Darren Allan

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

Articles by: Darren Allan

A PC Gamer looking happy sat in front of their desktop monitor

Think Ryzen 9000 CPUs are still a bit pricey? AMD just revealed a cheaper Zen 5 chip that could be perfect for your budget PC build

By Darren Allan published

We don’t have a launch price for the new Ryzen 9600 yet, but we can hope for the CPU to retail at around $200.

Valorant gameplay

How high do you want your frame rates? Nvidia boasts that RTX 5090 GPU can drive Valorant at over 800 fps with jaw-dropping low latency

By Darren Allan published

Nvidia claims RTX 5090 exceeds 800 fps in Valorant – and that it’s a pro gamer’s dream GPU for low latency and smooth frame rates.

Bing

Google fires back as Microsoft is accused of 'tricking' people into using Bing

By Darren Allan published

Google vs Microsoft fight gets ugly as Chrome boss accuses company of 'spoofing the Google homepage'.

The Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU on a green background.

Still worried RTX 5000 GPUs don’t have enough VRAM? Nvidia’s secret weapon is powerful AI texture compression, and it’s calmed some of my fears

By Darren Allan published

Nvidia has a raft of fresh technology to make RTX 5000 graphics cards work better, and it all sounds very impressive, at least on paper.

Qualcomm Snapdragon X 8-core chip

Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X arrives at CES 2025, and I’m excited about how this CPU could seriously heat up competition with budget laptops and Copilot+ PCs

By Darren Allan published

Qualcomm’s big CES 2025 laptop play is a new Snapdragon X chip that’ll usher in Copilot+ PCs for around $600.

Using Zipped files and folders in Windows 11

Windows 11 might soon be more helpful in letting you know how powerful your PC actually is – I just hope this planned feature is better than Microsoft’s past efforts

By Darren Allan published

Confused about your PC spec and how fast the machine really is? Windows 11 could come to the rescue with new spec ‘cards’ and a FAQ.

Young woman using laptop, looking annoyed

Microsoft embarrasses itself with Windows 10 pop-up that hogs the desktop urging an upgrade to Windows 11 – then promptly crashes

By Darren Allan published

Windows 10 users, start planning for Windows 11 now – by watching Microsoft’s pop-up pushing an upgrade crash.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 15 on wooden desk, close up showing left hand side ports, including dual USB-C, USB-A and 3.5mm audio.

Surface Laptop’s audio could get even better in the future thanks to a clever twist – a speaker built into the touchpad

By Darren Allan published

A patent filed for a touchpad with haptic feedback and an integrated speaker is a potential spark of ingenuity from Microsoft.

Windows 11 Live Wallpaper Leaked Images

I love the look of these dynamic wallpapers that were supposedly for Windows 11 – but the idea has been scrapped

By Darren Allan published

Windows 11’s rumored dynamic wallpapers look seriously smart – but they’ll never brighten your desktop sadly.

Upset young man plays computer games at home.

Windows 11 24H2 is in danger of becoming hated by gamers

By Darren Allan published

Windows 11’s 24H2 update has hit gamers with quite a number of bugs, and now Path of Exile 2 players are being made miserable.

Nvidia geforce 4070

Nvidia RTX 5050 to 5090 laptop GPUs spotted, suggesting next-gen graphics cards are ready for rumored CES 2025 launch

By Darren Allan published

Is Nvidia’s RTX 5070 Ti mobile set to use a low-end Lovelace chip? No, in a word – but new rumor still suggests next-gen GPUs are imminent.

An Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 on a wooden desk in front of a white panel

Latest Nvidia RTX 5000 power usage rumors make me scared that my PSU will be nowhere near enough for the RTX 5080

By Darren Allan published

I’m likely going to have to stick with an RTX 5070 for my graphics card upgrade – or go AMD RDNA 4 instead.

Person playing a game on new MacBook Air

What to expect from Apple Macs in 2025

By Darren Allan published

Apple has struggled with Mac sales in 2024 – can it turn things around next year? The firm seemingly has a host of launches lined up.

An AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on a table

What to expect from AMD in 2025

By Darren Allan published

AMD has a whole host of exciting hardware launches in the pipeline, from RDNA 4 graphics cards to Strix Halo APUs.

A person using the M4 MacBook Pro.

Apple Mac in 2024: year in review

By Darren Allan published

Apple’s had a busy old year, both on the hardware and software fronts – we’ve picked out the highlights and lowlights of 2024.

An Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super on a desk

What to expect from Nvidia in 2025

By Darren Allan published

Nvidia has a bunch of next-gen RTX 5000 graphics cards to keep us enthralled – and maybe a huge move on the CPU front.

A Microsoft Surface Pro 11 on a desk

Microsoft in 2024: year in review

By Darren Allan published

Microsoft launched some truly excellent Surface devices, but Windows 11 24H2 ran into serious problems with bugs.

A finger touching a screen showing the Windows 11 logo

5 reasons why I’m finally upgrading to Windows 11 in January

By Darren Allan published

Been putting off that Windows 11 upgrade? Here’s why the time might finally be right to take the plunge.

Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite

Qualcomm in 2024: year in review

By Darren Allan published

It was a big year for Qualcomm in the world of PCs, with Snapdragon X CPUs making quite an entrance – if not an impact with sales (yet).

Intel Core Ultra processor

Intel in 2024: year in review

By Darren Allan published

The kind of year Intel had was debatable – was it disastrous, or just plain bad? To be fair, there were victories for Team Blue this year, as well.

A PS5 Pro next to a pair of hands carefully inserting an MSI graphics card into a PC case.

Why I’m skipping the PS5 Pro in 2025 and upgrading my gaming PC instead

By Darren Allan published

I’m not buying a PS5 Pro in 2025 – instead I’m picking up a very long HDMI cable and a new GPU for my gaming PC.

An AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D on a desk on top of its retail packaging

AMD in 2024: year in review

By Darren Allan published

AMD had something of a mixed year, but more was happening with its CPUs compared to the firm’s graphics cards.

An Nvidia RTX 4070 Super on a purple deskmat on a desk

Nvidia in 2024: year in review

By Darren Allan published

This year, Nvidia’s value went through the roof, and new RTX Super GPUs were definite crowd-pleasers.

A person tapping a Humane AI Pin, a person wearing an Apple Vision Pro and a hand holding a smartphone running the new Sonos app.

The 11 biggest tech flops of 2024, ranked – from Windows Recall to the Apple Vision Pro

By Darren Allan published

We’ve picked out the worst tech fails of this year, with our readers deciding on the ranking order for the top flops.

An AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on a table

AMD RDNA 4 GPU rumors flood forth, including possible name change to RX 9070 – because bigger is better, compared to Nvidia’s RTX 5070?

By Darren Allan published

Fresh speculation on the performance of the claimed RX 9070 XT might disappoint PC gamers, though.

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