If you'd rather go Intel, you can almost stick to your budget (and could get it under 600€ with a cheaper case) with this spec:
Pretty much identical aside from CPU & motherboard (I had great fun wandering around the site in Dutch). But of course it's a moot point if you don't want to build.....
Dell's XPS 8100 (code D00X8101) is available for £487 or so which translates to under 600€ but although you get i3 etc you get a pretty poor graphics option (nVidia G310) and to bring it up to ATi 5770 levels would cost you £180. This isn't a very good option but a prebuilt for £500 / 600€ tends to skimp on gaming ability. I'm struggling to find any (international) manu that's got a gaming spec for that price.
Dave wrote:Hmm, I'm considering it actually. I'm ooh-ing and aah-ing about it at the moment purely because it takes time to deliver, then more time to build, AND it takes effort, which is something I don't have a lot of... But I probably would get a better machine out of it. Ooh... ahh... hrmmm...
Certain big resellers will also offer a build service (about 50 euro though); meaning they'll build it for you and pre-install the OS etc. Means you can blame THEM if anything goes wrong, too. I know for a fact Azerty does this (but not a big fan of them myself).
The Chillblast Fusion Hades can be configured with the 3.2GHz X2, Decent 500W PSU and no monitor/speakers/mouse&keyboard to come in at £487/590€. It comes with an ATi 5670 card which, though not as good as the self-build spec, will cope with most newer games at resolutions up to 1680x1050. Sadly it doesn't look like they ship to NL so not much use to you really
Got this yesterday. Feel free to add me (tomasnavarro). Just played through some of the single player so far, but ill have to see if I can change some of the controls, like setting crouch as a toggle instead of having to press it all the time
Control modification does seem a little limited. There's quite a few things I'd like to change but there don't seem to be as many options as there are on some other FPS's. That said I have pretty much gotten used to the way things are now.
Edit:
Searching on Google brings up a few "how to" pages on making crouch a toggle, but they're extremely hacky and have annoying side-effects. Most involve either using a Logitech G13 keyboard or installing a utility that remaps your keyboard. Personally I'd say "just get used to it" is the best answer.
Hmm, you guys have given me a lot to think about! I think I'm definitely gonna go with a DIY PC, I think I've managed to give myself the extra bit of patience to wait for that. But now I have to think about which of the specs to choose from. And do I build it myself or get them to do it for me for extra munnies? Hmm... ponder ponder ponder!
Dave wrote:Hmm, you guys have given me a lot to think about! I think I'm definitely gonna go with a DIY PC, I think I've managed to give myself the extra bit of patience to wait for that. But now I have to think about which of the specs to choose from. And do I build it myself or get them to do it for me for extra munnies? Hmm... ponder ponder ponder!
Server - Some potential sources for lag/rubberbanding have been eliminated
Server - The old reserved slots has been replaced by a kick-on-demand system like in BF2
Server - Log file for server admins: all remote admin interface commands/events are logged
Server - Log file for server admins: major server events + all chat messages are logged
Server - Idle kick is controllable
Server - Profanity filter can be disabled
Server - Teamkill-kick system is controllable
Server - Ticket counts and bleed rate are controllable per-level
Server - Infantry only mode available per-level
Server - Initial spawn delay and respawn delay are adjustable
Server - Server description can be up to 400 characters, and use "|" for line breaks
Server - Banlist can contain up to 10.000 entries
Server - reduced latency in packet handling
Admin Interface - fixed the player.onKill spam that occasionally happened
Admin Interface - ensured that player.onJoin events always report the player name
Admin Interface - events triggered when people spawn
Admin Interface - much more info on kills
Admin Interface - detailed stats are reported at end-of-round
Gameplay - Various minor level bugfixes Gameplay - Helicopter handling has been tweaked Gameplay - Weapon tweaks have been implemented based on PC public feedback (see below)
Gameplay - Tracer dart gun speed has been changed from 300 m/s to 200 m/s
Gameplay - Fixed technical hang when a crate was armed outside of the combat area
Gameplay - "Victory is near" message was shown for the wrong team on Valparaíso, this has been fixed Gameplay - Countermeasures can be fired when driving a helicopter
Gameplay - The brightness of the pilot view in the Russian helicopter has been reduced
Gameplay - Advanced Spotting scope works better
Gameplay - Knifing people in the back works again (we backed out the change that we had done for Server R11)
Gameplay - Hit box for moving targets expands based on the speed of the targets movement
Gameplay - G36 now has crosshair when in Hardcore mode
Server Browser - Servers are sorted into 3 categories: Normal, Modified, Hardcore depending on their settings
Server Browser – Added support for retrieving update progress
Server Browser - Now refreshes information Server Browser - Join queue system when attempting to join a full server
Server Browser - All settings are automatically saved between sessions
Server Browser - Pings are sent via an alternate mechanism, which should work for non-Administrator users as well
Client - Fixed DX9 issue, which likely caused graphics glitches and perhaps crashes
Client - Fixed some crashes Client - Toggle/hold crouch is user controllable Client - Toggle/hold zoom is user controllable
Client - Vsync bugfixed for DX10/DX11 Client - Rewritten how settings are written to disk; this should reduce/eliminate the spawn lag
Client - Fixed bug where a player could join a server before the stats has been downloaded causing faulty stats in "EOR- unlock progression"-screen
Client - New chat system allows chatting when dead (but not during end of round) and keeps a 100 lines log
Client - Improved Play Now functionality
Client - Removed K/D ratio and Skill Level filters in the leaderboards Client - Any points you get while being dead will be added to your score
Client - Reduced negative mouse acceleration
Client - Increased health on the Cobra to match other vehicles
Client - More informative disconnection/kick reasons
Client - Support for Map Packs so PC gets future VIP maps at the same time as consoles
Weapon tweaks:
Slightly increased the damage of the UZI at long range.
The AKs74u now has more felt recoil when aiming.
The G3, VSS, and all SemiAutomatic rifles now settle slightly faster between shots when aiming.
The PKM, Type 88LMG, G3, An94, and 40mm shotgun have returned to their former glory.
Increased the damage of the MG3 to bring it in line with the rest of the LMGs.
Fixed a bug where the Saiga12 with slugs would do too much damage at long range.
Fixed a bug where the SVU would do too little damage at long range.
Fixed a bug where M95 rounds would not kill armored targets with headshots.
There doesn't seem to be a "whisper" equivalent that I can see. There is squad chat, team chat and everyone chat but I don't see typing messages as an effective means of communication on the battlefield. Outside of a server there doesn't seem to be any kind of comms at all. If you want to send a message to most of us, though, just get on Steam - me and Juan both run it through that, so at the very least you can reach us there. Adding Bad Company 2 as a Steam shortcut would be a smart move as well, as then we can see when you're playing too.
Personally I'd also say Vent is a must if you're playing with friends. And by Vent I don't just mean connect and sit in the same channel, I mean actually communicate and coordinate using it. It's a team game, and if you're not at the very least communicating with your friends in your own team you might as well go play by yourself on another server. It's a shame that the in-game voice comms seems so underused.
