Alan Dexter
Alan has been writing about PC tech since before 3D graphics cards existed, and still vividly recalls having to fight with MS-DOS just to get games to load. He fondly remembers the killer combo of a Matrox Millenium and 3dfx Voodoo, and seeing Lara Croft in 3D for the first time. He's very glad hardware has advanced as much as it has though, and is particularly happy when putting the latest M.2 NVMe SSDs, AMD processors, and laptops through their paces. He has a long-lasting Magic: The Gathering obsession but limits this to MTG Arena these days.
Latest articles by Alan Dexter
![Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 memory in motherboard](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xurdG3Cb8aUYQgynKjkRW9-320-80.jpg)
Kingston explains why DDR5 costs so much, and when it will be the dominant memory tech for PCs
By Alan Dexter published
Ramifications Intel's Alder Lake is the first platform to support DDR5, but what can we expect from the future of RAM?
![best ssd nominees](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nBecNjr58agPyUgodMF7Ae-320-80.jpg)
PC Gamer Hardware Awards: What is the best SSD of 2021?
By Alan Dexter published
Gear of the year SSDs are now faster, bigger and available for less, what more could you want?
![best gaming motherboard nominees](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3AWX3fGU2d33JbNubY56c6-320-80.jpg)
PC Gamer Hardware Awards: What is the best motherboard of 2021?
By Alan Dexter published
Gear of the Year The lack of GPUs makes system building tricky, but there are still some great motherboards out there.
![Best CPU of 2021](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/JjUYm2TRDMmbCaZSqLWVM4-320-80.jpg)
PC Gamer Hardware Awards: What is the best CPU of 2021?
By Alan Dexter published
Gear of the year After being forced into the corner by AMD, this is the year that Intel came out swinging.
![PC gaming setup](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/9BTNbqjcEAEN5JkrVS7Qzn-320-80.jpg)
PC gaming in 2021: The hardware highlights and lowlights
By Dave James, Jacob Ridley, Alan Dexter, Katie Wickens published
Highs and lows It's been a wild ride of a year, and not all of it bad.
![MTG Arena](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QmzMiC5WuDxDB3DFBNZvNk-320-80.jpg)
Innistrad: Crimson Vow has renewed my thirst for turning cards sideways
By Alan Dexter published
Staff Pick Even after 24 years, Magic the Gathering still manages to scratch that itch.
![Minisforum X500-5700G mini PC](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/tbVDWDcrepDK5ojnuCsbWn-320-80.jpg)
Save up to $220 on a mini PC this Christmas
By Alan Dexter published
Deals Treat yourself to a mini marvel starting from $299.
![Master Chief staring up with best settings overlay in red](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RUi8AFYMR9NJdtCGyqPSff-320-80.png)
The best settings for Halo Infinite
By Alan Dexter published
Halo effect Run rings around Halo Infinite's steep system requirements with our guide to the best settings.
![Gigabyte Aorus Xtreme RTX 3080 Ti](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jcee8nsShWaucnz2w4c2sR-320-80.jpg)
Nvidia appears to be bumping the RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 Ti's memory specs
By Alan Dexter published
News Cards rumoured for much of the year finally appear to be heading our way.
![MSI Pulse GL66 gaming laptop](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/KNRRGQKWxmPQnaTheviAp4-320-80.jpg)
MSI Pulse GL66 gaming laptop review
By Alan Dexter published
Mismatched A powerful CPU and weak GPU make for an odd couple even at this tempting price point.
![Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NxKbC6f8HvduZH5JFbdzEb-320-80.jpg)
Save $650 on this 4K OLED gaming laptop from Gigabyte
By Alan Dexter published
Great for creative types that also want to enjoy some gaming.
![Windows 11 Update settings page](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GGN32GYmGaGFgR92NFRtf6-320-80.jpg)
Microsoft is finally pushing out the Windows 11 update that solves AMD's performance problem
By Alan Dexter published
News Now's a good time to check for Windows 11 updates.
![Kingston NV1 2TB SSD](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/an3yseTYBnhWUYWSa6GbxX-320-80.jpg)
This is the cheapest 2TB NVMe SSD you can buy right now
By Alan Dexter published
Down to just $150, is this a deal that's just too good to ignore?
![Top down shot of the Razer Battle Bundle](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bLm4ZwMrNNMRjFoA5bpR38-320-80.jpg)
Save $80 on this Razer DeathAdder V2 mouse and BlackShark V2 X headset bundle
By Alan Dexter published
Deals The only obvious downside is the silly 'Battle Bundle' name.
![Shot from G.Skill's YouTube video showing LN2 cooling pot](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QssydWY9MzZhjfh7ETjTNK-320-80.jpg)
G.Skill celebrates Intel Alder Lake's launch by setting a new world record for DDR5
By Alan Dexter published
News DDR5 hits 8,704MT/s using liquid nitrogen. Begun, the DDR5 OC wars have...
![Alienware AW2721D](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MjBh6AE2fdgo5eziRh7gpP-320-80.jpg)
Save $300 on this 1440p 240Hz Alienware gaming monitor bang on PC gaming's sweet spot
By Alan Dexter published
Deals Dell is already pushing hard on some great monitor deals.
![Alienware Aurora R13 Desktop PC](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PgQ5jAJVx4wznvTDXwX434-320-80.jpg)
Alienware announces Alder Lake-powered Aurora R13 desktops are available immediately
By Alan Dexter published
News Or you could stick with the red team and go for the Aurora R14 instead.
![Intel Alchemist GPU renders on a blue gradient background](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PksMGDUAVreZjfT5HEYasQ-320-80.jpg)
Intel finally confirmed its new GPU's specs, and it looks like a beast
By Alan Dexter published
News Intel's Arc Alchemist discrete GPUs will be every bit as chunky as we'd hoped.
![Intel CPU wafer - Alder Lake will use the Intel 7 production process](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RUihYAkLbK62ANVXA5VH9j-320-80.jpg)
Intel 12th gen Alder Lake CPUs: What are they, when will they launch, and how fast will they be?
By Alan Dexter published
Duality The next-gen Alder Lake processors will heat up the AMD vs. Intel gaming performance debate.
![2GB version of the Raspberry Pi 4 on a grey backrground](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ikcXW5YnbpZJ8R2SiX7qYZ-320-80.jpg)
Raspberry Pi increases in price for the first time ever. Thanks, chip shortage
By Alan Dexter published
News The supply chain shortage strikes once again. This time it's bumped the price of the wonderful Raspberry Pi.
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