Lord knows I tried, but it's already gone through to the warehouse for picking.

Right, just picked this up and I'm very, very interested. I love a bit of realism and I particularly love tactical thinking and gameplay. So, my question is how much do i have to spend to play this game?

I currently have:
Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe nForce4!
Socket 939 X2 3800+ (ocd to 2.2ghz on air)
2 x 512mb matched pair
2ish tb of storage
66GT
480w Tagan 2Force PSU.
20" Samsung

Could I get away with another gig of ram and a graphics card? What about headsets etc? What about joysticks for the helos and tanks etc?
I really fancy this and would love to get wrapped up in it and play with you guys, but I need to know what I'm dealing with...

I use a PC-161 headset on Skype for comms. You can use in game comms but I tend to play as a team with the people I know. I dont suppose it matters all that much what headset you use.

I know someone who is playing it on a 9500GT (I think, maybe its a 9600). I dont know at what settings though. Another chap has a 8800GTS(G80) and he sets everything on medium at 1680x1050. He's also got 2GB. He says its fine. To be honest even on very high the graphics arent impressive anyway.

I'd check the CPU specs. I'm at work so cant look on the box.

I would personally for a mild upgrade do 2GB RAM (costs next to nothing) and stick a gfx card in. 4850/GTS250 minimum - both under £100. This game really is about the gameplay rather than the eye-candy though so I wouldnt worry about it too much.

I dont think you can use joysticks for the flying.

Thanks veato. What's everybody else here playing on?

After some reading, I'm contemplating a whole new machine, as my current one is at capacity in the chassis and the PSU, whilst good, might struggle with a mid-high end graphics card and 4 HDDs. If I've gotta upgrade the chassis, then I may as well go C2D. Thoughts?

C2D? You wanna go C2Q!

Seconded.

I'm of the opinion that (even though I have a C2Q) if a game is not optimised for quad core you can get better gaming performance from a fast C2D. As the back of the box for ARMAII mentions quad then I think that is the way to go.

Right, thanks guys. Still considering my options, as it's a lot of money to put on my credit card when I have none!

Last thing I remember, the Q6600 was CPC'c chip of choice. It's bloody old though from what I remember. To help me be lazy, where's it at right now? Also, what about i7? Still to expensive with the new socket on the way?

Considering Mr Mastercard or Mr Visa is going to be paying for this upgrade I wonder if its wise steering clear of the expensive i7?

Might be worth waiting for the i5 maybe although I have no idea what it will cost.

The 1066FSB Q6600 is still a nice chip/value for money. Good overclocker on a cheap cooler (Freezer7), cheap DDR2 1066, etc. I have lost touch a little with CPUs so its best to do research/ask others too.

Just been reading the Quad core thread in hardware. I get that the 6600 is the nads, I'm just reluctant to spend money on old tech. That said, it seems you can't buy the bloody thing any more anyway.

Taught a mate how to play Starcraft and UT99 yesterday, so might re-enjoy those for a bit and try and hold out on the new hardware. I really wanna play ArmaII though!! Grrr.....