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 Microsoft Surface Laptop being shown at Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC Showcase

Windows 11’s AI Recall feature is blasted by a security expert as ‘one of the most ridiculous security failings I’ve ever seen’

By Darren Allan published

Is Microsoft ‘setting fire’ to its Copilot brand with the Windows 11 Recall feature? One expert believes this might be the case.

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

Nvidia RTX GPUs get one of the coolest features ever: automatic overclocking that won’t affect your warranty

By Darren Allan published

Computex 2024 Scared to overclock your graphics card? Nvidia’s app will do all the hard work for you, with no risks involved.

MacBook Pro 14-inch (M3, 2023)

If you wanted a MacBook M4 at WWDC 2024, prepare to be disappointed – apparently Apple isn’t launching any new hardware

By Darren Allan published

WWDC has become a vehicle for Mac hardware in recent years, but seemingly not in 2024.

Windows 10's grave

How to prepare for Windows 10 End of Life

By Darren Allan published

Windows 10 support ends next year, and it’s a good idea to start exploring your options regarding what to do next.

Acer SpatialLabs Eyes Stereo Camera

Acer kicks off Computex 2024 with a bunch of nifty monitors, a Wi-Fi 7 toting mesh router – and a really cool 3D camera

By Darren Allan published

Computex 2024 There’s a clutch of gaming monitors, a gaming router too, and a mesh system – along with that eye-catching 3D camera.

An Nvidia RTX 4090

Next-gen Nvidia RTX 5090 GPU could have less VRAM than previously rumored – but that might be good news for gamers

By Darren Allan published

The incoming Blackwell flagship graphics card might be restricted to 28GB of VRAM – but isn’t that plenty?

A PC Gamer looking happy

Microsoft unleashes DirectSR – and I couldn’t be more excited about how much difference this will make to PC games

By Darren Allan published

DirectSR tech could be a literal game-changer for faster frame rates – and it’s already here in preview.

An Nvidia RTX 4090

Nvidia RTX 5090 rumors continue to suggest this graphics card will not just be powerful, but also somehow miraculously slim

By Darren Allan published

RTX 5090 could be a dual-slot graphics card that fits in your high-end PC a lot easier than the RTX 4090.

An array of Nvidia RTX 4080 Super GPUs on a black reflective surface

Nvidia RTX 4080 Super gets tempting discounts – but are bigger price cuts coming, prompted by the RTX 5080 GPU?

By Darren Allan published

While the RTX 4080 Super looks enticing as it drops below its recommended pricing, there’s lots to weigh up here.

Zotac Zone gaming handheld teaser

Zotac Zone handheld to be revealed at Computex, packing OLED and maybe a CPU to blow away the Steam Deck

By Darren Allan published

The handheld market is becoming increasingly crowded, but this Zotac offering could stand out from the throng.

A masculine hand holding an Intel Core i9-14900K

Intel Arrow Lake looks set for a September launch – but that might be too late in the battle of next-gen CPUs against AMD Ryzen 9000

By Darren Allan published

If AMD’s next-gen processors based on Zen 5 are coming as early as rumored, Intel can't hang about with Arrow Lake.

An AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D slotted into a motherboard

AMD Ryzen 9000 CPUs could go on sale in July – great news for consumers, but terrible news for Intel

By Darren Allan published

If Arrow Lake processors don’t arrive until the end of 2024, Intel could face something of a nightmare scenario.

Canva

Microsoft’s trick for speeding up PC games in Windows 11 works with only 12 games to start with – but far more are actually supported

By Darren Allan published

Windows 11’s AI feature for smoother gameplay on Copilot+ PCs has some nuances and catches to be aware of.

An AMD processor on a metal surface

AMD’s Strix Point CPUs for Copilot+ PCs aren’t even out, but their rumored names are already confusing everyone

By Darren Allan published

Rumor suggests AMD’s Strix Point laptop CPU names have changed, because Ryzen AI 300 trumps Intel Core Ultra 200.

Windows 11 working on a laptop PC

Windows 11’s Recall feature is already running on unsupported CPUs – and it shows why this is a bad idea

By Darren Allan published

Want Recall but don’t want to buy a new Copilot+ PC? Someone’s already fudged it to work.

An Nvidia RTX 4090

Nvidia RTX 5090 could pack 32GB of VRAM and be a slimmer graphics card than the RTX 4090

By Darren Allan published

New RTX 5090 rumors put an intriguing spin on the graphics card, but also make us worry how much it’ll cost.

Razer Blade 15 Advanced on a green background next to text reading 'Price cut'

Grab the Razer Blade 15 gaming laptop with a massive $800 discount this Memorial Day

By Darren Allan published

If you want a gaming laptop that’s easy to take with you anywhere, but still plenty powerful, look no further.

The new AI-powered Surface Laptop and Surface Pro tablet

Windows 11’s AI-powered feature to make games run more smoothly is for Copilot+ PCs only, we’re afraid

By Darren Allan published

Were you excited about Microsoft’s upscaling solution for Windows 11? Well, prepare for some disappointment…

The Microsoft Surface Pro in black colorway

Microsoft’s controversial Recall feature for Windows 11 could already be in legal hot water

By Darren Allan published

Investigation is underway by a privacy watchdog, and it’ll be very interesting to see the outcome.

An array of Nvidia RTX 4080 Super GPUs on a black reflective surface

Nvidia RTX 5080 could still turn up later in 2024 – and next-gen GPU might have plenty of stock on shelves too

By Darren Allan published

There’s been some confusion about when the RTX 5080 might launch, but it seems like the GPU is on track for release in Q4.

Gigabyte motherboards

Leak shows Gigabyte motherboards for Intel Arrow Lake CPUs pack some kind of mysterious AI feature

By Darren Allan published

Maybe these motherboards will offer some options for fine-tuning AI performance with next-gen processors, somehow?

Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit photos from stage and demo samples

Snapdragon X Elite CPU has been put through its paces early – and appears to be every bit as strong as Qualcomm claims

By Darren Allan published

If you wondered whether Qualcomm had been exaggerating the capabilities of its new SoC, well, apparently not…

Nvidia logo on a dark background

Nvidia’s set to supercharge Copilot+ PCs with its RTX GPUs – and maybe that’ll happen soon

By Darren Allan published

We’ve been hearing all about Copilot+ PCs this week, and Nvidia is set to jump on this particular AI bandwagon.

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

Excited about Snapdragon X Elite laptops? Forget them, says Intel, the true AI PC powerhouse CPU will be Lunar Lake

By Darren Allan published

Intel fans flames of hype around Lunar Lake laptop CPUs set to arrive as soon as Q3.

Intel Thunderbolt 5

Intel Thunderbolt Share arrives with some truly neat tricks for two PCs sharing files, or a monitor, or even the same mouse and keyboard

By Darren Allan published

Thunderbolt Share app makes file and screen sharing between two PCs dead easy, and dead fast.

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