.

Very fast, but the top-end components offer poor value in the face of competition.

We’ve had some great competitors knocking on the mid-range A-Listed door, but TI’s all-rounder wins through.

A few quirks can’t detract from the fact that this system is fast and good value

Chunky, powerful and intimidating. Everything you want in a PC, but not what you'd want in a media centre.

The dual-core version of AMD's premium FX-series enters the game, and nothing can stand in its way.

The system as a whole looks great and we can't find a weak spot.

A good-value and very powerful system that will appeal to those seeking ultimate performance.

The two-and-a-half thousand dollar price point is a popular one for PC systems.

We put out the call to Australia’s white box PC manufacturers for a good high-end $4000 PC and PC Express was the first to respond.

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.

The cheapest system to be submitted for review in our performance roundup, it just goes to show that even $4000 will get you a hell of a lot of PC for your money. PCQUEST has also opted to go with a CoolerMaster case, both for its attractive looks and functionality, this housing able to hold a massive five optical drives and four hard disk drives, erring on the side of more is better.