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

An Acer Swift Go 14 laptop keyboard showing the Copilot button

Acer is set to show off new Copilot+ PCs with Intel’s Lunar Lake CPUs on September 4, kicking off the AI laptop wars in earnest

By Darren Allan published

Keen to see Copilot+ PCs with Intel processors inside? You’ve not got long to wait now.

An AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D

Forget Ryzen 9000, AMD’s next chip might be a Ryzen 5500X3D – and it might just be perfect for a budget gaming PC

By Darren Allan published

Those on a budget will appreciate this rumored CPU – but if it exists, let’s hope the 5500X3D isn’t exclusive to a single retailer.

An Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card slotted into a motherboard

New version of Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics card spotted with slower VRAM – here’s why that might just be a good thing

By Darren Allan published

Leak shows a tamer version of Nvidia’s RTX 4070 GPU could be on shelves soon – dare we hope that it’s cheaper?

An Intel Core i5-14600K against its promotional packaging

Intel’s fix for unstable CPUs is here, in beta, and if you're scared it might slow down your PC it seems that's not the case

By Darren Allan published

Intel’s own testing of 13th- and 14th-gen CPUs, and that of a third-party, demonstrate there’s little performance impact.

An AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT on a table

Hoping for some cheap new GPUs from AMD soon? Sadly, new rumor suggests RX 7400 and 7300 aren’t happening

By Darren Allan published

AMD doesn’t have imminent budget GPUs, seemingly – in fact, we won’t see any new graphics cards before RDNA 4.

AMD Ryzen 9000 series

AMD Ryzen 9000 CPUs get official pricing – and there’s good news and bad news

By Darren Allan published

Official MSRPs are all cheaper than their predecessors, even if top-end Ryzen CPUs aren’t quite as affordable as a leak suggested.

Samsung LPDDR5X DRAM

Super-thin AI laptops could be coming with the help of Samsung’s nifty new RAM sticks that are as thin as a fingernail

By Darren Allan published

Samsung’s cranking up production of notebook RAM which is truly wafer-thin (at 0.65mm to be precise).

Intel Core i9-13900K in hand

Intel calms fears over some 13th-gen or 14th-gen buyers missing out on extended warranty for instability issues – now all CPUs are covered, but worries remain

By Darren Allan published

Worried that your CPU in a prebuilt PC didn’t get Intel’s extra warranty to cover instability gremlins? It does now.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060

Nvidia is reportedly dropping the RTX 3060, even though it remains the most popular GPU by far on Steam

By Darren Allan published

Why is the RTX 3060 so popular – and why might Nvidia kill off this graphics card? There are good reasons on both counts.

A hand holding a phone showing the ChatGPT voice mode

ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode is scarily good at times – are we looking at the future of AI interactions?

By Darren Allan published

ChatGPT’s new voice mode is being shown off in various online clips by alpha testers, and it’s seriously impressive.

Person using a Windows 11 laptop

Windows 11 hits 30% adoption (and it’s about time) – so is Microsoft’s AI gamble finally starting to pay off?

By Darren Allan published

Windows 11 finally hits 30% adoption – but it’s scary how long this has taken, frankly.

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M3 REVIEW

How to check your MacBook's battery health

By Bryan M Wolfe last updated

Here's how to check your MacBook's battery health so that you can figure out if it's time for it to be replaced

Popcorn in bowl and MacBook on table

How to connect a MacBook to a TV

By Bryan M Wolfe last updated

Super-size your Mac experience by using a smart television as an external monitor.

Tiny toys team of engineers repairing circuit mother board computer

Intel extends warranty for its unstable CPUs – here’s what buyers of 13th-gen and 14th-gen chips need to know

By Darren Allan published

Still worrying about your Raptor Lake or Raptor Lake Refresh processor? You wouldn’t be alone…

Asus Adol Book 14

Ever wanted your laptop to smell of basil and mandarin? Your fragrant dreams can come true with the Asus Adol Book’s built-in scent dispenser

By Darren Allan published

Asus Adol Book 14 is a purple laptop aimed at the fashion-conscious with a novel twist – and a choice of fragrances.

A mockup of an AMD Ryzen 9000-series processor

Look out, Intel: AMD Ryzen 9000 leak suggests CPUs that’ll be a good deal cheaper than Ryzen 7000 prices at launch

By Darren Allan published

Leak suggests some tempting prices, and with Intel’s instability woes, there could be a big rush to buy these Ryzen chips.

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

Thinking of buying an Nvidia GPU? Rumored price hikes inbound for RTX 4070 and upwards mean you might want to act soon

By Darren Allan published

Nvidia may scale back production of RTX 4000 graphics cards, and stock levels could be affected in a big way.

Intel Core Ultra Mobile Chip

Forget Snapdragon X or AMD Ryzen AI 300 CPUs for laptops – Intel’s big Lunar Lake reveal on September 3 promises ‘unmatched AI computing power’

By Darren Allan published

Intel has a livestream launch planned just ahead of IFA 2024, and we can’t wait to see Lunar Lake in action.

Google Chrome on macOS

Chrome could revolutionize search on PC with a big Google Lens upgrade that lets you Circle to Search images

By Darren Allan published

Incoming Chrome feature is a major one that might change the way you search on a Windows 11 PC, Mac or Chromebook.

An AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX on a table against a white backdrop

AMD just made big improvements with AFMF 2, a new version of its tech to make all PC games run more smoothly

By Darren Allan published

Want a free frame rate boost for all your PC games? You’re in luck if you’ve got an AMD GPU...

Angry woman using a laptop

Windows 11 gets a new Netflix app – and it’ll make you wish you could keep the old one (spoiler alert: you can’t)

By Darren Allan published

Windows 11’s Netflix app just became more ‘consistent’ with apps on other platforms, except, well, it didn’t…

AMD Ryzen CPU rear pins

AMD’s Ryzen 9000 CPU delay is due to… typos on the chips? It seems unbelievable, but here we are

By Darren Allan published

AMD reportedly mislabels mid-range Ryzen 9000 CPUs as high-end chips – is this the reason for Zen 5’s delay to August?

An Intel Core i9-14900K slotted into a motherboard

Intel admits damage to unstable 14th-gen and 13th-gen CPUs is permanent – incoming patch is a preventative, not a cure

By Darren Allan published

New Q&A session with Intel is revealing, but likely won’t comfort owners of these processors.

An Acer Nitro 5 with RTX 3050 sitting on a desk

Nvidia looks to be revamping RTX 3050 mobile GPU with current-gen tech – and that might mean better battery life for budget gaming laptops

By Darren Allan published

Nvidia’s secret weapon for affordable gaming laptops could be… a (kind of) supercharged RTX 3050 graphics card.

A hand holding an Intel Core i9-14900K

Intel’s fix for high-end CPU crashes is coming, but a new leak suggests Team Blue could still be in hot water

By Darren Allan published

Intel’s cure for CPU crashes may not be the end of this story, as the investigation into the flaw is still ongoing.

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