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 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.

Lenovo ThinkBook Plus rollable screen laptop leaked images

Lenovo’s laptop with rollable screen possibly spotted – and I’m not sure whether it’s a great idea, or a disaster waiting to happen

By Darren Allan published

Lenovo’s next ThinkBook could embiggen your display for multitasking with a rollable screen – but I’m trying hard not to roll my eyes.

Four Asus ROG Strix gaming laptops set up on a desk.

Asus gaming laptops leak with RTX 5090, 5080 and 5070 Ti GPUs, sparking excitement about a CES 2025 reveal

By Darren Allan published

Asus ROG Strix G835 looks very powerful with an RTX 5090 on board alongside an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU.

The socket interface of the Intel Core Ultra processor

Got an Intel Core Ultra 200S CPU? These are the patches you need to help gaming performance – with one more update coming in January 2025

By Darren Allan published

Intel's had a bit of a nightmare with Arrow Lake, but has been commendably transparent in putting things right.

female PC gamer playing on a desktop

Microsoft lays out reasons Windows 10 gamers should upgrade to Windows 11, but I can pick a few holes in these arguments

By Darren Allan published

Ready to make the leap to Windows 11, gamers? Microsoft makes some sound points – but there are notable catches.

An AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE from PowerColor in a test bench

AMD looks to have scrapped its RX 7900 GRE – the graphics card that’s our current pick for best GPU

By Darren Allan published

Stock of the RX 7900 GRE is rapidly vanishing, and it seems that AMD is making way for new mid-range RDNA 4 heavyweights.

A PC gamer looking happy

Nvidia might reveal DLSS 4 at CES 2025 – and mysterious new AI capabilities that could be ‘revolutionary’ for GPUs

By Darren Allan published

Inno3D has been leaking info about Nvidia’s next-gen products again, with some eye-opening revelations here.

An angry PC Gamer sat at their desk looking unhappy

It looks like the Nvidia App could be doing more harm than good by tanking game performance – but there’s a fix

By Darren Allan published

There’s a widely reported issue with the new Nvidia App – the Game Filters feature is causing serious slowdowns.

An Nvidia RTX 4090

Uh oh... Zotac just leaked Nvidia’s next-gen launch line-up, including RTX 5090 GPU with 32GB of VRAM

By Darren Allan published

Zotac accidentally spills the details on Nvidia’s initial RTX 5000 range – but there’s no RTX 5060 to be seen.

Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit photos from stage and demo samples

Intel throws shade at Arm PCs, claiming retailers get a ‘large percentage’ of devices returned – but Qualcomm is quick to strike back

By Darren Allan published

The gloves are off with Copilot+ PCs: Intel and Qualcomm just got into a huge fight over how many Arm PCs are returned.

An Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti

RTX 5060 rumor suggests it’ll have 8GB VRAM and I’m starting to wonder if Nvidia has lost the plot with next-gen GPUs

By Darren Allan published

Still seething over Nvidia’s RTX 5070 with 12GB rumor? You don’t want to hear the purported VRAM loadout of the RTX 5060, then...

Frustrated unhappy laptop user girl touching head at work table with computer

Windows 11’s Start menu recommendations are being improved – but I’m still not impressed, Microsoft

By Darren Allan published

This is a positive move for Windows 11 users, but ideally, I’d like the option to completely ditch Microsoft’s suggestions.

An Nvidia RTX 4090

Nvidia RTX 5090 rumor suggests flagship GPU might not guzzle as much power as previously claimed – but don’t get too excited

By Darren Allan published

Scared the Nvidia RTX 5090 GPU will run your gaming PC’s power supply ragged? New rumor offers a glimmer of hope.

An Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card on its retail packaging

Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti could turn up before RTX 5070 – and new rumor suggests it might be the powerhouse GPU I’ve been waiting for

By Darren Allan published

Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti rumors underline how powerful this graphics card might be – and it could be just around the corner.

The power connector for an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card

Nvidia RTX 5000 prediction suggests RTX 5090 will be a monster flagship GPU... but it’s the RTX 5070 I’m worried about

By Darren Allan published

Word from the grapevine suggests Nvidia RTX 5090 could hit rumored 70% gen-on-gen uplift – but RTX 5070 might lag far behind.

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