Delicate Dave

I have no idea what the result or score will be. Finals are often no realation to early rounds so I'm going to sit and enjoy it as much as I can. My only hope is the players on both side perform on the night and we don't have the slow creep towards a penalty shoot out. Always said if England got to major final again in my lifetime I would be there. I was 6 in 1966 and really don't remember anything about it but that's mainly because shortly after I was involved in an accident and my memory just doesn't exist before I was arounf 8 years old. I had intended to go to the WC in Brazil. I was earning well in the years before but by the time the tickets where on sale I was more interested in keeping the roof over our head than going to football. Come on England ! But please please, if it's not this time can we respect the players and the manager.

Have you tweaked the GPU using Afterburner? if so you might want to switch them back to default. MSI have software that will allow you to switch the performance mode, bestak not to above that esp if you have a full bank of ram. I assume you are able to clean the fans if needed, they do pull in a lot of dust, I have MSI and take the bottem on at least once a year to give it a good clean. Might also concider changing the thermal paste that is recommended ever 2 years.

I've never seen a bargain computer on Amazon, I'm 65 this year :-) Have a look on ebay, can't go wrong with the MSI at about half the amazon price but if you want to pay £1000 you can do mcuh better than those to imo - https://ebay.co.uk/itm/156274367642

Just want to say, if you have a current laptop or PC with windows on you can tranfer the licence over for the OS.

I think that would depend on the type of laptop you have. If it's just happening with FM and if it just started happening. Because we need to know if you have a dedicated graphics card, if so remove all the drivers for it, reboot and run FM. The are a lot of settings in FM and I don't know where and what they are off the top of my head but I think it adjusts to what is available by default. I run it turning of all the crowd and visual effects.

I think I understand what he means. The choice of the Chromebook was just a lack of insight, paying more doesn't always find better. People who can afford to buy the new models with the latest CPU from the last two years should have no problem but the market he's talking about is full of money traps. I think if you can't spend £1200 you really should be looking at the second-hand "games" market. But to be frank, for games like FM you shouldn't need to spend £1200 but no one is going to build a mid-range games laptop suitable for games like FM. Why sell a £500 item when people will pay 5 times that if it's the latest tech? So these people are left with searching the markets really intended for video playing and browsing the internet if they want new. Of course, this is no problem with desktops, you could build a FM24 desktop for £500 easy.

I suspect this is the type of thing you are looking for, it'll run FM25 and I'm confident FM25 but I'm not ruling out compromises on in-game details. You have room in your budget to get better so I would suggest you look up this model and see what comes after it till you reach the amount you want to spend. Each upgrade on this gives you better performance and longer life span maybe. https://www.ebay.ca/itm/226237263585 EDIT - Just noticed this has a bad keyboard and battery, the battery can be replaced but on these the keyboard in glued in. So use this as an example only and search on the model - Thought it seemed too good :-)

Second hand market is your best way to go. Use places like PCU Benchmark to evaluate the CPU first then for FM at the current version any dedicated GPU will be fine. Maybe next version insurance like for one with a 4gb GPU. Don't worry about disk space or ram as these can be ungraded and anyway for value it's better to be short on those and add new like swap a HD for SSD for example. MSI, HP & ASUS are the makes I would go for. I certain I can get a laptop that will play FM24 for around £100 on ebay but maybe I would go to £250 for one for the next 2 years.

Although I agree, of course I do it's what I use, I wouldn't like to give the impression that they are the best made. Certainly for me the best value but you need to look after them as I tend to find the plastics are not great. Mind you the build quality of Dell is hard to match but I have learned for all that they are the worst value on the market. I like HP & ASUS too, and probably wouldn't stray away from MSI, HP & ASUS after all I've learned since I bought my ZX spectrum on the first day of release :-)

This is why I like my MSI it has a regular fan, which I hardly hear when on but it also as a button that turns on another fan so if I hear the first I turn the second one on to help.

You can get replacements for those parts. Parts maybe cost you £100 to fix, I done that on 3 XPS 15s and each time buying at laptop with a MB fault cost less than £100 on eBay. I may still have a case but it would be a 15 not 13. Swopping out the MB is not hard at all on these, worst part about them it DELL's poxy idea for screws. Also check that you can't claim of your house insurance if you have that.

