Delicate Dave

As long as you get the right drive, it's as simple as taking the screws out the back, may 4 screws out the drive cover, unplugging the drive and plugging the other in. You could, if you wanted to, get a little gadget to copy the old drive to the new one before doing that and that way when you boot the machine it's all done.

It'll work but not as fast, internal drive use an interface much fast than USB.

It's not really about the unity engine, that works on phones, the issue is going to be redeveloping the code to feed the engine at a constant rate. At the moment the code works in chucks.

I don't think that's possible but start here https://unity.com/

Ditto on that, perhaps giving the machine a good clean inside, replace the thermals if you feel it's slowed down.

Not really mate or perhaps. The are many things that impact the performance of a computer. In general the idea is to move the data as fast as possible without creating too much heat. The Operating system really does not matter if the software you need to run works on it. So the areas to look at are CPU (can it be updated), Storage(switching from HD to faster SSD) & Video (Adding a faster dedicated card) after that is main ram but you are limited on the PC to 16bg so that an easy fix for about £5 for just add another 8gb stick. Another talking point is the power wattage, your choice of CPU & Video card will dictate if that is good enough. Not sure if you'll get Win11 to work, suspect the won't be the drivers. I've always wanted to try Linux with FM but never got around to it, perhaps others on here could give an idea if that worth trying.

The good old OptiPlex, I run one of those here as my web & media server but mine is i5. Even though yours's only i3 it's 3.6 Ghz so decent level for that processor really. These are real work horses, because they were part of Dell's push for business markets they are fine tuned. You can pick them up really cheap now. I paid only £75 for mine over 2 years ago. Depends on how much you wan to spend but for now, if you only want to spend say £100 (probably buy a better second one for that though). £50? maybe would get second parts - dedicated Graphics, SSD & ram. Those will help with FM24 and then see how it goes with FM25 if you want that. Research - Quick search found this - https://www.hardware-corner.net/guides/optiplex-3020-7020-9020-upgrade/

If you are comfortable playing FM on a desktop it's always the best option. A desktop spec for spec will always be faster than a laptop. I proved this a number of times over a new of years when working in IT for a large utility. But to give more advice we'll need the spec of the desktop. Model if not already updated.

No you can't replace the graphics card but that's not your problem, You have a 6gb graphics card and that is easily capable to running FM24. My only concern is you said you are struggling to buy the equivalent laptop now so I'm just trying to help. In terms of other games yes it'll be struggling now and that will only get worse. A £700 laptop is not going to last as long as this one has already. So think carefully about what you can now get for £700 IMO, and I know people will disagree, but I would rather pay £300-400 for a quality second hand laptop that will last 2-4 years than pay £700 for a new one which will be either 2 year old stock or lower quality so may last about the same 2-4 years. It's up to you but if it were me I would eak out as much as I can from this one and save until I have at least £900 and also by then you will know the spec of FM25. I really isn't hard doing the things I've suggested, the are loads of videos, even on your exact model you can watch before you even try. I terms of FM playing; Fancy advertising and player detail is only what the graphics card does but it needs the HD to keep up. When you see lag playing matches or its slow when you move from day to day and saving. That is processing the data and most of it is the CPU waiting to write to or from the HD. You can get almost the same improvement here just by replacing the HD for a new SSD drive and that would cost at most £50.

Computers don't slow down though old age, as I type millions of Pentium machines are running as fast as they ever were all over the world, they are just doing jobs they are capable of doing. I suspect your laptop should still be capable of running FM24 so you need to find out why it's not. Have you ever opened up? it's not difficult to clean out the fans, replace the thermal paste. Then the are hardware changes you could do and software solutions, All this could cost you nothing or up to £100. I only offer that advice because as I think you already know, you are unlikely to get as good as you already have. Best luck.

One other thing you might be able to do which most people don't think of when upgrading a laptop is the WiFi card to accept the latest speeds if your router uses them. You'll maybe have do some research because W&&K manufaturerers like Dell tie the Wifi to the system so they can't be swoped out. To change the card it's only one screw.

Things you can do that might be worth the cost; Increase the ram - another 8gb will only be about £10 unless you have 4x4gb in which case a little more. Swop the HD for a new SSD drive - £20-£50 Install a ram booster - just try a free one While installing these you can also clean out the fans and even replace the thermal paste, both of which will help. My laptop has a lower CPU than yours and I can load all the leagues. No in-game lag unless something is hogging the cpu like an update or virus scan. Moving from day to day is not instant but bearable.

All things are possible, just need the ways and hows. Install steam, and set it to play off line. I full solution would take more research than I'm prepared to do sorry but I'm sure it's possible. If you don't want spam sign-up to a free account on proton secure email, install their browser addon and every time you are asked for you email address on a website it'll offer to create a fake one which you can delete anytime or direct to the bin.

I don't see how it could be done in the editor but in the contract you could force them to pay 200% of wages if they don't play them. I've found if they are good enough they'll play but you have be careful because some sneaky deals include playing time as fringe so you need to cancel any of those in the transfer window before they complete.

