PC Tech Vault is an independent PC hardware reference and editorial site. These standards describe how we research, prepare, source, review, and correct material published on the site.
The goal is straightforward: publish useful technical information without presenting uncertain claims as established facts, and make it possible for readers to see where important information came from.
Research and sourcing
Articles may draw on manufacturer documentation, specifications, technical documentation, benchmark projects, public filings, retailer and market data, independent technical publications, historical archives, and other relevant reporting.
Sources are not treated as automatically correct simply because they have been published elsewhere. Where a claim is important, unclear, disputed, or technically specific, we try to compare it with additional material and prefer primary sources when they can establish the fact directly.
A source list does not mean that the wording or conclusions of those sources have been reproduced. Sources are used as research material from which PC Tech Vault develops its own reporting, explanation, structure, and analysis.
When sources disagree, the disagreement should be investigated rather than silently resolved by choosing the most convenient version. Where the available evidence does not support a firm conclusion, the article should say so.
Independent writing
PC Tech Vault researches subjects that are also covered by manufacturers, technical publications, news organizations, independent reviewers, forums, researchers, and other sources.
The existence of reporting elsewhere does not make that reporting the article template.
Editorial material should be independently structured and written. We do not copy source text or deliberately disguise copied passages through paraphrasing. A source may provide facts, measurements, statements, historical evidence, or a lead worth investigating; PC Tech Vault then develops its own explanation and context from the available evidence.
Distinctive analysis or conclusions originating with another publication are attributed rather than presented as original PC Tech Vault analysis.
Primary and secondary sources
We prefer the source that is closest to the underlying fact when practical. Examples include:
- official specifications for a manufacturer’s stated product specifications;
- release notes for documented software changes;
- benchmark-project records for benchmark classifications or submitted results;
- regulatory filings or public corporate documents for information contained in those documents;
- original testing for measurements performed by an independent reviewer.
Manufacturer claims are still identified as manufacturer claims when they have not been independently demonstrated. Independent reporting and testing can be used to provide context or challenge those claims.
Secondary sources remain useful, particularly for historical research, independent testing, interpretation, and subjects for which the original material is unavailable.
Facts, interpretation, and uncertainty
Technical reporting should distinguish between:
- a documented fact;
- a manufacturer’s or other party’s claim;
- a measurement or test result;
- an inference from available evidence;
- editorial interpretation.
An inference is not turned into a fact merely because it appears plausible.
When information is incomplete, model-specific, preliminary, or contradictory, it is qualified accordingly. The Wiki’s existing Verified, Partial, Imported, and Needs source review labels continue to communicate the state of reference data where applicable.
Headlines and presentation
Headlines should be specific enough to tell the reader what actually happened. We avoid:
- manufactured outrage;
- unsupported certainty;
- misleading omissions;
- sensational wording that is stronger than the underlying evidence;
- headlines that imply a conclusion the article itself cannot support.
A strong headline is acceptable. A misleading headline is not. Article introductions and excerpts likewise summarize the actual reporting rather than act as generic promotional copy.
Reviews, comparisons, and buying information
PC Tech Vault separates specifications, observed market information, measured results, and editorial judgments.
Comparisons do not hide materially different test conditions or incompatible specification definitions merely to produce a simple winner.
Market Watch data retains relevant context such as region, source, condition, observation date, and other information needed to understand what a displayed price represents.
If affiliate links, sponsorships, paid placements, supplied review hardware, or another material commercial relationship are introduced in the future, the relevant relationship will be disclosed clearly. This policy does not change silently if the site’s business model changes.
Editorial independence
PC Tech Vault does not accept payment to alter specifications, rankings, factual conclusions, or editorial findings.
Manufacturers, retailers, developers, or other companies may be contacted for information or clarification, but they do not receive editorial control over the resulting coverage.
Corrections requested by a company are evaluated against the evidence in the same way as corrections submitted by readers.
Corrections
Accuracy matters more than preserving the original wording of an article.
When a substantive factual error is identified, it is reviewed against the available source material and corrected when warranted. Significant corrections are handled transparently where the nature of the change makes that useful to readers.
Minor spelling, grammar, formatting, or clarity edits do not require a correction notice.
The corrections page has the full process and form.
Historical material
Retro and historical PC hardware coverage often depends on incomplete archives, old reviews, archived manufacturer pages, manuals, period advertising, databases, and contemporary reporting.
Modern certainty is not applied to incomplete historical records.
Where different historical sources conflict and the original evidence cannot resolve the issue, that uncertainty is preserved in the article or reference entry rather than inventing a definitive answer.
Images, screenshots, and third-party material
We use original, licensed, public-domain, appropriately permitted, or otherwise legally usable media.
When third-party screenshots, charts, quotations, or other material are necessary for reporting or analysis, we use only what is reasonably required for the editorial purpose and provide attribution where appropriate.
Watermarks or attribution are not removed from third-party editorial material to present it as PC Tech Vault material.
Reader corrections and source suggestions
Readers who find an incorrect specification, broken source, unclear variant, outdated statement, or other factual problem should use the existing corrections process.
Source suggestions and substantive challenges are welcome. A correction is decided by the evidence rather than by whether the submission agrees with the original article.
AI-assisted editorial workflow
PC Tech Vault uses AI tools as part of its research and editorial workflow. They may assist with tasks such as locating relevant material, organizing research, comparing information, preparing drafts, summarizing source material, restructuring passages, and editing text.
AI output is not treated as a source of fact and is not intended to be published automatically.
Published editorial material remains under human editorial control. Drafts are reviewed and may be corrected, expanded, reduced, reorganized, or rejected. Source claims can be checked against one another, and factual conflicts are resolved from the underlying evidence where possible.
The final decision about what appears on PC Tech Vault remains with the editor, who assumes editorial responsibility for the published material.
We do not describe this process as either “AI-written content” or “human-written with no AI involvement.” The accurate description is AI-assisted research and writing under human editorial control.
Responsibility
Tools can assist with research and writing, but they do not assume responsibility for publication.
Responsibility for the material published on PC Tech Vault remains with the site’s editor.