You have to be careful at places like Very which have the buying power to ask manufacturers to produce different models just for them. Or they'll buy a dump from the manufacturer. Always check the model number and even ask the manufacturer if the is a difference. That's why going to a computer supplier is often better.

What's wrong with the XPS, I have a lot of experience fixing these so might be able advice on the fix.

It's better than what I use currently, just depends on how long you want it to last. We don't know the specs for FM25 but I'm sure it's not going to rock the boat to much. However, if you are looking to FM26 and on then you might have to compromise on some aspects of the game maybe. I myself would prefer to spend £150 every few years on used laptops then £500-£2000 in one lump and hope it lasts. As for 1080p well does anyone play FM for the graphics? I think if the price it right you'll be fine.

Is it overkill? Your CPU score 53,398 - MY CPU SCORE 9,899 :-)

This, as far as I understand it, is a peer-to-peer thread. As such no one reading it should think anything other than the poster is relaying their own experiences. But I have to say, you having a go at me is a bit rich. I posted and it was you who came to me to tell me I was wrong in absolutes, you didn't say anything like "Well that is not what I see". you said; "This is a post by a player asking how to learn the game so in this case I will be clear: This is not a subjective issue: what you are saying is not reflective of how the game works." And "These statements are simply not true." And "When you're constructing your TIs and PIs you're impacting the tendency of your players to do something on the pitch. There is no other magic to it than that. " It's bad enough being dyslexic using forums (with all the spelling police in them) so if I also have to conform to censorship I won't bother. Have a great life and enjoy the game chap.

With respect, I don't claim to know how FM works, unlike you, but I do know how computer code works and how databases work so I stand by what I said. If that puts me on the naughty step fair enough, I was just contributing my own experience, I won't bother again as I'm wrong on so many things.

We'll have to agree to disagree and as I said from the start IN MY EXPERIENCE putting WB on SUPPORT and enabling Cross from byline creates more problems. I mean you wouldn't want your keeper to go up for corners all the time but if the was a setting for that someone would say it's fine to do. I maintain these settings are risky because they often contradict the roles your player plays best at and trains at. They are meant to be used on a game-by-game basis to take advantage of weaknesses in teams. Surely you can see that.

I guess I better expand on what I mean by not in my experience. WB on ATTACK is not the same as WB with the instruction to get to the byline before crossing - well it is but a hell of a lot depends on the quality of the player. When you play a player in a position & role you are also training them. So if you have WB on SUPPORT he should, depending on his potential, get better as a WB on SUPPORT - I think we all understand that. BUT ! This does not happen with instructions - They are on a match-by-match basis. So your WB on support is training to cross when suitable but mainly pass diagonally and be more defense-minded. Then on matchday, you are asking them to do something different. What does this mean? if the player already has attributes to do that job you are ok but if they don't all you'll end up with is a less productive player. BTW I wasn't saying it wouldn't help in general, I'm just saying if you want crosses from the byline SUPPORT is not the way to go in my experience. But it all depends on what levels you play at, I tend to play lower leagues where matchday instruction are very risky because players are very unlikely to be good at more than one or two things. Another example is putting a CB who is slow with low anticipation & positioning on STOPPER OR COVER it just causes problems.

Tis true but not in my experience.

What happened to the old one? maybe it can be fixed. It's not hard to fix most things, just replacing parts, even a new MB might only cost £50.

