A relative newcomer to the PC Authority Labs, Emagen has still managed to make a big impact. The Emagen Vitesse 1000Z continues the impressive run and even manages to snatch the Value Award this month. It is obvious that Emagen put a lot of thought into the Vitesse with wise component choices, excellent features and solid tailoring for under $2,800.

The combination of the Epox 8KTA2 motherboard, allowing incremental adjustment to the FSB and core voltage in the BIOS, the new ThermoEngine heatsink and fan unit with a wax core, along with the extraction fan at the back of the case, the Vitesse is primed for some performance tweaking or overclocking. While the Vitesse is only using SDR RAM, it is only a fraction behind the DDR systems in performance terms.

Graphically, the Emagen system is well decked out with an Asus AGP-V7700 Deluxe. It may not be as fast as the Hercules Prophet II Ultra, though owning one of these gives no one any right to complain. Attached to the other end of the Asus card is one of the best monitors in the Labs this month, the 17in Samsung Flat-CRT - also offered by Peripherals Plus - providing crisp detail and vivid colour to the display.

The Vitesse managed to make short work of the benchmarks tests this month, and though it was not the fastest machine, the results are more than ample to handle the most 3D intensive software. A top Quake III Arena Benchmark score of 42.2fps and 6,883 3DMarks see the Vitesse comfortably in the top half of the graphs, even when pitted against the DDR systems.

There is also a significant software bundle, including a range of productivity, educational and entertainment titles. The ever-reliable SoundBlaster Live! and Cambridge SoundWorks FPS1500 speaker set round off what is a very tidy package, and one that just managed to pip the Australia IT machine by the smallest of margins to take the Labs Award for Value.