What Specification Is Required For Gaming?

Games really push today's PCs, so we look at what even the most modest gamer needs to have in their system

Games have always been a great benchmark of home computing power. Although the mighty CG mainframes we read about or powerful servers with multiple CPUs may take the cake in terms of pure mathematical muscle or rendering capability, when it comes home PCs, it's videogames that often push the platform. Indeed, the advance in PC power in general may have never come as far as it has without gaming pushing the envelope. Thanks in part to this entertainment hobby, we're graced with powerful video cards, masses of RAM and much better audio quality, so much so that many believe the home PC is the ultimate gaming platform. Indeed, in terms of technology, that really can't be denied.

Swift Playgrounds For The Apple iPad

David Briddock reviews Apple's new interactive coding experience for the iPad generation

For many, the act of creating apps simply by typing code statements into an editor can seem somewhat magical. Yet coding isn't just for software wizards or a gifted minority. With modern tools and computing platforms, it's something anyone can do.

The importance of coding as a fundamental skill is finally being realised by the educational community and government bodies. Indeed, coding is now a key part of the educational curriculum. It's also an essential ingredient in the 'constructional thinking' movement - something that encompasses computing systems and electronic hardware hacking.

36 Low Cost Ways To Speed Up Your PC

Is your PC running slower than a snail? Here's what you can do

Your PC is running slowly, stuttering to a halt every now and then, and taking ages to load apps. Your games are moving at a snail's pace, and you feel at your wits end as simple tasks take far longer than they should. It's time, you think, to throw the machine in the bin and get yourself a new one. But is that drastic measure really the answer? In many cases, no, it's not. You could simply look at ways to enhance the speed, and the best news is that is won't cost you that much money to do.

When Will Your PC Die?

No matter how healthy it seems now, your PC will eventually grind to a halt. Mike Plant explains how to calculate its life expectancy and put a few extra miles on its clock

Time and tide wait for no man, they say, and sadly the same is true of your PC. After years of use even the most robust of PCs will start to feel its age and succumb to errors, freezes and the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. Each new setback brings it inexorably closer to the scrapheap.

We always show you how to breathe new life into your PC. But there comes a time when even our advice can no longer keep your trusty PC up and running. Sadly, there will always come a day when you’ll have to pull the plug one last time and think about a replacement.

37 Reasons Why Your Computer Might Be Crashing (And What To Do About It)

Freezing, weird noises and the blue screen of death Is your PC gasping its last breath?

Imagine spending hours on an important document or presentation, getting towards the end and then watching in horror as the computer seizes, the screen goes blue and the machine resets. With non-autosaving programs that could easily spell disaster, and yet most of us have been there at some point in the past, with our computer seemingly giving us no warning of the impending doom it’s about to bring upon us.

10 Totally Free Photo Editors You Should Be Using

Roland Waddilove shows you how to supercharge your photo editing, with these great apps for PC and mobile

Most people have at least one photo editor on their PC. It’s most likely one of the wellknown favourites like Photoshop, Gimp or Paint.Net, but there are many more great programs available. Alternative applications often provide different ways of working, new tools and exciting effects, so it’s a good idea to expand your toolkit with a few freebies.

Who owns your online data?

What happens to your data when online services are snapped up by bigger rivals? Nicole Kobie exposes the truth behind the web’s biggest buyouts

Multi-billion dollar tech acquisitions may seem to have little relevance for us humble users, but there’s no question that they affect our lives online. When the big fish snap up smaller fry, it may be because they’re after their technology or aiming to wipe out competition, but in many cases, they’re most interested in vacuuming up your data.

Best Android apps for scanning documents

Edward Munn rounds up the best apps for turning your smartphone into a pocket scanner

Uninstall anything completely

Your PC is stuffed with junk – including programs you thought you’d seen the back of. Jane Hoskyn reveals how to remove every trace and reclaim your space

Computers (like people!) slow down when they’re full. If you’ve had your PC for a while, it’s likely to be crammed with programs you no longer use, Windows apps you never used, defunct hardware drivers and all sorts of stuff you can’t budge, even when you right-click and choose Delete.

Download for free!

Getting exactly what you want from the web without paying for it isn’t as easy as you might think. Mike Plant explains how to download TV, music and more that you can keep forever

Let’s face it, free online stuff is ten a penny. Enter just about any noun into a search engine followed by the word ‘free’ and you’ll be inundated with web pages all promising the perfect free version of whatever you want. But there are two tricks to this. The first is distinguishing the best options from the sub-standard, the fake and the downright dangerous. The second, much harder trick is to circumvent the restrictions placed on free content.

Overcloking your GPU

It's not just your CPU you could be getting more from!

Just as overdocking your CPU can help you inch your gaming performance ahead slightly, overclocking a GPU is one way to squeeze extra frames out of a graphics card, whether that's because it's starting to flag with age or because you know it can do better than the manufacturers think is fair.

The Time-Saving Apps That Want To Free Up Your Day

Rob Leane checks out apps that save time, not steal it...

Technology is meant to make our lives easier, but it doesn't always feel like it. Replying to messages across a zillion different platforms, searching endlessly for something you can only half remember, and getting lost in the procrastination-friendly wasteland of the web are all ways that having a phone in your pocket or a computer on your desk can actually make your life more complicated and crowded.

Our technology regularly becomes a sinkhole for time, making the modern age a difficult place to be productive and stay on schedule with work, personal projects, and anything else that you should be doing instead of faffing around online. A few brave apps are standing up to this status quo, however, by actually attempting to save you some time rather than stealing it away from you. With these guys on your side, you may be able to rescue some of the spare minutes that have seemed so elusive lately...

Search deeper THAN THE WEB

Typing search queries into Google only gets you so far. Robert Irvine explains how to find information, people and content that doesn’t appear in web search results

Use multiple accounts on the same device

Using the same service on more than one account is easy on a computer, but much trickier on a phone or tablet. Edward Munn reveals a few simple ways to double up