Don't know about the block but I've found it's the easiest way to give away the ball. Logic would say if you have a player who can't stop being offside you hit the early cross but my experience in FM says I would only use it if I had a very tall target man. Bear in mind the type of cross is also a factor and the role your full back & wingers play. No really point in hitting early crosses if they have an instruction to cut inside or get the the by-line. Strangely enough I get more success telling them to cross less and keep possession. But like most these things nothing is the right answer because your players will get used to anything if you play them enough doing it.

You can't always cheer them up but praise helps and entering the profile to thank them for their attitude etc. Be very careful with praise when it's suggested by your staff, this is the game "gaming" you. I've more then not find even when you praise them they turn around and bite you, then go into a grumpy. I currently have about ten players with "issues", that's why signing professionals is always best.

Well that's all I wanted really thanks. These a business quality so, as I've said the past, retail & business with dell are like chalk & cheese. Should be solid machines for a few years yet. So is anyone in the market for that level of FM24 play there ya go, these are 100% better than a flaky acer or other cheap brand. I think if you run a booster app before starting the game you'll see 20% increase.

Currently looking for a Very cheap laptop for a friend, they don't play games but want something decent that will last. Had a few looking for cheap laptops on this thread I noticed so I thought I would pop this amazon find in and ask what people think of it as a basic Fm24 laptop - considering its £300 would it help some people out? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-Latitude-Business-Laptop-i5-1135G7/dp/B0949D3BNY Better details here - https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops-2-in-1-pcs/latitude-3420-business-laptop/spd/latitude-14-3420-laptop

I think you've already got the minimum setup, it's about what I use and I don't intend to buy another laptop. Obviously a new laptop is nice to have so I'm not trying to put you off. But perhaps a complete re-install, perhaps an up to date SSD drive might be worth giving a try. If it delays just for 6 month or a year it'll be worth because you'll not only get better again for £800 but also you'll know the specs and the situation is FM25. I find cleaning out my laptop once a year makes a big difference to performance but also on these older laptops the video upgraids can have an adverse impact on performance.

I am of the opinion, having played many hours and many years of FM, that each and every additional assignment to a player has an effect on their energy and maybe morale too. So I only put players on individual training if they have a weakness and if it's not working I'll turn it off again. It's easy to see what might work because all the attributes are paired with one or two other attributes. So for example, if you want to increase HEADING ability you would also be trying to increase BRAVERY. If Bravery is already a lot higher than heading then it's pointless as the bravery setting will limit the heading setting. Well that is what I've found. I wouldn't worry too much about find training, it won't make a big difference. What matters above all is playing time, even better if you can play them in their best position, roll and against "better" players. For that reason putting players out on loan at the right club, at the right level is a massive bonus.

You can always try the code WELCOME in the checkout, sometimes give 20% off first order.

I'm amazed at the number of people who don't have anything to contribute to the discussion except slagging off those who do.

I don't think that is fair at all. Having worked in development I assure you it's much much better they allow more time than to rush out a product even less finished than FM24's first release. At the start of it they could only guess the problems they would have and I'm pretty sure those hoping to benefit from the move to a new model would have laid on plenty of sugar too. As for your comments on the release date I don't see it as an issue. As it is they still hit the Christmas market but I suspect it'll slip again that will be disappointing but damaging as a) FM has a massive update base whatever time they release and that's only going to grow with the release of FM24 free (if I heard right). I for one would wait another 3 months if when it arrived it managed to get the accounting side right.

God I hate the term woke. I suspect that women don't want their weight published or estimated but this is just a small part of the reason why women should not be playing men's football. Now, before people jump in let me explain; Women should be playing women's football and if they did I would be more interested in it. As it is they are expected to use the same setup and the same rules as men most importantly the size of the pitch and the height of the goals but also the size of the football. I applaud them I do but it would be so much either and their game would advance so much faster if they played what suited them. Men, on average, are about 15 percent to 20 percent larger than women. This means all the items I've mentioned are that much too big, too high, too long. Women must run that much further too. And it show in their game. I've seen a lot of very talented women footballers but they can't kick the ball as far as the pitch needs and they can't reach the ball in goal because the goal is not their size. Like it or not women are made differently than men, I know that might surprise some of you, but all that's going to happen when women play men's football is the sport will follow the same trends as the men. All the shorter women will be disregarded no matter how talented they are. All the weaker women will be disregarded no matter how skillful they are. We are only at the start of this now but what we see in the men's game will be repeated and although in the men's game now it's still possible for a real talent to force their way regardless of size it's going to be harder for women. It'll be harder be women are starting from a lower base average. So if they want to play the men's game they should get used to people talking about their weight. But that leads to a whole different ball game and society in general.

I've played international a lot and always found it lacking something, I've said before FM really do need to look at how they determine energy. It's not even close to the real world. Just look at the tournament just gone 90% of the players who made it to the final had played all the country's matches and maintained a level of form. The is no way you can do that the way FM is set up, in International, you play one game and 3 days to the next one most of those who played are only 50% fit and would need to come off early if played. When playing in football this is the game you have to deal with and it's just annoying.