The absolutely number one thing to do when designing tactics is to understand what that word means in FM, and it has little to do with real-world tactics. That might surprise a few but let me explain - Let's take a look at Wing-Backs - If you want them to cross the ball from the byline you'll need them on ATTACKING. If you have them on attacking I absolutely guarantee your team will concede more goals. It seems fair enough I suppose, the WB is caught high up the pitch but in FM that hardly ever is the way goals are conceded. What will happen is your CBs will suddenly forget how to jump. This type of thing can be applied to all positions, so you need to adjust your thinking to how FM works. The number two thing is to decide where you want to start - Do you want a tactic that more or less suits the squad you have or are you like me decide you want to try to invent a new one and buy new players to suit that. If it's the first, drop all your best players in the tactics page as subs - then count the positions - if you have 4 CBs perhaps you go for 5 at the back. If you have 2 CFs perhaps 2 upfront and then see if you have WBs or can buy them. Of course, if you don't have any of that you'll adjust to a different formation., most inherited squads are full of wingers I've found - I hate wingers, they are always trouble :-) My current tactic has CF, AM, DM, WB, CD & Keeper only. Then Third when you have players & formations sort the team on the squad page and look at their abilities like speed, passing, strength etc. If you have a strong fast players perhaps a pressing game will suit you. If you have a strong slow players that can't pass then a long ball game. There are endless things in between. Finally perhaps is adjusting the tactic and knowing the cost of those changes. For example, PASS INTO SPACE simply means in FM your team will have less of the ball so you need the players with pace and the work rate to beat the other team. Also, remember the more of these adjustments in your tactics the more effort your players need to put in. I try to remove as many as possible, but I'm a bit odd because I also like to set timewaster halfway :-) Hope that helps, perhaps not but remember whatever you do, you are not doing it wrong. The is no wrong with FM just useless players :-)

Bottom two are the same top one is different Model - NH.QK6EK.001 Model - NH.QM0EK.00C other two. Best place to look is Acer - Large companies partner up with manufacturers to produce versions, often the idea is so the shop can make more profit they put in a different screen or repackage in some way. If you find no difference go with who you can get an extra discount of or better warranty. As for specs you'll need to wait till around Sept for FM25.

First, let me say I don't have the answers and I'm not anti-Southgate. In fact this thread is not about managers at all. For some time now, I'm 65 this year, and I've witnessed the Briths Game stand out as one of the best footballing nations in the world. Yet, if you disregard the luck & basics of the 66 World Cup almost all the tournaments have ended in disappointment. England has no right to expect to win these tournaments but based on logic, they should have won more and got further in a lot of them. I mean look at Germany, a country more like England than most of England itself, they always seem to perform at least up to expectation apart from the odd World Cup. For me the problem is they are always going into tournaments with an unsettled style of play, no real rules of engagement, and no plan of how they are going to progress through the stages. I would suggest as a country or a body that controlled the England set-up we need these as a foundation. It shouldn't be difficult to produce a master plan that if followed gives the players the best possible chance to perform well. I think Southgate knew this when he took charge but I also think he's gone the wrong way with his plan. So typically we are through the group stage - which was the objective so 100% success rate so far - but we've played ****-poor boring football. If Southgate had a plan that used the squad and the fans understood that the game meant nothing then the result wouldn't have been so upsetting and the players or the manager would now be under pressure to perform better. My plan wouldn't be to try to play great football it would just be a framework for navigating the tournament using the players you have. Yes some players are reserves only if your stars get injured but others are not, some players are fighting for their place and some might consider are the best option, How can they prove that if you don't play them and how can your stars perform well if they are playing so many minutes. Kane for example, do you want him to be at his best for 3 games in ten days? then play him for only 70 mins and don't play him if not needed. This might not have been a big issue a few years ago but most games now are more like 100 minutes. Another side that the plan needs to include deadball situations - who and how, why you take it quick, and why you don't. England seems to lack all this. Anyway, just saying if we had a national plan, then the manager wouldn't be so exposed or need to be so great. We used to have something similar, the England team used to be picked by a committee so I'm sure they had some sort of game plan too.

I know the left back is ke shift and it seems everyone on BBC is on Kane's case but Bellingham, Rice, Walker, Trent & Stones were shocking. I give some credit to Fodan & Saka for trying to put some football together. I don't think Tripper was the problem, make-shift and ask to do a job, I give Foden credit for taking it on himself to go into the centre to do the role Bellingham was supposed to be doing. Same with Stones really, he spent and his CN partner spent most of their time covering for Rice. Bellingham & Rice are great players but FFS they have earn the right to play before the decide to walking around the pitch.