Articles by 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

Intel’s woes with Core i9 CPUs crashing look worse than we thought – Team Blue really needs to act now to fix this mess

By Darren Allan published 12 July 24

AMD’s Ryzen 9000 CPUs could be handed a next-gen victory on a plate – if Intel can’t sort out spiralling issues with Core i9s.

Windows 11 is getting useful widget tweaks, but not the change we really want – Microsoft should learn from macOS

By Darren Allan published 11 July 24

New Windows 11 preview refines widgets on the lock screen, but Microsoft still hasn’t delivered on a previous promise.

OnePlus 12 close up showing Google Photos

Google just made it easy for Android to iPhone defectors to move their pics from Google Photos to Apple iCloud – but there’s a catch

By Darren Allan published 11 July 24

It’s now very easy to shift photos from one service to the other – but watch that free storage allowance.

Price leak suggests AMD may not make Ryzen 9700X and 9600X CPUs any cheaper – but there’s another reason Intel might be worried

By Darren Allan published 11 July 24

Rumored stock levels for Ryzen 9000 appear to be more bad news for Intel in the next-gen processor wars.

Person looking annoyed at Windows 11 laptop

Worried about that taskbar-breaking bug seen in Windows 11 last month? Good news: it’s fixed in Microsoft’s latest update

By Darren Allan published 10 July 24

Windows 11 hasn’t been doing well with bugs of late, but at least Microsoft has resolved this taskbar headache.

A mystery GPU with a colorful burst behind it

Nvidia’s RTX 5090 now rumored to have superfast clock speeds – as well as being super-slim – could this GPU be too good to be true?

By Darren Allan published 10 July 24

Nvidia's RTX 5090 is rumored to have 30% faster clocks than RTX 4090, which would be pretty incredible.

A laptop with the Windows 11 desktop on screen, glowing, while on a work desk

Microsoft seemingly backtracks on a controversial move to keep Windows 11 users stuck with their Microsoft Account

By Darren Allan published 9 July 24

Lost as to how you switch from a Microsoft Account to a local one? Handy official guide is back online.

Microsoft gives Windows 11 users a 3-month notice: upgrade to 23H2 now, or face the consequences

By Darren Allan published 9 July 24

Everyone needs to be on Windows 11 23H2 soon or they won’t get vital security updates to keep their PC safe.

CPU concept art of a chip with blue electricity coursing through it

All signs point to Intel being ready to deploy Lunar Lake CPU’s secret weapon for laptop gamers

By Darren Allan published 9 July 24

Intel’s nifty trick for Battlemage GPUs in Lunar Lake mobile processors looks on course to delight PC gamers.

Young woman using laptop, looking annoyed

Finally, Windows 11’s 24H2 update is going to fix a bunch of annoying bugs that make using the OS feel like a chore

By Darren Allan published 8 July 24

Problems with sluggish loading in parts of the Windows 11 interface have been resolved by Microsoft, thankfully.

Microsoft admits weak points of Copilot+ PCs with Arm CPUs, including driver issues, plus game and app compatibility

By Darren Allan published 8 July 24

What are the five main pitfalls of Windows 11 on Arm? Microsoft will tell you in a commendably upfront manner.

Microsoft just gave Notepad spellcheck and autocorrect – but some Windows 11 users aren’t happy

By Darren Allan published 8 July 24

The spellchecker has been in testing for some time, but now it’s quietly rolling out to all Windows 11 users.

AMD 9000X3D rumor suggests next-gen CPUs will be the same as current X3D gaming chips spec-wise – but that’s no reason to panic

By Darren Allan published 8 July 24

Even if all the core specs – including 3D V-Cache loadouts – remain static, we’re still expecting big things from 9000X3D.

Dell Inspiron 15 on green background with big savings text overlay

Want a laptop for under £300 that’s actually worth buying? Forget Amazon Prime Day, check out these laptops with huge price cuts

By Darren Allan published 5 July 24

Take care when buying a cheap notebook – although we can promise that these Dell and MSI laptops won’t disappoint.

An Acer Predator BiFrost Arc A770 OC on a gray deskmat

Battlemage GPUs sighted: Intel could have a pair of next-gen graphics cards to shake up the budget market

By Darren Allan published 5 July 24

Hopes of a powerful Battlemage GPU are evaporating, but we could get something better – two peppy budget graphics cards.

Windows 11 will soon get a lot more AI, as Microsoft outlines plans to help developers supercharge third-party apps

By Darren Allan published 4 July 24

Microsoft continues the big push to get AI into more Windows 11 apps, and not just its own stock applications.

Microsoft is messing with Windows 11’s Start menu and jamming in more adverts – and I’m sick of it

By Darren Allan published 4 July 24

What’s even worse here is that Microsoft is obscuring genuinely useful features in the Start menu to fit in these ads.

Acemagic X1 unveiled as world’s first dual-screen laptop giving you side-by-side displays – with an unsubtle hint that it’s MacBook-level premium

By Darren Allan published 3 July 24

Acemagic’s X1 is a novel laptop, but there are reasons to be skeptical, and an engraved Steve Jobs quote is one of them.

Impatient for Nvidia’s RTX 5090 to arrive? This ‘frankenGPU’ that’s basically an RTX 4090 Super will whet your appetite nicely

By Darren Allan published 3 July 24

Disappointed we never got an RTX 4090 Super? Modders have made one, giving us a hint of how quick the RTX 5090 might be.

Struggling with your broadband? A new internet speed record just hit 402Tbps – fast enough to download a 4K movie in under a millisecond

By Darren Allan published 2 July 24

Want to download Starfield in around 3ms? Well, you can’t, but this level of performance has been achieved in Japan.

Frustrations are being aired about Windows 11’s new Copilot app – but here’s why we’re not worried (just yet)

By Darren Allan published 2 July 24

Is Copilot going backwards? Accusations of a ‘downgraded’ AI are being flung around, but what’s really going on?

AMD’s powerful Ryzen AI 300 laptops may arrive later than rumored – but they’re still not far off

By Darren Allan published 1 July 24

Really keen to buy a laptop with a peppy Ryzen AI 300 CPU? You’ll have to wait a bit longer we’re afraid...

AMD Ryzen 9000X3D could get full overclocking abilities, making life even more difficult for Intel Arrow Lake CPUs

By Darren Allan published 1 July 24

Intel is going to have a tough time of the next-gen CPU wars if all the current rumors pan out as predicted.

A masculine hand holding an Intel Core i9-14900K

Will Core i9 crashing debacle stop gamers from buying Intel’s next-gen Arrow Lake CPUs? This motherboard maker is worried it might

By Darren Allan published 28 June 24

Is there a danger that the CPU instability saga might color the perception of Arrow Lake? It’s far from unthinkable.

AMD just unleashed FSR 3.1 – and it’s a great day for PC gamers no matter what brand of graphics card they own

By Darren Allan published 28 June 24

FSR 3.1 is here offering not just better quality upscaling, but the ability to bring frame generation to Nvidia and Intel GPUs.

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Darren Allan

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